Methods and systems for robotic testing of fuel point of sale terminals

A fuel pump functional test system, comprising:

• a fuel pump simulator comprising a personal identification number (PIN) pad, a plurality of fuel grade price displays, a plurality of relays, a fuel display, a main display, and a fuel computer communicatively coupled to the PIN pad, the fuel grade price displays, the relays, the fuel display, and the main display;
• a PIN entry robot aligned with the PIN pad to align an axis of actuation of the PIN entry robot to be substantially perpendicular to a plurality of keys of the PIN pad;
• at least one camera aligned to take pictures of one or more of the displays;
• and
• a fuel pump test integration subsystem communicatively coupled to the relays, to the PIN entry robot, and to the at least one display camera, comprising a processor, a non-transitory memory storing a plurality of fuel pump test cases, and an application stored in the non-transitory memory that, when executed by the processor,
• executes at least some of the fuel pump test cases,
• when executing one of the fuel pump test cases, commands relays to actuate,
• when executing the fuel pump test case, commands the PIN entry robot to actuate pushbuttons of the PIN pad,
• when executing the fuel pump test case, receives a picture of a fuel grade price display from the at least one camera, a picture of the main display, and a picture of a fuel display,
• when executing the fuel pump test case, determines a test case result based on comparing information presented in the picture of the fuel grade display, information presented in the picture of the main display, and information presented in the picture of the fuel display to expected results defined by the test case, and
• stores the test results of executing the at least some of the fuel pump test cases in the non-transitory memory.

A method of testing fuel pumps, comprising:

• checking a software change into a configuration control system;
• in response to checking the software change into the configuration control system, building a fuel computer executable by a software builder application executing on a computer system based on the software change;
• downloading the fuel computer executable into a fuel computer of a fuel pump simulator by a software deployment application executing on the computer system;
• launching execution of a testing application on a fuel pump test integration subsystem by the application;
• executing a plurality of fuel pump test cases by the testing application, wherein executing a fuel pump test case comprises
• commanding relays of the fuel pump simulator to actuate by the testing application,
• commanding input of payment information to the fuel pump simulator by the testing application,
• receiving information about the response of the fuel pump simulator by the testing application, and
• determining a test case result by the testing application based on comparing the information about the response of the fuel pump simulator to expected output defined by the test case;
• and
• sending a plurality of test case results by the testing application to the software builder application.

A method of testing a fuel pump, comprising:

• at least partly disassembling a fuel pump simulator;
• mounting a personal identification number (PIN) pad of the disassembled fuel pump simulator;
• mounting a payment card reader of the disassembled fuel pump simulator;
• coupling a PIN entry robot mechanically to a first jig to align with the PIN pad;
• coupling a payment card entry robot mechanically to a second jig to align with the payment card reader;
• communicatively coupling a fuel computer to the PIN pad and to the payment card reader;
• communicatively coupling a fuel pump test integration subsystem to the PIN entry robot and to the payment card entry robot;
• and
• executing a fuel pump testing application by the fuel pump test integration subsystem that commands the PIN entry robot to actuate pushbuttons of the PIN pad, commands the payment card entry robot to provide payment information to the payment card reader in accordance with fuel pump test cases, receives feedback from the fuel pump simulator, determines fuel pump pass-fail results by comparing the received feedback to expected fuel pump test case results, and stores the fuel pump pass-fail results in a non-transitory memory of the fuel pump test integration subsystem.