Robot Based Automated Testing Procedure Dedicated to Mobile Devices

Abstract

Automated testing procedures are very useful since they can save a lot of time and human effort. However, most of them are very rigid and focused on performing very particular tasks. While this may not be a problem in case of software testing, it may prove to be a real burden when hardware testing is aimed. In many cases, this is based on dedicated industrial robots which are expensive, very difficult to move from one location to another and, in addition, require a lot of reprogramming work when changing the test scenarios. Another known problem of the existing solutions is caused by the movement of tested device. Even a small change in position can generate faulty results and, because of this, an entire test can be missed. The practical study described in this paper is represented by a robot dedicated to automated testing of mobile devices. The main differences from similar solutions derive from: size (our robot is smaller and less heavy so is portable), costs (cheaper to build and maintain), independence of display type (resistive or capacitive) and robustness (is not affected by the movement of tested device).