Online ISSN:1349-8606
Progress in Informatics  
No.4 March 2007  
Page 63-78 PDF(926KB) | References
doi:10.2201/NiiPi.2007.4.6
Quality Evaluation of Embedded Software in Robot Software Design Contest
Hironori WASHIZAKI1, Yasuhide KOBAYASHI2, Hiroyuki WATANABE3, Eiji NAKAJIMA4, Yuji HAGIWARA5, Kenji HIRANABE6 and Kazuya FUKUDA7
1National Institute of Informatics
2Afrel, Inc.
3OGIS-RI Co.
4Mamezou Co.
5CATS CO.
6Change Vision, Inc.
7Toyoko System Corp.
(Received: September 21, 2006)
(Revised: March 20, 2007)
(Accepted: March 27, 2007)
Abstract:
A robot design contest, called the “Embedded Technology (ET) Software Design Robot Contest,” which involves designing software to automatically control a line-trace robot, was held in Tokyo, in 2005. The contest was intended to provide a practical opportunity to educate young Japanese developers in the field of embedded software development. In this paper, we give the results of the contest from the viewpoint of software quality evaluation. We created a framework for evaluating software quality, which integrated the design model quality and the final system performance, and we conducted an analysis using this framework. As a result of the analysis, the quantitative measurement of the structural complexity of the design model was found to have a strong relationship to the qualitative evaluation of the design by the contest judges. On the other hand, no strong correlation between the design model quality evaluated by the judges and the final system performance was found. For embedded software development, it is particularly important to estimate and verify reliability and performance in the early stages, according to the design and analysis models. Based on the results, we consider possible remedies with respect to the models submitted, the evaluation methods used, and the contest specifications. To adequately measure several quality characteristics, including performance, in terms of a model, it is necessary to improve the approach to developing robot software (for example, by applying model-driven development) and to reexamine the evaluation methods.
Keywords:
Software quality, product metrics, robot contest, embedded software, software design, software model
PDF(926KB) | References

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