This thesis deals with the analysis of application software for testing airconditioning units. The main objective of the work is to analyze the application software and create its documentation. On the basis of the documentation, the software problems are analyzed and the possible solutions are proposed. Within the thesis the technology of airconditioning units, the programmable logic controller FA-M3 and its programming tool Widefield are described.

Testing safety-critical systems, particularly those controlled by Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), is crucial for ensuring the safe and reliable operation of industrial processes. This thesis addresses the critical need for automated testing of safety-critical PLC systems used in various industrial settings. Despite the significance of testing, current practices rely heavily on manual methods, leading to challenges in scalability and reliability. This work investigates enabling test automation for PLCs to facilitate and assist the current manual testing procedures in the industry. The thesis proposes and evaluates test automation techniques and tools tailored to PLCs, focusing on Function Block Diagram and Structured Text languages commonly used in industry. We systematically compare test automation tools for PLC programs, after which we propose a PLC to Python translation framework called PyLC to facilitate automated test generation. The experiment employing the EARS requirement engineering pattern reveals that while engineers use semi-formal notations in varied ways to create requirements, leading to completeness issues, it confirms the viability of employing EARS requirements for PLC system testing. Subsequently, the proposed automation approaches are fully implemented and evaluated using real-world PLC case studies, comparing their efficiency against manual testing procedures. The findings highlight the feasibility and benefits of automating PLC testing, offering insights into improving development and testing processes through carefully selected automation tools for the CODESYS IDE, a well-known PLC development environment. Additionally, we show that leveraging Python-based automated testing techniques and mutation analysis enhances testing effectiveness. Furthermore, incorporating best practices in requirement engineering, as demonstrated by the EARS approach, contributes to further enhancing testing efficiency and effectiveness in PLC development. / VeriDevOps, SmartDelta

In order to test an automation code for a production cell it is necessary to have access to the physical model. Therefore, the automation code is validated in the end of the design process. Finding and correcting faults in the code takes time and changes late in the design process tend to be expensive. Having a virtual model of a production cell with the same features as a physical model enables to test automation code and evaluate different features in an early stage of development. The process of having a virtual model to validate code and try out new features is called Virtual Commissioning (VC). The ability to detect errors in the code and identify problems early in the process can lower the lead time for the project and reduce the overall cost. Virtual Commissioning is a relative new process step in the industry and have so far mainly used in larger enterprises. This project has been done at a company named NPB Automation AB, located in Jönköping, Sweden. NPB is a smaller company that designs and produces robot cells that are fully automated. This project is an investigate to see if a software that can perform a Virtual Commissioning should be added to their lineup of tools. This task has been managed by empirically finding how a Virtual Commissioning can be set up. To find out how Virtual Commissioning can affect different fields at the company interviews were held with personnel from different working fields. To get practical knowledge and verifying that Virtual Commissioning can be performed on a robot cell produced at the company, a Virtual Commissioning were set up of a subsystem of a robot cell. The Virtual Commissioning in this project was set up with the software Emulate3D connected to a Rockwell PLC model 1769- L33ERMS, the PLC code used were written in Studio 5000 Logix Designer. The conclusion of his project is that Virtual Commissioning can reduce time to market by reducing the commissioning time. The tasks where Virtual Commissioning will benefit the most is in new projects or when validating changes.