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**Tutorial:** Validation & Testing in Robotics
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   *11:00 - 12:30* -- Nico Hochgeschwender

**Tutorial description:**
This session builds on the morning lecture by examining the design decisions and scientific foundations behind modern scenario-based robot validation in greater depth.
The first part focuses on domain-specific languages for scenario specification — including FloorPlan DSLs, variation descriptions, and composable executable scenarios — and explores how these languages make test specification more systematic, reusable, and aligned with how robot developers think about their systems.

The second part introduces RoboVAST-style representations for organizing full robot validation campaigns, covering variability, executable scenarios, test environments, execution traces, evaluation results, and provenance.
A central theme across both parts is that validation campaigns must themselves be reproducible, inspectable, and reusable.

Students are also encouraged to explore the RoboVAST framework hands-on at their own pace using the step-by-step tutorial below.

.. toctree::
   :caption: Session materials
   :maxdepth: 2

   robovast-tutorial

- :download:`RoboVAST Examples <material/RoboVAST_Examples.zip>`


**Bio. Nico Hochgeschwender** is Professor of Software Engineering for Cognitive Robots and Systems at the University of Bremen, Germany.
His research focuses on cognitive robotics, robot software engineering, and the automated validation and testing of robotic systems.

His work aims to enable robots that can learn, collaborate effectively with humans, and make autonomous decisions in complex environments.
To achieve this, he develops methods and tools for the engineering of reliable, long-lived robotic systems whose behavior remains understandable and trustworthy to human users.
A particular focus of his current research is the automated evaluation of robot behavior and digital twins, with the long-term goal of enabling cognitive robots to assess and reason about their own performance.

Nico received his Ph.D. from the University of Luxembourg in 2017 for his work on model-based software development in robotics.
He subsequently led a research group at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) before being appointed Professor at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg in 2019.
Since 2023, he has held the Chair of Software Engineering for Cognitive Robots and Systems at the University of Bremen.