Thesis Work: Use of Formal Methods vs. Traditional Software Component Tests

At ABB, we help industries outrun - leaner and cleaner. Here, progress is an expectation - for you, your team, and the world. As a global market leader, we’ll give you what you need to make it happen. It won’t always be easy, growing takes grit. But at ABB, you’ll never run alone. Run what runs the world.

This role sits within ABB's Robotics business, a leading global robotics company. We're entering an exciting new chapter as we’ve announced the plan for SoftBank Group to acquire ABB Robotics. SoftBank is a globally recognized technology group and investor/operator focused on AI, robotics, and next-generation computing.  By joining us now, you’ll be part of a pioneering team shaping the future of robotics—working alongside world-class experts in a fast-moving, innovation-driven environment.

This Position reports to:

Within ABB Robotics R&D System and Test department, we are proposing a master's thesis for the upcoming spring semester. One of the department's focus areas is to develop the software test infrastructure, tools, and methodologies.

Background

The complexity of the software in an ABB robot controller arises from its nature as a real-time system executing parallel tasks with varying priorities. Over 40 years of development by hundreds of engineers has resulted in source code representing thousands of man-years of software engineering effort.

The controller software is tested at multiple levels. At the most granular level, there are standalone component tests targeting individual functions, typically comprising a few hundred to a few thousand lines of code. A major difficulty is isolating the function under test (FUT), as it frequently depends on other functions. Many of which have further transitive dependencies. To enable isolation, these dependencies are replaced with stubs. Creating such stubs is a time-consuming task and demands enough sophistication to simulate various behaviors of the FUT accurately.

By applying formal methods, RITES (Rich Testing) introduce a new approach towards software testing. Tests are evaluated via analysis, instead of traditional execution, allowing for introduction of more powerful operators as well as more efficient testing.

RITES approach addresses test challenges by exploring all input values to the FUT and all possible return values of called functions. This eliminates the need for the developer to identify valid return values from called functions manually. Instead, the RITES tool evaluates the entire range of values defined by the return type. From a testing standpoint, this is more comprehensive than assuming only valid or expected outcomes in stubs.

Thesis work

A comparative study: RITES approach versus “classic” approaches and measure perceived effort, fault detection, flakiness, etc. Including creating some examples of Rites applied on ABB Robotics controller software.

Details

• Period: January-June 2026
• Number of credits: 30 ECTS (Master's thesis)
• Number of students: 1-2
• Location: Robotics R&D office at Finnslätten, Västerås

Your role and responsibilities

• Comparative study: RITES vs. “classic” approaches and measure some perceived effort, fault detection, flakiness
• Suggestions and modifications of thesis work are appreciated
• The thesis work is independent, but you will be a part of an agile scrum team feeling the pulse of the daily work in the team
• You will have a dedicated supervisor helping you in the right direction and a lot of possibilities to influence the way forward as you see fit

Your background

• Engineering student in Computer Science, Applied Physics, Information Technology, System Engineering, or other programs with similar profiles
• Comfortable working with systems and programming in a hobby, university, or professional context
• Curious and eager to learn

More about us

Recruiting Manager Vasilis Kessaris, +46 727351080, will answer your questions.

Please apply with your CV, academic transcripts, and a cover letter in English. Positions are filled continuously.

Join us. Be part of the team where progress happens, industries transform, and your work shapes the world. Run What Runs the World. 

A Future Opportunity
Please note that this position is part of our talent pipeline and not an active job opening at this time. By applying, you express your interest in future career opportunities with ABB.

We value people from different backgrounds. Could this be your story? Apply today or visit www.abb.com to learn more about us and see the impact of our work across the globe.