Automotive Validation Using Python to Control Test Equipment and Automate Test Cases

Validation plays a crucial role in any Electronic Development process. This is true in the development of any automotive Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that utilizes the Automotive V process. From Research and Development (R&D) to End of Line (EOL), every automotive module goes through a plethora of Hardware (HW) and Software (SW) testing. This testing is tedious, time consuming, and inefficient. The purpose of this paper is to show a way to streamline validation in any part of the automotive V process using Python as a driving force to automate and control Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) / Model-in-the-loop (MIL) / Software-in-the-loop (SIL) validation. The paper will propose and outline a framework to control test equipment, such as power supplies and oscilloscopes, load boxes, and external HW. The framework includes the ability to control CAN communication signals and messages. A visual Graphical User Interface (GUI) has also been created to provide simplified operation to the user without knowledge of the backend. This provides a user-friendly display to synchronize multiple SW and HW toolsets together. The proposed methodology creates an efficient automation suite that can be tailored to any type of validation. The GUI provides portability, diversity, and simplicity, which allows for a streamline and efficient process for validation. The paper will refer to user cases to demonstrate the process and setup to perform functionality followed by the conclusion.