Established test methods such as Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) or vehicle tests are fundamentally very suitable for validating software and hardware. However, they do not scale well with a growing number of tests. Although HiL tests enable earlier verification of control units in the development cycle compared to vehicle tests, and thus require less effort, scalability is limited by the use of hardware resources. Additionally, HiL test benches are maintenance-intensive and require extensive resources such as personnel, space, and energy, which are associated with high costs.

To keep the cost and resource requirements in the test process as low as possible while ensuring high quality, ASAP developed the end-to-end validation system TestSphere. By applying TestSphere, the validation process is partially shifted to the virtual world and the test design unified to be used at SiL and HiL Systems without any major changes.

Abstraction through Keyword Driven Testing

At the heart of the HCLTech ecosystem is TestSphere, an advanced, keyword driven validation suite designed to optimize and simplify the validation process for automotive software. TestSphere integrates several key components, including requirements management, test design, and cross-platform execution, ensuring compatibility with existing tools and workflows.

The Keyword Driven Testing (KDT) service integrated into TestSphere according to ISO 29119-5 enables test designers to clearly separate the test logic from the test concrete implementation on the test system.

By using keywords in the logical test case, three key advantages arise that TestSphere utilizes:

Abstraction from the actual test system: By using keywords when creating test cases, they can be created independently of the test system. This facilitates cross-automation of test case execution. The KDT service implements logical test cases for specific test systems without manual steps.

Standardization of test steps: By standardizing test steps using the definition of simple and composite keywords, the likelihood of errors in test case development is reduced. Defined keywords can be reused in any test case and facilitate test case creation for non-programmers.

Modularity and scalability: By using composite keywords, individual test steps can be grouped together. By reducing the test steps, test cases become less complex. Additionally, adjustments and error corrections can be applied simultaneously to all existing test cases by changing the specification of a composite keyword.

The KDT framework integrated into TestSphere thus offers a structured and efficient method for creating and managing test cases, allowing the ever-increasing complexity to be broken down into smaller components and making handling easier.

AI-Supported Test Design with LLMs in TestSphere

In addition to the simplified creation of manual test cases, the clear structure of KDT also enables the generation of a test design proposals by artificial intelligence (AI) based on a Large Language Model (LLM) hosted locally at ASAP.

All relevant data for creating a test case, such as requirements, available keywords, or regulatory documents, are provided to the LLM using a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline and thus added to the prompt context. TestSphere uses a Gen AI platform developed by ASAP to ensure that customer data is protected and does not leave the ASAP infrastructure.

The AI integration supports:

Automated generation of test cases: This enables test case creation tailored directly to the project.

Context-based suggestions: The AI provides improvement recommendations for both test cases and requirements based on project-specific input.

Assisted test design: Features like intelligent auto-completion and context-aware support help developers and test designers work more efficiently.

Test case analysis: AI-based analysis helps identify gaps, inconsistencies, or optimization potential within existing test logic.

TestSphere is also an example of how AI solutions from HCLTech and ASAP significantly simplify and accelerate validation in the automotive industry.

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