Hello, I’m a fresher who just joined an automotive company and currently on the bench. I want to understand how automotive testing software is used in real-world scenarios.
What are the typical steps involved in manual testing of embedded systems in the automotive domain?
Also, what tools, languages, and testing levels (like unit, integration, system, or HIL testing) are usually involved in this field?
Any guidance would help me get started.
Hey and welcome to the automotive world! In my experience, manual testing in this field usually involves validating features on ECUs (Electronic Control Units) against functional requirements. You often work with CAN logs, HMI simulators, and maybe even real cars or HIL benches.
A typical manual test case might look like: “Turn the ignition ON, activate wipers via stalk switch, check that the system sends a CAN message X within Y milliseconds.”
You’d then record logs and analyze them using tools like CANoe or CANalyzer from Vector.
For a fresher, I’d recommend getting familiar with Vector CANoe, which is heavily used in both manual and automated testing. It lets you simulate ECUs, visualize network traffic, and even write CAPL scripts (C-like language) to simulate or monitor behavior.
You’ll often be working on integration or system-level testing, especially if you’re testing real-time interaction between components like ABS, ECU, infotainment, etc. Some companies also use tools like ETAS INCA, dSPACE, or NI Veristand for HIL (Hardware-in-the-Loop) setups.
In my case, manual testing wasn’t just “click and check”, we had to set up test benches, flash firmware to ECUs, inject faults (like disconnecting sensors), and log CAN traffic. Over time, we automated many of these tests with Python or CAPL.
Levels of testing you’ll hear a lot about:
Unit Testing (often handled by developers)
Integration Testing (validating interaction across modules)
System Testing (end-to-end checks on full vehicle networks)
HIL Testing (real ECU + simulated car environment)
If you’re on the bench now, it’s a great time to explore CAPL, Python scripting for test automation, or even how to read DBC files used in CAN message decoding.