Guided semi-automatic system testing in factory automation

Automated production systems (APS) in factory automation possess a high quality standard and complexity that poses high demands on quality assurance. Especially in later phases of system development, functional tests regarding the integrated behavior of software and hardware, so called system tests, are performed. As methods and tools for system testing are lacking or not applicable in this domain, manual testing currently is the prevalent approach for testing factory automation systems. Due to this and scarce resources during testing, this results in varying test quality as well as minimal documentation. Reproducibility and traceability of performed tests is low, prohibiting assessments of test quality and transparency for customers and the engineering company. In the approach presented in this paper, we aim to increase reproducibility, transparency and measurability of system testing in factory automation by including a human operator in a guided, semi-automatic system testing process via a human machine interface. Through this, the flexibility of the human operator is combined with the precision and resource efficiency of automated testing, not requiring costly simulation models or specialized testing personnel. The approach was developed in accordance with industrial requirements and was qualitatively evaluated with a group of expert using a real industrial automation system.