ArduPilot Unit Tests

ArduPilot’s Unit Test suite allows for the creation of repeatable tests which help prevent regressions in ArduPilot’s internal functions. It is based on Google’s GTest Framework.

Using ArduPilot’s Unit Tests can:

  • make your development process more efficient by reducing time spent repeatedly running the same tests to force the same inputs to a function time and again

  • allow you to repeatedly replicate bad behaviour in an ArduPilot function, and possibly ship that test to a developer capable of fixing the issue (“test-driven-development”)

  • reduce the chances of a regression in an ArduPilot function’s behaviour by locking in tests for that function’s behaviour

Overview

The Unit test suite is run on ArduPilot’s autotest server on most commits to the master branch, but can be run locally to vet software changes. Adding tests is straight-forward and encouraged to prove a function’s correctness after a change.

Running Unit Tests

The Unit Tests require an environment in which the ArduPilot executables can be compiled. The easiest way to obtain this is to create a SITL testing environment. Use the SITL instructions (SITL) to obtain a valid environment. It is suggested the ArduPilot Vagrant virtual machine configuration files be used to obtain a working environment.

Invocation

Note

These tests work well under Linux. Operation under different environments is unknown.

The unit tests are compiled using the waf build tool:

pbarker@bluebottle:~/rc/ardupilot(master)$ ./waf configure --board=linux --debug
Setting top to                           : /home/pbarker/rc/ardupilot
Setting out to                           : /home/pbarker/rc/ardupilot/build
Autoconfiguration                        : enabled
.
.
.
Scripting runtime checks                       : enabled
Checking for program 'rsync'                   : /usr/bin/rsync
'configure' finished successfully (1.085s)
pbarker@bluebottle:~/rc/ardupilot(master)$ ./waf tests
Waf: Entering directory `/home/pbarker/rc/ardupilot/build/linux'
Waf: Leaving directory `/home/pbarker/rc/ardupilot/build/linux'
.
.
.
tests/test_polygon                                    204433   7056   1352  212841
tests/test_segment_intersection                       193839   5832   1288  200959
tests/test_vector2                                    210539   6472   1320  218331

Build commands will be stored in build/linux/compile_commands.json
'tests' finished successfully (2.249s)

You can then simply run the test from the build directory:

pbarker@bluebottle:~/rc/ardupilot(master)$ ./build/linux/tests/test_vector2
 [==========] Running 7 tests from 1 test suite.
 [----------] Global test environment set-up.
 [----------] 7 tests from Vector2Test
 [ RUN      ] Vector2Test.IsEqual
 [       OK ] Vector2Test.IsEqual (0 ms)
 [ RUN      ] Vector2Test.angle
 [       OK ] Vector2Test.angle (0 ms)
 [ RUN      ] Vector2Test.length
 [       OK ] Vector2Test.length (0 ms)
 [ RUN      ] Vector2Test.normalized
 [       OK ] Vector2Test.normalized (0 ms)
 [ RUN      ] Vector2Test.reflect
 [       OK ] Vector2Test.reflect (0 ms)
 [ RUN      ] Vector2Test.closest_point
 [       OK ] Vector2Test.closest_point (0 ms)
 [ RUN      ] Vector2Test.circle_segment_intersectionx
 [       OK ] Vector2Test.circle_segment_intersectionx (0 ms)
 [----------] 7 tests from Vector2Test (0 ms total)

 [----------] Global test environment tear-down
 [==========] 7 tests from 1 test suite ran. (0 ms total)
 [  PASSED  ] 7 tests.

Using with GDB

The tests can be run under GDB to trace problems:

pbarker@bluebottle:~/rc/ardupilot(master)$ gdb --quiet --args ./build/linux/tests/test_vector2
Reading symbols from ./build/linux/tests/test_vector2...done.
(gdb) break test_vector2.cpp:20
Breakpoint 1 at 0x81b9: file ../../libraries/AP_Math/tests/test_vector2.cpp, line 20.
(gdb) r
Starting program: /home/pbarker/rc/ardupilot/build/linux/tests/test_vector2
[Thread debugging using libthread_db enabled]
Using host libthread_db library "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libthread_db.so.1".
[==========] Running 7 tests from 1 test suite.
[----------] Global test environment set-up.
[----------] 7 tests from Vector2Test
[ RUN      ] Vector2Test.IsEqual
[       OK ] Vector2Test.IsEqual (0 ms)
[ RUN      ] Vector2Test.angle

Breakpoint 1, Vector2Test_angle_Test::TestBody (this=0x5555557c2b90)
    at ../../libraries/AP_Math/tests/test_vector2.cpp:20
20      EXPECT_FLOAT_EQ(M_PI/2, Vector2f(0, 1).angle());
(gdb)
self.send_debug_trap()

Using with Valgrind

The tests can be run under Valgrind’s memcheck too to trace memory problems:

pbarker@bluebottle:~/rc/ardupilot(master)$ valgrind --soname-synonyms=somalloc=nouserintercepts ./build/linux/tests/test_vector2
==7973== Memcheck, a memory error detector
==7973== Copyright (C) 2002-2017, and GNU GPL'd, by Julian Seward et al.
==7973== Using Valgrind-3.13.0 and LibVEX; rerun with -h for copyright info
==7973== Command: ./build/linux/tests/test_vector2
==7973==
[==========] Running 7 tests from 1 test suite.
[----------] Global test environment set-up.
[----------] 7 tests from Vector2Test
[ RUN      ] Vector2Test.IsEqual
[       OK ] Vector2Test.IsEqual (18 ms)
[ RUN      ] Vector2Test.angle
[       OK ] Vector2Test.angle (11 ms)
[ RUN      ] Vector2Test.length
[       OK ] Vector2Test.length (2 ms)
[ RUN      ] Vector2Test.normalized
[       OK ] Vector2Test.normalized (8 ms)
[ RUN      ] Vector2Test.reflect
[       OK ] Vector2Test.reflect (8 ms)
[ RUN      ] Vector2Test.closest_point
[       OK ] Vector2Test.closest_point (13 ms)
[ RUN      ] Vector2Test.circle_segment_intersectionx
[       OK ] Vector2Test.circle_segment_intersectionx (9 ms)
[----------] 7 tests from Vector2Test (81 ms total)

[----------] Global test environment tear-down
[==========] 7 tests from 1 test suite ran. (137 ms total)
[  PASSED  ] 7 tests.
==7973==
==7973== HEAP SUMMARY:
==7973==     in use at exit: 0 bytes in 0 blocks
==7973==   total heap usage: 234 allocs, 234 frees, 116,474 bytes allocated
==7973==
==7973== All heap blocks were freed -- no leaks are possible
==7973==
==7973== For counts of detected and suppressed errors, rerun with: -v
==7973== ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed: 0 from 0)
pbarker@bluebottle:~/rc/ardupilot(master)$

Unit Tests Structure

A directory in the ArduPilot source tree can contain a wscript file designating it as containing unit tests.

Each .cpp file in that directory is then considered a valid test, and will be included in the tests compiled when waf is invoked for the tests target.

Tests are present in the following directories at time if writing:

libraries/AP_Common/tests
libraries/AP_Math/tests
libraries/AP_ADSB/tests
libraries/AP_GPS/tests
libraries/AP_HAL/tests
libraries/AP_HAL/utility/tests
libraries/AP_HAL_Linux/tests

Adding a Unit Test

Generally copying an existing file aside and using it as the basis of your new tests is the way forward. See the GTest framework documentation for more information.