Build automation
Automate builds for the relevant targets and variants with a defined toolchain, so results do not depend on an individual workstation.
Focus topic
CI & Continuous Testing for Embedded Software
Give every software change the same build, the same tests and a result the team can trust, without waiting for a manual test cycle.
Continuous integration and continuous testing (CI/CT) for embedded software has to deal with cross-compilation, target hardware and long-running tests. The scope can be a first pipeline for one component, the stabilisation of an unreliable one, or a test stream that includes hardware benches.
A continuous testing pipeline for embedded software
Each change moves through progressively slower and more realistic checks. Highlighted steps are typical automation scope.
- ChangeCommit or merge request
- Automated buildTargets and variants
- Unit and component testsFast feedback
- Integration testsSimulated or on target
- ReportResults linked to configuration
Feedback to the developer
What the work covers
The agreed assignment determines which activities are included and where the responsibility boundary sits.
Test stages and orchestration
Arrange checks from fast to slow, from unit and component tests to integration tests, and coordinate their prerequisites and order.
Reproducible environments
Define test environments so software, dependencies and settings can be recreated. Containerised approaches may be used where relevant.
Hardware in the pipeline
Connect target hardware or test benches to automated execution where the tests require them, with clear handling of shared equipment.
Reporting and maintenance
Generate reports that link results to the configuration that produced them, and maintain the pipeline as the product and its tests change.
Typical starting points
Regression testing is manual and cannot keep up with the rate of change.
The pipeline exists, but results differ between runs and failures cannot be reproduced.
Hardware tests run separately from software builds and their results arrive too late.
Example engineering outputs
Outputs are assignment-dependent and agreed for each engagement.
Automated build and test workflows for the agreed scope.
Reproducible environment definitions.
Test orchestration, including hardware stages where agreed.
Generated reports and operation or maintenance documentation.
Common questions
Which CI system do you use?
The pipeline is normally built around the systems the project already uses. Where no system exists yet, the choice is discussed during scoping.
Can tests on real hardware be automated?
Often, yes. It depends on how the hardware can be controlled, flashed and observed. The assessment is part of scoping, and manual steps that remain are stated explicitly.
Who maintains the pipeline afterwards?
Operation and maintenance responsibility is defined alongside implementation. It can be handed over with documentation or continue as an agreed service.
Part of
Test Automation & Engineering Infrastructure
Repeatable test environments, automated execution and engineering feedback workflows, including orchestration, test data and reporting.
Discuss a build pipeline, test automation gap or repeatability problem.
Describe the current state, the interfaces involved and the result you need. Leave confidential technical files out of the first message.