Model-based Test Automation for Automotive Human Machine Interfaces

The development process of automotive human machine interfaces (HMIs) is traditionally characterized by a number of discontinuities. A diverse set of stake-holders participate in this development process, all of which have their own perspectives, use their own approaches, and rely on their own representational frameworks and tools. Our strategy to overcome the existing discontinuities relies on a model-based approach: our goal is to use a formal HMI specification that serves as a common basis for all phases of the development process, including automated testing. Currently, our automated tests compare the HMI embedded control unit (ECU) against a prototype that has been derived partially from a formal specification. We are working toward being able to derive the prototype almost completely automatically from the specification and test the HMI ECU automatically against the formal specification.