A JavaScript-based solution, this advanced integration verification engine is said to be the first of its kind and automates the operation of networkable instrumentation to exercise a device under test (DUT) and verify that its hardware and software are functioning together as intended.
BELIeVE can also be used for continuous integration (CI) and end-of-line quality assurance in manufacturing scenarios.
During product development, BELIeVE can be used to inject faults and mimic events/conditions that would otherwise be hard to replicate. In addition, reports are automatically generated, which is of great benefit to engineers that must demonstrate their designs were thoroughly verified; for safety-critical applications, for example, but also in terms of good engineering practice.
Commenting Peter Wrigley, Managing Director of Bermondsey Electronics, said, “BELIeVE is all about providing confidence in a design and going to market quickly with thoroughly verified products, it’s as simple as that. Also, BELIeVE epitomises everything that is good about automation, such as repeatability and being able to run tests during out-of-office hours, which makes great use of the instrumentation in which the user has already invested.”
Wrigley went on to say that BELIeVE is effectively a new kind of embedded system development tool, one that builds on the well-proven test-driven development (TDD) methodology, with which software engineers will be familiar.
While BELIeVE has been developed to bring the product’s real hardware into the equation it also allows the creation of a simulated environment in which the DUT can operate. Once networked with instrumentation – such as benchtop power supplies, oscilloscopes, dataloggers, DMMs – BELIeVE runs scripts that can, for example, change input power, drive analogue and digital inputs, and record outputs. It is also possible to simulate user interactions, such as keypad button pushes and switch throws, meaning test can run unattended.
BELIeVE is available in two versions:
- BELIeVE-DV, which is intended for design and verification work and is supplied with editable interface libraries so that engineers can write their own tests. Enabled user interfaces include Test Manager, Project Manager, Test Editor and Command Line Interface.
BELIeVE is supplied with a Getting Started guide, sample interfaces (including BLE and ANT+ serial ports), a comprehensive list of Test Editor commands and comes with up to 10 hours of free support from Bermondsey’s technical specialists.
- BELIeVE-QA is for use in product manufacturing scenarios, or as part of a CI toolchain, and runs on the PC’s command line. It is supplied with a Getting Started guide and a node-locked licence.
Fully functional evaluation versions of BELIeVE-DV and -QA can be downloaded from Bermondsey Electronics’ website and will function for 30 days before requiring a licence.
“Like all good inventions, BELIeVE was born of necessity,” concluded Wrigley. “We needed a highly capable integration verification engine to support our own design and test services. When we presented the verification engine at UKEmbedded in May this year, the audience reaction was staggering. In just a little over four months we have commercialised a powerful embedded systems verification tool we feel has the potential of transforming the industry.”
