Introduction - Adeptness

What is Adeptness?

The ADEPTNESS project seeks to investigate and implement a streamlined and automatic workflow that makes methods and tools to be seamlessly used during design phases as well as in operation. This will be carried out by proposing a novel embedded microservices-based architecture for the context of CPSoS.

We will explore the generation and reuse of test cases and oracles from initial phases of the development to the system in operation and back to the laboratory for reproduction. Integrated into this workflow, unforeseen situations will also be detected in operation to enhance development models for increasing resilience.

We will consider several aspects of uncertainties (such as uncertainties in the environment, uncertainty produced due to timing aspects of CPSoS, uncertainty in networks, etc.). Additionally, automatic and synchronised deployment techniques will be investigated to improve the agility of the whole workflow that covers the design-operation continuum.

Last, but not least, having test oracles and unforeseen situation detectors running in operation will permit (1) to test new software releases of the CPSoS “on the fly” and (2) increase their resilience by communicating these entities with recovery mechanisms for exceptional cases where a severe fault or a risky unforeseen situation has been detected.

Objectives

Improve the sofware quality of CPSoS

We will demonstrate an increase in software quality shown by an enhance in resilience as a result of operation mechanisms and a better understanding of the system.
Reduce the re-commisioning cost of software releases for CPSoS

We will demonstrate, for a number of tasks in deployment, validation and testing scenarios and recommissioning activities that the use of our implemented workflow can reduce the total effort (in personhours) required to perform the task by at least 50% when compared to the current fragmented and semimanual workflow.
Increase synergies between sector-leading companies and academic partners

To make the research methods impactful, academic and industrial partners need to collaborate. On the one hand, the collaboration between academic and industrial partners will ensure that the proposed methods during the project scale to real-world industrial use-cases. On the other hand, the developed methods can be integrated with professional tools from tool providers and also be used for consultancy services by service providers; this allows for the maintenance of the developed tools once the project ends.

Expected outcomes

Reduced recovery time

We will demonstrate a reduction of 80% of the time to recovery and an 80% of the cost to recovery by online continuous validation and detection of unforeseen situations that activate recovery mechanisms. This will permit improving the resilience of the system.
Reduced number of bugs

We will demonstrate a 60% reduction of bugs in re-commissioning by analysing collected information to improve the knowledge of the systems and tracing operation data to development artefacts.
Reduced deployment effort

We will demonstrate a reduction of 80% of the deployment effort by automating a synchronized deployment, validation of the new version and proposing techniques for the efficient and effective roll back to the previous software release version if a fault has been detected in operation and requires an immediate downgrade.

Use-cases

Elevation domain

Most of the new functionality in lifts installation is provided by software. A single lift has more than 500 kLOC, which needs to be parametrised to the building characteristics, increasing the complexity of the development and validation. The software has a long life, more than 10 years.
Railway domain

The Bombardier MITRAC Train Control Management System (TCMS) is a high capacity, infrastructure backbone built upon an open standard IP-technology that allows easy integration of all control and communication functions onboard the train. It is considered as the centre of the distributed system that controls the flow of information both on the train between the different subsystems like converters, doors, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning and also between the train and the ground.