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Inside of a Car looking from the backseat fowards the front, lots of numbers in the foreground

Quicker in development – the Remote Testlab

How vehicle manufacturers are optimizing development and test processes for embedded software with digital solutions

April 21 2021Hermann Hänle

“I run tests from home”

The Remote Testlab frees car manufacturers from the previous limitations of physical hardware tests. It makes location-independent test series possible, allows better utilization of prototypes and accelerates development cycles.

Software at the heart of the car

Woman sitting in a connected car making changes on the touch display

Cars are becoming increasingly intelligent and connected cars are the future. For example, they support their drivers with well-meaning advice on road safety ("Attention! The speed limit here is 50 kilometers per hour") or with regard to service: "Oil change and inspection due in 3100 kilometers". Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) form the modern interface between manufacturer and customer and contribute significantly not only to the usability of the car, but also to the overall brand experience. But this can become clouded if the display in an electric car prompts you to change the oil.

Testing is essential

It is possible that this could pass for a new form of "infotainment" – a head unit or instrument cluster in the vehicle that understands fun. What may seem rather curious in this example could be quite dangerous in other forms – or create legal problems (for example, if an instruction manual does not comply with the legal requirements). The software and hardware in the car must function perfectly. It's not just about providing the best experience for customers. In fact, flawless functionality – especially when cars are becoming increasingly "software-defined" – is a prerequisite for vehicle registration. 

Car manufacturers put a lot of energy into testing their hardware and software for good reason. A shift-left approach is becoming more and more established. The sooner errors are detected, the sooner they can be corrected and the less time and effort (and costs) is required. A error discovered early is a good error. An error discovered late causes development engineers to sigh deeply – and usually very loudly. The effects on a company's reputation and image are usually much greater than the actual fault in the machine itself.

Development with real, physical hardware

In early test phases, the hardware-software interaction can still be virtualized, but as the vehicle development project progresses, there comes a time when real hardware needs to be tested in conjunction with the software. And it usually becomes clear by then at the latest that the real hardware does not always behave as the developer wishes. Theory meets practice. The tests on and with the real hardware are therefore an essential part of quality assurance in vehicle development.

Traditionally, hardware components are physically put through their paces with special tools in test labs. The manual processing of test cases and the associated on-site presence are indispensable. Traveling or setting up a test site close to the place of development generates considerable costs. 

Test hardware as a rare resource

3 open laptops infront of a dark background, middle laptop shows remote test lab website 

However, while engineers can duplicate the software as often as they like (as long as they comply with licensing requirements), complex infotainment hardware such as a head unit, rear seat entertainment or tablets in the rear are not available in unlimited numbers during the test phase. In fact, there are usually no more than a handful of prototypes per development series, making them rare resources. This creates an imbalance, as the manufacturer has a limited number of prototypes and a large number of necessary tests.

Limits of traditional on-site tests

In traditional test labs, the engineers have to elbow their way in to get "their" test time with the prototypes. This is a little reminiscent of being told to "please draw a number and wait to be called". It is not difficult to understand that such test series must be well organized – and that no mistakes can be allowed to occur. Because that would extend the development time.

In a time when everyone is talking about digitalization, cars are getting digital services, and even buying a car is becoming digital, why should hardware testing remain one of the last bastions of the purely physical world?

Moving processes to the Internet 

If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything, it's that a lot of work can be done remotely. And indeed, in addition to long-term protection against infection, a “Remote Testlab” would offer a host of other advantages, perhaps not to circumvent physical limits, but to reduce them. The Remote Testlab would not only simulate the hardware being tested or access to it, but would allow you to work with the real hardware. Remote usability testing would also be possible. In our example, the head unit for the connected car would have to be operable via the typical channels: audio and touch – and remotely at that. A video stream is of course also essential for this.

Testing lab from the web – the Remote Testlab

remote testlab solution process showing steps: Remote client-orchestration-headunit lab-over the air supply

So let's take the test lab to the web. In accordance with data protection and security regulations, of course. The solution is fundamentally made up of four components.

1. A remote client must be available on the user's side through which the engineer can access the head unit. 

2. The head unit test lab with the real head unit hardware is on the other side. It is connected to the head unit computer via a CAN bus interface and a frame grabber. Real touch and swipe gestures can be produced by a control robot and authentic usability tests can be simulated.

3. An orchestration layer is required between the test lab and the remote client. It contains a database, an application server and takes care of web signaling.

4.  Over-the-air provisioning allows engineers to apply updates to the software on the head unit.
 
This means the head unit is still in its test lab, but the company's engineers no longer have to be on site to test it. The application server in the orchestration layer can then serve as a kind of test coordinator, centrally managing test times.

Greater flexibility, optimized testing

The Remote Testlab allows the mountain and Mohammed to stay where they are – and still come together. This means location-independent access to the head unit or the hardware. Test engineers can make the most of the 24/7 approach and save time by shortening test periods. When colleagues in India call it a day, those in Europe can immediately start using the tools for testing, followed by the U.S. teams. Hardware can thus be used more efficiently. In other words: one piece of hardware can be used for more frequent testing in a shorter period of time. This expedites the development of the vehicle. Or it may simply mean that fewer prototypes are needed.

This approach simultaneously serves the localization or internationalization of the vehicle and software. Companies can more easily adapt the product to the respective market, even though components from a Tier 1 partner are not always produced in the same market.

The fact that there is a sometimes significant contribution to the sustainability goals of companies is a topic that does not really need to be repeated. Travel times and the associated costs are eliminated. Centralized operations mean that less hardware has to be produced and shipped for development. What's more, our test lab at T-Systems even runs on 100 percent green power on the Open Telekom Cloud.

Until hardware can be cloned at will or digital twins have reached the appropriate level of maturity, the Remote Testlab will be a valuable tool and offers a strong alternative to "on-site testing". It frees testing teams from the need to work "face-to-face" with hardware. As a result, processes will become much faster and more flexible in the future, and vehicle manufacturers will be able to work more efficiently.

About the author
Porträt von Hermann Hänle, Senior Manager, Sales Marketing Automotive, T-Systems

Hermann Hänle

Head of Global Automotive Marketing, T-Systems International GmbH

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