Coverage-Driven Verification - An approach to verify code for robots that directly interact with humans

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Coverage-Driven Verification approach adapted from microelectronics to verify safety-critical human-robot interactions, demonstrated through a robot object handover task.

Contribution

It adapts and demonstrates the effectiveness of Coverage-Driven Verification for complex robot-human interaction scenarios, enhancing verification efficiency and coverage.

Findings

Effective automation of simulation-based testing for robots

Achieved comprehensive coverage in human-robot interaction verification

Validated approach through a practical object handover case

Abstract

Collaborative robots could transform several industries, such as manufacturing and healthcare, but they present a significant challenge to verification. The complex nature of their working environment necessitates testing in realistic detail under a broad range of circumstances. We propose the use of Coverage-Driven Verification (CDV) to meet this challenge. By automating the simulation-based testing process as far as possible, CDV provides an efficient route to coverage closure. We discuss the need, practical considerations, and potential benefits of transferring this approach from microelectronic design verification to the field of human-robot interaction. We demonstrate the validity and feasibility of the proposed approach by constructing a custom CDV testbench and applying it to the verification of an object handover task.