CD Laboratory for Automated Software Engineering

The scientific task is the research and development of methods and tools for the automation of important areas of software engineering. The general aim is to produce software faster, more cost-effectively and more reliably using innovative methods and automation.

For example, work is being done on methods for software product lines that can be used to model the similarities and differences of a family of software systems. Tools are being developed that support both experienced software engineers and end users such as sales staff or project managers in quickly creating new products based on existing software components.

In the field of automation software, notations and programming systems are being developed that are adapted to the mindset of non-IT end users and make it easier for them to create correct programmes. Work is also being carried out on techniques that can be used to record the behaviour of machine control programs in order to search for the cause of errors that occur and to detect anomalies and patterns in the program sequence. The testing of automation software is also an important topic.

Another area of research is concerned with techniques that can be used to break down complex programmes into components (so-called plugins) that can be assembled by users at runtime and without programming knowledge. In a second step, the developed plugin platform will also be expanded for web applications.

The research work is being carried out in cooperation with partners from the fields of industrial plant engineering, industrial automation and business software. The results will help to increase the degree of automation of software development in these areas.