Automation Processes for Efficient Verification of Complex Systems: An Empirical Case Study

This paper investigated the effect of automation processes in an industrial company engineering complex cyber-physical systems. The authors used an industry-as-laboratory approach as the research method, exploring an ongoing development project. The automation efforts focused on four areas: (1) test setup, (2) test execution, (3) test result analysis, and (4) documentation. All four areas showed promising results on increased effectiveness and/or efficiency. In particular, the automation of test result analysis will help the industrial company, KONGSBERG, reduce their main bottleneck in the test process, as well as reduce the risk of costly project delays. An automated system integration test process, facilitating iterative regression testing, will leverage the efficiency of the verification test process.