Automation of the creation and execution of system level hardware-in-loop tests through model-based testing

The automatic creation of test cases has been a well-researched area in recent years. Indeed, the industry’s testing procedure still uses the traditional way of manual practices. However, investigations are continued to deliver new methods, but research results have not been fully adopted. In this paper, the investigated method applies the model-based testing (MBT) method to evaluate the ability to automate the creation of hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test cases, where generated tests are created using MBT tools. The tools’ properties were compared to each other through a literature study, with the result of selecting tools to be used in a case study, and the tools selected were GraphWalker and MoMuT. The generated test cases perform similarly to their manual counterparts regarding how the test cases achieved full requirements coverage. When comparing the effort needed for applying the methods, a comparable effort is required for creating the first iteration, while with every subsequent update, MBT will require less effort compared to the manual process. Both methods achieve 100% requirements coverage, and since manual testing is created and executed by humans, some requirements are favoured over others due to company demands, while MBT tests will be generated randomly.In addition, a comparison between the used tools showcased the differences in the models’ design and their test case generation. The comparison showed that GraphWalker has a more straightforward design method and is better suited for smaller systems, while’s MoMuT can handle more complex systems but has a more involved design method.The results of the thesis showed that using MBT tools proved helpful as it covers the system requirements, can be executed in HIL and helps discover faults within the requirements and HIL system. These facts satisfy the companies’ demands. This thesis shows a promising improvement in automating the test process within the vehicular domain