Scenario-based System Testing for Distributed Robotics Applications
Jan Peleska, Felix Brüning, Wen-Ling Huang, Anne E. Haxthausen
TLDR
SCSL is a new language for automated, scenario-based system testing of complex, distributed robotics applications, handling dynamic changes and nondeterminism.
Key contributions
- Introduces SCSL for automated, scenario-based system testing of distributed robotics.
- Addresses high system complexity via scenario composition for test specification.
- Supports online (on-the-fly) testing for systems with high nondeterminism.
- Enables dynamic reconfiguration of components during test execution via a collaboration construct.
Why it matters
Classical model-based testing struggles with the complexity, nondeterminism, and dynamic nature of distributed robotics. SCSL provides a novel approach to overcome these challenges, enabling robust and automated system-level testing. This is crucial for developing reliable autonomous systems.
Original Abstract
We present the SCenario Specification Language (SCSL) for automated generation and execution of system-level tests. SCSL targets complex distributed systems (e.g., collaborating autonomous robots) where classical model-based testing becomes impractical because (1) the overall system complexity is too high for a single monolithic model, (2) test behaviour cannot be fully precomputed due to substantial nondeterminism in the distributed system under test (SUT), and (3) the SUT configuration may change dynamically at runtime. Challenge (1) is addressed by scenarios: each scenario specifies test-specific expected SUT behaviour and/or stimuli to be applied during execution. Complex system tests are composed from elementary scenarios using sequential and parallel composition. To address (2), the SCSL tool platform supports online (on-the-fly) testing, selecting and executing test steps during runtime. For (3), SCSL provides a collaboration construct that supports dynamic reconfiguration: removing unavailable components, registering newly joining components, and rewiring interfaces during test execution. We illustrate the syntax and semantics of SCSL using a system-test example in which robots perform a salvage mission, and we use an automatically generated test execution to demonstrate the concepts supported by our prototype tool platform.
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