Automated testing of the integrated computer control system at the National Ignition Facility

This paper describes the Automated Shot Tester (AST), a test automation framework designed to comprehensively test experiments performed using the Nation Ignition Facility’s (NIF) Integrated Computer Control System (ICCS). The AST enables the automatic testing of diverse experiment configurations on an emulated test system instead of real hardware and eliminates the need for human intervention. While the actual control system is operated by a team of 12, AST acting on their behalf represents significant effort savings while assuring testing fidelity. The AST considerably enhances testing efficiency and expands the range of test configurations compared to the manual method. The AST is a complete end-to-end framework that manages and monitors the state and condition of ICCS software throughout an experiment. This approach is made possible by leveraging ICCS’s distributed architecture and middleware, which enables the AST to receive state updates via the ICCS pub-sub system and trigger commands based on a user-specified configuration file. This file creates modularity and expandability, allowing the AST to exercise a library of test case scenarios, and facilitates the creation of new experiments to be added to integration tests. This testing, along with unit, component, and manual tests, ensure software quality at the NIF. This paper will focus on the design of the AST, the benefits gained from automation and conclude with proposed future enhancements.