Automatic test-case generation for hardware-in-the-loop testing of automotive body control modules

Abstract

This paper reports an automatic method for creating test cases for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing of the body control module (BCM) for automobiles. First, test cases are generated automatically using Unified Modeling Language (UML) modeling software with an automatic test generation add-on. In this work, Rhapsody from IBM with the automatic test generator (ATG) add-on is used to generate automatic test cases. Then, these test cases are converted into Extensible Markup Language (XML) Metadata Interchange (XMI) format. From this XMI format file, test cases for HIL are generated by mapping stimuli such as digital input/output, analog input/output, and controller area network (CAN) interfaces. For this mapping procedure, the pros and cons of Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) and XML Query Language (XQuery) are discussed. In addition, the advantages of generating hardware test cases using model-in-the-loop (MIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) test cases are addressed. Once the HIL test cases are generated, they are downloaded to the HIL test system for real-time testing. This study used a National Instruments PXI-based hardware platform and LabWindows/CVI for the HIL system. The test conversion method discussed here can be used to test cases generated by any kind of test-case generator, as long as they can be converted into XMI format. This saves a great deal of effort compared with manual test-case generation for hardware tests, and the efficiency of the development process can be improved. Copyright © 2013 SAE International.