Arc Skills / Verification and validation

Define entry and exit criteria for a test campaign

Arc Skills drafts Test Plan entry and exit criteria around the actual campaign article and objective. It returns a gate table that distinguishes readiness to execute from final requirement verification.

Use this skill

Use Arc Skills to define entry and exit criteria for the supplied test campaign.

Inputs:
- Campaign objective, Test Plan, requirement baseline, and article configuration
- Facility calibration, procedure approvals, and applicable safety prerequisites
- Planned Runs, anomaly process, and gate decision authority

Return entry and exit tables with objective evidence, owner, and current status.
Mark entry blocked when a required prerequisite is missing. Leave formal gate approval to the named authority

Set up the toolkit · Read the skill instructions

What you provide and what you get

Inputs and outputs
What you have	How it is used	What you get
Campaign plan	Defines slots, article, and intended outcome	Specific gates
Readiness records	Supports safe, credible entry	Entry decision
Runs and anomaly process	Defines what completed execution means	Exit decision and exceptions

Thermal-vacuum campaign gate review

Illustrative engineering example.

TV-1 uses article A-3 and chamber C-1. The article baseline is signed, but chamber calibration expires before the planned run; one open anomaly from a shakedown has no disposition.

TV-1: three thermal-vacuum runs on article A-3.
Article baseline AB-3: signed. Chamber C-1 calibration: expires before Run 1.
Procedure TP-3: approved. Shakedown anomaly AN-2: open.
Gate owner: test lead under the approved Test Plan.

Thermal-vacuum campaign gate review — illustrative output
Gate	Objective evidence	Current disposition
Entry: article and procedure	AB-3 signed; TP-3 approved	Met for these two prerequisites.
Entry: calibrated chamber and hazard review	C-1 calibration expires; hazard review [not supplied]	Blocked until current record and required safety decision exist.
Exit: three runs and data	Three result packages with configuration and raw data	Not yet assessable before execution.
Exit: anomalies	AN-2 disposition and new anomaly log	Open; test lead decides whether it blocks run or close-out.

The campaign cannot enter on the supplied record because the chamber calibration will not be current at execution. The missing hazard review is shown as unknown rather than presumed failed if it is not a project prerequisite.

Exit does not require inventing a blanket “all tests pass” rule. It requires every planned slot to be executed or dispositioned and anomalies to be visible under the actual plan; a failed requirement may still leave a documented campaign close-out with an open verification action.

Tie each gate to a record

Fix campaign objective, article baseline, planned Runs, and gate authority.
List prerequisites that make execution safe and data credible.
Define exit around result completeness, anomaly disposition, and handover state.
Specify pause and re-entry evidence when interruption changes article or setup.

Questions about this task

Can the team waive calibration verbally?

Use the approved project process and decision authority. This example has no such record, so entry remains blocked.

Does campaign exit mean every requirement passed?

No. It means the campaign’s execution and exceptions are accounted for; requirement close-out is a separate disposition.

Sources and further reading

NASA Systems Engineering Handbook: Lifecycle and requirements guidance; the example decisions are illustrative.