The Herrenberg Steinbeis team’s SimOps learning platform enables software development in realistic conditions
According to the Standish Group’s 2020 Chaos Report, agile project management methods generally deliver better results [1]. Companies reported that just 13% of traditionally planned and executed waterfall projects were successful, while 28% experienced challenges and 59% failed. By contrast, far fewer agile projects failed and far more succeeded. In fact, just 11% of agile projects failed, while 47% had challenges and 42% succeeded. Although this doesn’t mean that agile methods are always better than more traditional approaches, their chances of succeeding are often significantly higher. That’s why software developers, project managers and test managers now often use agile methods in their projects as a means of delivering rapid results. The learning platform developed by the team at Steinbeis Interagierende Systeme GmbH allows users to experience modern project management methods and can be used as a teaching and HR development tool.
Simulator visualization of the lidar sensor
Complete system development projects often have a long history and several pre-existing development results and tools. Unlike IT systems, an additional challenge with embedded systems is that the software is functionally constrained by conditions in the physical environment. This means that, when developing automated driving functions, for example, it is necessary to take the real-world environment (road, traffic, weather, etc.) into account, since this has a major influence on the vehicle’s desired behavior. Testing must therefore be carried out in real-world environments or the environment must be simulated well enough to enable laboratory testing – hence high quality digital twins are needed.
Testing functionality with DevOps and SimOps
Toolchains and processes that deliver swift feedback from a realistic customer environment are generally referred to as “DevOps” (Development and Operations). Embedded systems face the additional challenge of using software tools to predict real-world behavior. This can be done by simulating the system in its environment, for example. The Steinbeis experts in Herrenberg use the term “SimOps” (Simulation and Operations) if these simulations are automated and used at an early stage within the DevOps tools.
“The SimOps approach is designed to enable early testing of an embedded system’s behavior in a simulation of its physical environment. It thus constitutes a paradigm for software development and operations”, says project manager Fabian Hutzenlaub. SimOps uses simulations to enable rapid feedback on a system’s behavior when operating in its usual environment. The
term describes the combination of DevOps and simulation-driven development. As Steinbeis expert Steffen Wittel explains, “SimOps highlights the importance of integrating a simulator into the overall software development and operations process, especially in the automotive industry.” In order for it to make its own, agile contribution to projects like this, it is therefore necessary to understand the existing software and how the DevOps tools are used.
Simulation-based learning in realistic conditions
The aim of the SimOps learning platform developed by the Steinbeis experts in Herrenberg is to help people learn this SimOps development methodology using the example of the first automated driving functions. The core of the platform comprises a simulator with a digital twin of the real test vehicle, which is equipped with cameras, lidar and ultrasonic sensors. Users of the platform can thus experience simulation-driven development in realistic conditions. Learning by doing is key to this approach. Users learn how agile methods work in practice in complex software development projects. They get the opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge to the test by playing the role of developers, testers or project managers.
The learning platform has already proven its worth for students focused on both hardware and software features. It allows them to put the theoretical knowledge acquired in their studies into practice using agile methods and technologies. As well as consolidating their knowledge, the opportunity to directly apply what they have learned enables them to experience the process of putting theory into practice in the presence of constraints and thus learn how theory and practice may differ in real-world scenarios.
In this way, the SimOps learning platform helps to prepare students for the world of work, as well as supporting continuing professional development. It allows professional developers or new teams to gain advanced experience in order to tackle development, management and verification challenges. The SimOps platform offers people the chance to further their own development by experiencing agile working methods in short workshops.