Dependability verification of nanosatellite embedded software supported by a reusable Test System

The use of CubeSats has increased tremendously over the 15 years since the standard creation because the low cost and reduced project development cycle. However, one of the most concerns in reducing a project delivery time is the collateral effect in test process, resulting in failures in the mission operation. This paper proposes the combined use of the Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) and Model-Base Testing (MBT) approaches in the Validation and Verification (V&V) process of a nanosatellite mission, focusing on an evolved way to measure the dependability requirements of the interoperable on-board software. The proposal counts on a reusable Test System (TS) based on Arduinos that are integrated in the engineering model of the Cubesat architecture via (IC)-C-2 bus. From the behavioral models of both the on-board computer and the satellite payloads, source code can be generated in order to be embedded in the Arduinos, prototyping in the TS the expected behavior of the interactions between the specified subsystems. These models can also be useful to derive test suites following a MBT approach. Thus the TS can support the execution of different test cases at different stages of development of the software intensive subsystems. The proposed V&V process is discussed in the context of a particular nanosatellite named NanosatC-Br2 under development at INPE.