Test automation for HiDraw Control System applications : Defining test-case artifacts for a function block programming language.

Sammanfattning

The energy sector is the backbone of our society, playing a pivotal role in enabling a sustainable future. As the global grid expands, efficient energy transportation becomes increasingly crucial, especially with the incorporation of renewable energy sources like offshore wind farms and desert-based solar panels. Currently, the most effective method for long-distance energy transmission is through high voltage direct current connections. This is achieved through converter stations that convert alternating current to direct current, and vice versa. Control and protection systems serve as the brain of these stations. Given that most engineers in the energy sector have backgrounds in electrical power, rather than programming, these systems are often developed using visual programming tools instead of text-based coding. Within Hitachi Energy, the function block programming tool HiDraw is employed for designing the control and protection systems. Traditionally, testing for this visual programming tool and real-time systems has been conducted manually, requiring direct access to the hardware. However, the development of a virtual platform now enables the HiDraw application to run without physical hardware, presenting an opportunity for more efficient testing methods as the demand for high voltage direct current stations grows. This project explores the definition of a test-case artifact for a visual programming language using data from the virtual platform, investigating automated testing methods for visual programming languages and the integration of test-case artifacts for automated testing. We present a proof-of-concept for automating tests via the virtual platform and discuss the potential for constructing a test framework suitable for use with a visual programming tool and the simulation platform. HiDraw serves as our case study, with a particular focus on test automation capabilities, scalability, and ease of use. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of defining and running test-case artifacts to represent tests within HiDraw and the virtual platform, evaluating these based on various criteria assessing the effectiveness and scalability. Through multiple iterations, we improved the solution, achieving a 28% reduction in execution time compared to the first iteration. We also showcased linear growth in execution, space, and memory allocation. This research highlights the potential for automated testing in systems traditionally reliant on manual testing and hardware, underscoring the benefits of automated testing within control and protection systems.