Autonomous skill-centric testing using deep learning

Software testing is an important tool to ensure software quality. This is a hard task in robotics due to dynamic environments and the expensive development and time-consuming execution of test cases. Most testing approaches use model-based and/or simulation-based testing to overcome these problems. We propose model-free skill-centric testing in which a robot autonomously executes skills in the real world and compares it to previous experiences. The skills are selected by maximising the expected information gain on the distribution of erroneous software functions. We use deep learning to model the sensor data observed during previous successful skill executions and to detect irregularities. Sensor data is connected to function call profiles such that certain misbehaviour can be related to specific functions. We evaluate our approach in simulation and in experiments with a KUKA LWR 4+ robot by purposefully introducing bugs to the software. We demonstrate that these bugs can be detected with high accuracy and without the need for the implementation of specific tests or task-specific models.