Task-based Automated Test Case Generation for Human-machine Interaction

Abstract

Testing is an effective approach for finding discrepancies between intended and actual system behavior. However, the complexity of modern system can make it difficult for analysts to anticipate all the interactions that need to be tested. This is particularly true for human-interactive systems where humans may do things that were not anticipated by analysts. We address this by introducing a novel approach to automated test case generation for human-machine interaction. We do this by combining formal models of human-machine interfaces with formal models of human task behavior. We then use the robust search capabilities of model checking to generate test sequences guaranteed to satisfy test coverage criteria. We demonstrate the capabilities of our approach with of a pod-based coffee machine. Results and future research are discussed.