An automation test engineer may be tasked with ensuring code is written correctly for a computer numerically controlled manufacturing process.
An automation test engineer determines the best way to convert a manual test process to an automated test process and employs various automation technologies to meet test objectives. Typically, he evaluates the effectiveness of automated test protocols and systems designed to test the various functions of a product or manufacturing process. The software code required to run the test and process the results is written and coded by the test automation engineer. Duties often depend on the specific test phases they oversee.
In the unit test phase, the automation test engineer enters application code designed to accept and process test commands on a machine. Typically, code is tested for repeatability so that it can be tested periodically without interruption. Once the code is good, it’s typically distributed to machines on the production line.
The feature and system testing phase involves a set of commands that are generally designed to speed up testing. The engineer often modifies the software code to improve the efficiency of the test preparation process. Additionally, the automated test engineer can create test cases to prepare the machine for testing.
After the function and system tests, the engineer performs an acceptance test to see if the code will work as designed. The acceptance test is normally modified after the test results to improve efficiency. If improvements are needed, they are usually communicated to the test designer or test leader.
The test lead typically ensures that a system’s automation goals are met, while the automation test engineer measures, implements, and tests a solution. An automation engineer must also work closely with the test designer to determine the automation requirements for a specific project. Using this input as a guide, the automation engineer determines how the automated system should be built. The automation engineer must also work closely with the application developer to address implementation challenges.
Automation test engineers often need to write automated scripts in the language of the software tools used by the business. In many situations, the logs and files created by automation tools must be interpreted and passed to the manual test engineer. Also, the engineer usually needs to keep the test scripts for use in other projects.