Automating Low-Level Firmware Validation with Robot Framework

Validating low-level firmware presents unique technical challenges, from automating hardware control operations to testing interactive UEFI firmware menus. In this presentation, we delve into how the Dasharo Open Source Firmware Validation (OSFV) project uses Robot Framework, an open-source automation tool, to address these complexities.

Drawing from years of firmware development experience across diverse hardware platforms ranging from network appliances to workstations we will showcase how OSFV tackles: - automating hardware interactions such as GPIO toggling, UART communication, power control, video output capture, USB devices simluation, and more, on a wide variety of hardware platforms, - testing dynamic and interactive firmware interfaces, including menu navigation and switching configuration options, - managing the variability of real-world hardware environments to ensure repeatable and reliable test execution.