RFC 0012 - MAVLink Standard Testing Suite

[bkueng]

This is not an RFC for a MAVLink protocol change, but rather it's something that
affects the MAVLink ecosystem. Which is why I'm still opening an RFC here.

Goals

1. Provide a test suite that can be run against a MAVLink-enabled
   component/system to test if that component or system behaves in accordance to
   the MAVLink standard.
   The focus is on the MAVLink protocol and its microservices (as opposed to
   testing if a mission uploaded via MAVLink is executed by the vehicle as
   expected).
2. Provide a generic diagnostics tool to check the MAVLink-related health of a
   system (for example which components are active in a network).

The text here is based off a Google doc, and I copied the text to the RFC since it's easier to comment via github.
The Google doc should be the main reference though.

[thomasgubler]

This should be discussed int the mavlink call 11/28

@hamishwillee

[hamishwillee]

Cool. Added to https://github.com/mavlink/mavlink/wiki/20181128-Dev-Meeting

[auturgy]

@stephendade would be good to get your input here.

[stephendade]

Thanks @auturgy,

(I've been slowly writing unit tests for the Ardupilot pymavlink as context)

My notes:
-Implementation in Python would lower the risk of cross platform issues (particularly Windows)
-User should be able to select desired Mavlink dialect and version to test against
-Your idea of a compliance report is nice. Makes it easy for manufacturers/developers.

[bkueng]

Thanks @stephendade. I agree with these points, however the main focus is on the common MAVLink spec. I think this is generally preferable to avoid that MAVLink splits into too many dialects (as it decreases interoperability).
Nonetheless I think it should be possible & easy to add support for different dialects or custom MAVLink messages.