Publication Date

8-2013

Type of Culminating Activity

Thesis

Degree Title

Master of Science in Computer Engineering

Department

Computer Science

Supervisory Committee Chair

Sin Ming Loo, Ph.D.

Abstract

The conspicuously massive growth in the number of products utilizing capacitive touchscreen technology has raised awareness of the technology. The embedded system used to detect and report finger touches to the host is fairly complex and difficult to verify. An automated verification system is required to systematically test this type of system in a reasonable amount of time. This thesis describes the framework for an automated verification system for embedded capacitive touchscreen systems. The framework includes a Cartesian desktop robot, test instruments, communications bridge, and custom-built test management software. The criteria for selecting a Cartesian desktop robot rather than a SCARA robot are discussed. The SCARA robot provides quicker but less precise movements, while the Cartesian desktop robot supports a larger payload and accommodates more touchscreen panels in its work envelope. The criteria for choosing to develop custom-built test management software instead of purchasing existing off-the-shelf test management are also discussed. Both solutions support hardware abstraction, verification procedures, procedure sequencing, and output of the results. The custom-built solution is more flexible, providing access to how the software framework is implemented and allowing adjustments as needed. Off-the-shelf solutions are limited in what customizations they support and often have unnecessary features that utilize valuable computing resources.

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