Validation of complex vehicle systems of prototype vehicles

Complex vehicle systems (CVSs) are prototyping systems that are used to demonstrate a new functionality inside a prototype vehicle. This study focuses on an evolutionary validation process for CVSs based on a VMEbus architecture. Due to the prototype character of the system, its properties are subject to change throughout the development process. Therefore, a validation system that can be easily adapted to these changes is needed. The architecture of a feasible validation system will be described. For an exact validation of any kind of unit under test (UUT), the black-box principle should be used. To realize this kind of validation, the CVS has to be connected via its hardware interfaces to the mentioned validation system. An alternative methodology, which looks directly inside the software of the CVS, will be presented. In this case, the connection of the UUT via its hardware interfaces is avoidable. The mentioned methodology slightly affects the discovery of failures, but there is a large benefit in development time. This kind of validation shifts the test process from the road to the laboratory. The operation of such a validation system will be shown by an example.