Applying Model-based Software Product Line Testing Approaches to the Automation Engineering Domain

Abstract

Abstract The software constitutes a major part of nowadays automation systems being responsible for conducting complex control tasks. Machines and plants are often unique in some industrial branches; hence, they become mechatronic products configured individually. The inherent software variability of those highly-configurable systems makes efficient, yet accurate quality assurance a challenging task. This article presents a comprehensive approach for applying model-based software product line testing techniques to the automation engineering domain. Existing approaches for variability modeling are adapted to domain specific modeling languages to allow for variability-aware test case generation and execution. The implementation of the approach is evaluated by means of a sample automation system product line.