Regressive model approach to the generation of test trajectories

One aspect of system safety assurance is the application of large test sets. To aid in the development of test cases, researchers have investigated automated test generation systems which decrease the time and cost of acquiring new tests. Many automated systems currently exist, but few address the generation of trajectories of data. A trajectory is defined as a series of data points with each point relying upon the state of the system and previous point values. Examples of trajectories include an airplane´s flight path or data describing a nuclear reaction. The paper describes an original approach to test trajectory generation using statistical regression models. An existing small set of trajectories is utilized to build regressive models. Then, the independent variables of the model can be perturbed, providing the basis for the use of the regressive model in the generation of new trajectories. A case study has been conducted within the scope of testing the sensor failure detection, identification, and accommodation (SFDIA) flight control scheme. We report and evaluate the results of this case study