Model-Based Performance Testing for Robotics Software Components

Abstract

In complex technical systems like robotics platforms, a manifold of issues can impair their dependability. While common testing and simulation methods largely focus on functional aspects, the utilization of resources like CPU, network bandwidth, or memory is only rarely tested systematically. With this contribution we propose a novel Domain-Specific Language (DSL) for modeling performance tests for individual robotics components with the aim to establish a systematic testing process for detecting regressions regarding the resource utilization. This DSL builds upon a testing framework from previous research and aims to significantly reduce the effort and complexity for creating performance tests. The DSL is built using the MPS language workbench and provides a feature-rich editor with modern editing aids. An evaluation indicates that developing performance tests requires only one third of the work in comparison to the original Java-based API.