Post on 21-Jun-2020
Testing the Heathrow Terminal 5 Baggage Handling
System
Huub van der Wouden & Roger Derksen,
Transfer Solutions, The Netherlands
Th5
T
Testing the Heathrow
Terminal 5 Baggage
Handling System
Huub van der Wouden
Roger Derksen
Transfer Solutions
Vanderlande Industries
Presentation objectives (and side effects)
• To give you a flavour of the complexities of testing
a large system
• To give you a basic idea of how a baggage handling
system works
• To explain emulation testing, and its core position
in our test strategy
• To share our experiences with the use of emulation
3EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
London Heathrow T5 – Intro
4EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
T5 – Terminal
30 million
passengers a year
(Heathrow 90 M)
70.000 Bags
a day
Biggest free standing
UK building;
396 x 176 x 40 meterOpens March 27, 2008;
2nd satellite added 2011
T5 site 260 hectares;
as big as Hyde park
5EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007 6
T5 – Project
Cost:
6.5 billion euro
Broken down into
more than
100 sub-projects
(€ 45m-225m each)
On peak:
6000 people
working on T5
It will take approx.
37 million man-hours
to build T5
Construction
started 2002
The baggage handling system -
architecture
Logistics management Routes, destinations
Service management Flights, bags, services
Transport Management Transportation, flow control
Physical equipmentRaw conveyor,
Bagtrax, Cranes …
8EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
How to test?
• Largest threat to timely delivery:
construction delays
– Building
– Power, network, basic utilities
– Physical baggage handling system
• Site integration time often reduced – airport
opening date is fixed - “no time left”
• The ultimate risk mitigation strategy: start
early!
9EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
Component Testing
Integrated FAT
Factory Test Activities
Component FAT
Integration Testing
Unit Testing
Interface Testing
Unit Integration
Low Level Integration
High Level Integration
Commissioning (= LLC Component Testing)
Site Test Activities
Integration and System Testing
I/O Testing
Interface Testing
Software Configuration
Customer
Acceptance
Integrated SAT
Component SAT
Customer
Acceptance
Customer
Acceptance
Customer
Acceptance
Test process
10EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
Testing with emulation
• Emulation models – intelligent stubs that
model dynamic aspects of reality:
– Low-level emulation: model physical aspects
– High-level emulation: model physical aspects
plus part of controls
• Automod® simulation software
11EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
Low-level emulation & testingLow-level emulation
• Replaces physical equipment
• Interfaces with PLC
• Same electrical inputs/outputs
PLC
PC running emulation model
Conveyor area 1251
12EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
13EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
Component Testing
Integrated FAT
Factory Test Activities
Component
FAT
Integration Testing
Unit
Testing
Interface
Testing
Unit
Integration
Low Level
Integration
High Level
Integration
Low-level emulation & testingTesting using individual models
• Testing individual PLC software
• Static vs. dynamic functions
• Examples:
– Error handling and recovery
– Tracking bags
– Merge algorithms
– Interfaces to other components
Logistics management Routes,
destinations
Service management Flights, bags,
services
Transport ManagementTransportation,
flow control
Physical equipmentRaw conveyor,
Bagtrax, Cranes
14EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
Low-level emulation & testingTesting using integrated models
PLC
PC running emulation model
PLC PLC
High Level Controls
Conv Bagtrax Conv
Logistics Manager
Service Manager
15EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
Low-level emulation & testingTesting using integrated models
Component Testing
Integrated FAT
Factory Test Activities
Component
FAT
Integration Testing
Unit
Testing
Interface
Testing
Unit
Integration
Low Level
Integration
High Level
Integration
Logistics management Routes,
destinations
Service management Flights, bags,
services
Transport ManagementTransportation,
flow control
Physical equipmentRaw conveyor,
Bagtrax, Cranes
16EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
• Testing integrated system
behaviour
• Miniature baggage handling
system
• Several inputs & outputs
• Horizontal (PLC) integration
• Vertical integration (PLC – High
level controls)
Low-level emulation & testingTesting using integrated models
Example
Bagtrax®
High speed
transport
Unloading quay
(Transfer bag input)Build lateral
(Make up)
17EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
High-level emulation & testingHigh-level emulation
PLC
High Level Controls
Real-life situation
PLC
Equipment
Low-level emulation
PLC
High Level Controls
PLC
High-level emulation
High Level Controls
18EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
High-level emulation & testingHigh-level emulation
• Replace physical equipment
and PLC controls
• One model for entire transport
layer
• Realistic configuration
• Emulation of subsystems (incl.
controls software)
• Demo
High Level Controls
Logistics management Routes,
destinations
Service management Flights, bags,
services
Transport ManagementTransportation,
flow control
Physical equipmentRaw conveyor,
Bagtrax, Cranes
19EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
20EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
High-level emulation & testing
Subsystem Testing
• Test subsystems in isolation
• Example Early Bagstore
– Capacity of the store
– Flow control algorithms
– Error handling
21EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
High-level emulation & testing
Component Integration Testing
• Integrate all relevant HLC
components
• What is tested:
– Interfaces
– Business rules
– Time transitions
– Operational scenarios
– Performance
Component Testing
Integrated FAT
Factory Test Activities
Component
FAT
Integration Testing
Unit
Testing
Interface
Testing
Unit
Integration
Low Level
Integration
High Level
Integration
Logistics management Routes,
destinations
Service management Flights, bags,
services
Transport ManagementTransportation,
flow control
Physical equipmentRaw conveyor,
Bagtrax, Cranes
22EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
What remains: site testing
• Operational scenarios
• Operator positions
• Volume testing
Commissioning (= LLC Component Testing)
Site Test Activities
Integration and System Testing
I/O
Testing
Interface
Testing
Software
Configuration
Integrated
SAT
Component
SAT
• Integration
equipment – low
level controls
• System behaviour
with real baggage
Transport Management
Physical equipment
Logistics management
Service management
Transport Management
Physical equipment
23EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
Use of emulation - advantages
• Software more mature and robust - many problems found before going to site
• Integration testing at lower cost and with better control over environment
• Very realistic testing independent of availability of physical system
• Early start is possible!
24EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
Use of emulation - beware
• Effort to build models and test environments is considerable
– But reuse potential is high
• Models are complex software
– High level of quality required
– Models need validation
25EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007
Questions?
26EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, 6-12-2007