Test case generation approach for industrial automation systems

The need for increasing flexibility of industrial automation system products leads to the trend to shift functional behavior from hardware solutions to software components. This trend causes an increasing complexity of software components and the need for comprehensive and automated testing approaches to ensure a requested quality level. Nevertheless, a key task in software testing is to identify appropriate test cases typically requiring high effort for test case generation and rework effort for adapting test cases in case of requirements changes. Semi-automated derivation of test cases based on models, like UML, can support test case generation. In this paper we introduce an automated test case generation approach for industrial automation applications which are specified by UML state chart diagrams. In addition we present a prototype application of the presented approach for a sorting machine. Major results showed that state charts (a) can support efficient test case generation and (b) enable automated code generation of test cases and code for the industrial automation domain.