Developing and Evaluating Passive Testing for Vehicular Embedded Systems

Passive testing offers a non-intrusive approach for validating safety-critical embedded systems byanalyzing operational log data. This thesis investigates its feasibility in the context of Volvo Con-struction Equipment’s (VCE) H-Series Wheel Loaders, using the Timed Easy Approach to Require-ments Syntax (T-EARS) and Napkin Studio. The research makes three main contributions: (1)it proposes and applies a structured method for translating 74 natural language requirements intothe T-EARS (Timed Easy Approach to Requirements Syntax) format while also categorizing thetranslation difficulty based on signal quantity and later by compatibility with passive testing ap-proach; (2) it performs log-based validation by implementing 128 Guarded Assertions derived from51 requirements across 12 test cases using Napkin Studio and discusses the limitations in detail;and (3) it collects and analyzes industrial stakeholder feedback alongside researcher’s personal re-flections on tool usability and process challenges. The results show that passive testing is feasibleand efficient when system logs contain sufficient and reliable data. While limitations such as logformat inconsistencies and unclear requirements were identified, stakeholder evaluations expressedclear interest in adopting passive testing as a complementary validation strategy. This work pro-vides actionable insights, tooling experience, and documentation that support the wider adoption ofpassive testing in the automotive and embedded systems industry.