Scientific publications

Structural comparison of state machine models – such as labeled transition systems and (extended) finite automata – is used for numerous applications, such as finding potential behavioral regressions in new oftware versions, evaluating the accuracy of different model learning algorithms, and fingerprinting software for security applications.

The diagnosis of complex systems benefits greatly from a differential, multistep approach that narrows down the list of possible conditions or failures that share the same observable effects to a single root cause. We provide a suitable and practically applicable methodology for this. In extension to existing work, it covers all types of diagnostic actions, i.

Software developers often use logs to, e.g., investigate bugs, familiarize themselves with the underlying system, or improve performance. To do so, they commonly rely on text editors or their own scripts. This lack of appropriate tooling remains a primary challenge in the industrial application of log analysis (state-of-the-practice), despite many tools and techniques proposed by previous scientific studies (state-of-the-art).

Usability is a recognized quality of software and complex systems. To investigate relevance of usability methodologies for specialized software tools, this exploratory project surveyed the literature, interviewed three TNO-ESI industry partners on their needs, and scanned the usability knowledge landscape in Dutch universities.

Ensuring safety and security on today’s systems, and systems of systems (SoS), has become a challenge. Systems have become large and complex, they operate in dynamic context and face an ever-changing threatlandscape. Realistically, potential hidden weaknesses and residual flaws must be expected in an SoS, potentially causing undesired emergent behavior.

A critical task for system operators is the precise identification of the root causes underlying an error situation. This identification is fundamental in deciding optimal maintenance actions, such as replacing a component versus calibrating it. However, the actual causes of an error are often neither measured nor unique.

Onboarding developers is a difficult task that many companies are faced with every day. One solution would be to have developers read the documentation for the codebase, but documentation can be incomplete and even incorrect. An alternative would be using tools for program comprehension to understand the codebase, with hybrid program analysis being one of the possible ways to infer information from the program and its code.

With the support of TNO-ESI, Canon Production Printing is stepping up its optimization game from a single printer to a complete print production line, including the human factor.