Development of a pipeline to allow continuous development of software onto hardware : Implementation on a Raspberry Pi to simulate a physical pedal using the Hardware In the Loop method

Abstract: Saab want to examine Hardware In the Loop method as a concept, and how an infrastructure of Hardware In the Loop would look like. Hardware In the Loop is based upon continuously testing hardware, which is simulated. The software Saab wants to use for the Hardware In the Loop method is Jenkins, which is a Continuous Integration, and Continuous Delivery tool. To simulate the hardware, they want to examine the use of an Application Programming Interface between a Raspberry Pi, and the programming language Robot Framework. The reason Saab wants this examined, is because they believe that this method can improve the rate of testing, the quality of the tests, and thereby the quality of their products.The theory behind Hardware In the Loop, Continuous Integration, and Continuous Delivery will be explained in this thesis. The Hardware In the Loop method was implemented upon the Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery tool Jenkins. An Application Programming Interface between the General Purpose Input/Output pins on a Raspberry Pi and Robot Framework, was developed. With these implementations done, the Hardware In the Loop method was successfully integrated, where a Raspberry Pi was used to simulate the hardware.