Bachelor Thesis Work CAPL-lint A Static Analysis Tool for Automotive Test Scripts
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Posted on:
23-10-2025
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
Thesis Worker at Volvo Cars
Welcome to explore the world of Volvo Cars by writing your thesis with us! As a thesis worker in our organization you are supported by a supervisor who follows you during your project. Through your thesis work you will be able to contribute to our company purpose providing freedom to move in a safe sustainable and personal way from day one!
About this opportunity - Background
Innovation starts with being curious. At Volvo Cars we believe that being curious and truly committed to understanding people is the key to future success. We are looking for driven and motivated students interested in pursuing their master thesis in Vehicle Engineering during the spring term 2026.
At Vehicle Engineering our responsibility spans the entire chassis interior climate body & exterior functions mechanical Integration and a range of vehicle attributes with impact on design and customer experience of our complete product. Across these domains and all development cycles we will lead an effective delivery operation on complete level in close sync with other Engineering units functions and stakeholders across the company.
This thesis work is within the area of Software Factory & Release.
Background & Motivation
CAPL (Communication Access Programming Language) is a domain-specific language widely used in Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing to simulate and validate ECU behavior. Despite its importance CAPL lacks modern development tooling particular there is no dedicated linter to enforce coding standards detect common mistakes or improve maintainability. This gap creates inefficiencies and increases the risk of hidden errors in large test suites.
This thesis aims to address that gap by designing and implementing a CAPL-specific linter (CAPL-lint) inspired by static analysis techniques used in general-purpose programming languages such as Python JavaScript and C/C.
Objectives
Parser & AST Generation: Design and implement a CAPL parser and Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) generator forming the basis for structured analysis of CAPL scripts.
Linting Engine: Develop a modular static analysis engine capable of detecting issues such as unused variables unreachable code inconsistent naming and poor event handling tailored to CAPLs event-driven model.
Usable Tooling: Deliver a command-line interface (CLI) that integrates into HIL testing workflows and CI/CD pipelines ensuring extensibility and compatibility with CANoe-based environments.
Evaluation: Assess the tool on real-world CAPL codebases. Metrics will include rule effectiveness false positive rates performance and developer feedback.
Scope of the thesis work
This research investigates the applicability and impact of static code analysis in domain-specific languages used for automotive testing with a focus on CAPL. While linters are widely adopted in mainstream programming languages to enforce standards detect bugs and improve maintainability their use in embedded systems and proprietary languages remains limited.
The study will include a comparative analysis of existing linting tools across languages such as Python JavaScript and C/C identifying principles that can be adapted to CAPL. It will explore challenges such as CAPLs limited public documentation its proprietary nature and its tight integration with simulation environments like CANoe.
The research further examines the benefits of a CAPL-specific linter in improving code quality test reliability and developer productivity in HIL workflows. At the same time it will evaluate the inherent limitations of static analysis in embedded contexts including false positives rule generalization and integration complexity. The outcome will contribute to the broader understanding of how static analysis can be effectively applied to domain-specific languages potentially influencing future tooling strategies in safety-critical software development.
Maturity
The CAPL-lint project is at the ideation stage. No implementation exists yet; the current focus is on defining the problem gathering requirements and assessing feasibility. Although early in its lifecycle the project is considered high priority due to its potential to significantly improve code quality maintainability and team efficiency in automotive test automation. The next step is to validate industry needs and gather stakeholder input before roadmap integration.
What youll bring
Two Bachelors students with a background in software engineering programming languages or test automation. Familiarity with static analysis techniques compiler design or CAPL/C-like languages is highly desirable.
Duration
Tentative proposed thesis work period: 19th January 2026 to 26th of June 2026 (dates can be flexible with /- 7 days)
The duration for this thesis work is 20 weeks.
15 ECTS (Master academic credits) in agreement with your Thesis Advisor in University
This thesis is to be conducted by 2 Students working in pair.
Volvo Cars. For Life.
For nearly a century Volvo Cars has empowered people to move freely in a personal sustainable and safe way. Today we are driving bold advancements in electrification sustainability and automotive safety. To realize our ambitious vision we are seeking innovative minds who are ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow today.
In our company we believe extraordinary things are achieved by ordinary people with the drive to make a difference.
Ready to take the next step
Applications should include your CV and a brief personal letter stating your interests within the given area and your thoughts and credentials. Submit your CV in English.
Applications must be received no later than 10th of November 2025. We are prioritising direct applications to ensure a fair and efficient application process.
For questions regarding the recruitment process please contact Recruiter Radoslaw Piela at or Siddhant Gupta at
For specific questions about the position please reach out to Hiring Manager Alireza Arjomand at
Welcome with your application!
Key Skills
- Mechanic Experience
- Brake Repair
- Dealership Experience
- GM Vehicles
- Suspension Experience
- Alignment
- Auto Glass
- Automotive Diagnostics
- Automotive Repair
- Service Technician Experience
- Shocks & Struts
- Automotive Service
About Company
Volvo Car USA is a subsidiary of Volvo Car Group of Gothenburg, Sweden and is headquartered in Rockleigh, NJ, with regional sales offices located in Rockleigh, Summerville, SC, and Irvine, CA. In addition, Volvo Car US Operations, the home of our new US factory, is located in South Ca ... View more
