Development of configuration software for a test rig of electrical systems

Abstract

DSS Horten has an extensive test system designed to test and validate the products they design and manufacture for use in space. This test procedure is largely managed by an inhouse software called KNS-TS. KNS-TS relies on accurate XML files describing the configuration of hardware in any active test setup. These XML files are currently created and managed by hand. This thesis describes the work done in designing and implementing a software that can create these XML files. The focus of the thesis is on the complex relay matrices in use by anyone of these setups. The XML configuration files should be creatable from a clean sheet, or from import. The import can be from existing XML files or from design files with extension DXF. The software is developed using the unified process, an iterative, risk driven and use case based methodology. The software uses QT as a user interface library and is written in C++. The product must be developed with focus on future expansion of additional modules. The future goal of the software is to be able to create XML configuration files for several different modules. To achieve this the software must be well structured and ensure low coupling.

The software created during the thesis is shown to implement all the functional requirements given. The software has a structure that enables the development of future extensions.