Research team
Expertise
Areas of his interest are model-based verification & validation of both software & hardware systems, model-based testing, and mutation testing. He is currently working on model-based ideal testing methods to show both the presence and absence of specific faults in software & hardware systems based on holistic testing (positive and negative testing (aka fuzz testing)) and mutation testing. He is also a scientific researcher at the EFFECTS project to integrate mutation testing of Simulink models in the industrial setting and at the EU-funded INNO2MARE project to model and test digital twins for maritime systems.
Advancing MUT4SLX: Towards Industrial Adoption of Mutation Testing for Simulink Models.
Abstract
Mutation testing is a recommended practice in industrial standards for functional safety, such as ISO 26262 and IEC 61508, which are common in model-based embedded system development. The main purpose of mutation testing is to diagnose and treat weaknesses in software test suites typically encoded in textual programming languages like C++. This method intentionally injects faults (mutants) into the code or model and measures how many are detected by the test suite, producing a mutant score that reflects the suite's quality. MUT4SLX is the first tool that supports mutant generation and execution for the graphical modelling languages Simulink and Stateflow. It is a proof-of-concept tool developed in close collaboration with an industrial partner as a deliverable of a Flanders Make project. MUT4SLX's unique selling proposition (USP) stems from its customisable mutation operators, which are modelled after realistic faults mined from an industrial bug database. These mutation operators can be expanded and adapted to new partners' needs. The Proof-of-Concept project proposed here aims to prepare MUT4SLX for industrial adoption by incorporating (i) requirement traceability and (ii) integration in DevOps pipelines. Based on feedback from our partners, we identified those two features as necessary preconditions for industrial adoption. After completing this POC-DEVELOP project, we plan to apply for a VLAIO Innovation mandate to establish a SPIN-OFF company. These are needed to deploy MUT4SLX in our target market, which includes safety-critical software-intensive systems where Simulink and Stateflow are commonly used (automotive, aerospace, railway, robotics, and energy industries). During the project, we will validate MUT4SLX with three potential users (a letter of intent is provided in the appendix) to increase the technology readiness level to 5 (validated in the relevant environment) and the commercial readiness level to 4 (value proposition). Our team currently consists of one chief technology officer (Onur Kilincceker), two software developers (Halim Ceylan and Remzi Bulutlu), and two senior persons (Serge Demeyer and Fatma Bozyigit) on the advisory board.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Demeyer Serge
- Co-promoter: Kilincceker Onur
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project