Towards automatic model-in-the-loop testing of electronic vehicle information centers

In recent years, the automotive industry has undergone a great change in the development process of new electronic control systems. One of the mostly adopted development technique in this context is the Model-In-the-Loop (MIL): In early stages of development, the MIL testing is used as a validation technique, supporting the execution of repeatable test sequences in a software simulation environment. In this paper we present a testing process aimed at automating the testing process in MIL of the Electronic Vehicle Information Center, an embedded system providing the digital control panel used for human-machine-interaction in cars. The process allows the automatic execution of test cases and the analysis of testing results, exploiting image processing and visual testing techniques. An example of using the process in a real industrial case study shows the suitability and the efficiency of the proposed testing automation approach.