Niclas Rousk is an analysis engineer at ESSIQ in Gothenburg and has had several contracts during his time at the company. He is now a tester and Scrum master for an exciting project at Wireless Car.
The team that Niclas is part of is well underway in creating the next generation IT platforms for back-end services in the automotive industry. The contract means reworking the communication with old cars so that they can be migrated to the new platform. And by old cars, Niclas explains, they mean all cars available on the market today. The new generation of cars isn’t available yet, but will become reality within a few years.

The project started with mapping how today’s cars communicate, to then ‘translate’ this – with safety models and communication schedules – to new cars. Niclas describes it as an adapter between the old and new worlds. The difference between these worlds is significant: in the new cars we will see entirely new dimensions for safety requirements and the service offerings will expand hugely. We can expect to see more connected online services, greater owner control, and a minimized risk of the car being hacked.

Niclas’ contract has, at the time of writing, lasted a year, and is expected to continue for a while longer. The tester role is key to the project. Testing is about ensuring that there are adequate tests when developments are made, and about continuously testing the solutions that are created. Integration tests and functional tests are carried out continuously. The project at Wireless Car is significant and complex, and there is a major focus on how the different components interact with each other. This is where regression testing plays a huge role – all functions and processes that are created must be compatible with others in order for the work process to be able to move forward.

As Scrum master, Niclas also has a motivating and leading role, where responsibility lies in ensuring the group’s work processes are followed. Scrum is an agile methodology used in a large amount of software development nowadays, and something that Niclas has worked with in the past. The method creates more freedom than traditional methods, as well as streamlining the work and allowing interplay to hold a key role.

The Wireless Car contract has given Niclas significant experience of interplay and coordination, as the complexity of the project places huge demands on well-functioning cooperation. There have been several challenges, but the primary issue was beginning with a blank canvas – what the team do is largely about developing, testing and evaluating a system that they have built from the ground up. Finding solutions that work in both old and new cars is also a challenge, says Niclas. But above all, this role is an exciting part in the development of cars for future generations, where safety, the environment, and accessibility are at the forefront. It is a journey that’s great to be on, and one which will have a huge influence on society and individuals.

• Niclas Rousk