Francisca Rosique

Habitation: A Domain-Specific Language for Home Automation

The appearance of model-driven engineering (MDE) has invigorated research on domain-specific languages (DSLs) and automatic code generation. MDE uses models to build software, thereby displacing source code as the development processs main feature. DSLs provide easy, intuitive descriptions of the system using graphic models. In this new context, DSLs facilitate work in the first design stages. In addition, MDE helps reduce DSL development costs. It therefore represents a synergistic union that can significantly improve software development.

A framework for developing home automation systems: From requirements to code

This article presents an integrated framework for the development of home automation systems following the model-driven approach. By executing model transformations the environment allows developers to generate executable code for specific platforms. The tools presented in this work help developers to model home automation systems by means of a domain specific language which is later transformed into code for home automation specific platforms. These transformations have been defined by means of graph grammars and template engines extended with traceability capabilities. Our framework also allows the models to be reused for different applications since a catalogue of requirements is provided. This framework enables the development of home automation applications with techniques for improving the quality of both the process and the models obtained. In order to evaluate the benefits of the approach, we conducted a survey among developers that used the framework. The analysis of the outcome of this survey shows which conditions should be fulfilled in order to increase reusability.

Introducing Safety Requirements Traceability Support in Model-Driven Development of Robotic Applications

Requirements traceability is a technique intended to help determine the impact of changes in software design, support their integration, preserve knowledge, and assure the quality and correctness of the overall system. This paper presents an approach that considers traceability of safety requirements in the context of model-driven development of teleoperated services robots. The combination of the model-driven approach with safety requirements traceability makes it possible to construct systems using techniques for automatically identifying, managing, and mitigating risks so that these systems are safe enough to work in a particular environment. To secure the advantages of these mechanisms, we have developed a tool that provides users with traceability reports after applying model transformations. These reports enable developers to determine whether or not all safety requirements have been considered, the impact of changing a safety requirement, and how they are considered both in architectural decisions and code implementations.

Transforming and tracing reused requirements models to home automation models

Context: Model-Driven Software Development (MDSD) has emerged as a very promising approach to cope with the inherent complexity of modern software-based systems. Furthermore, it is well known that the Requirements Engineering (RE) stage is critical for a projects success. Despite the importance of RE, MDSD approaches commonly leave textual requirements specifications to one side. Objective: Our aim is to integrate textual requirements specifications into the MDSD approach by using the MDSD techniques themselves, including metamodelling and model transformations. The proposal is based on the assumption that a reuse-based Model-Driven Requirements Engineering (MDRE) approach will improve the requirements engineering stage, the quality of the development models generated from requirements models, and will enable the traces from requirements to other development concepts (such as analysis or design) to be maintained. Method: The approach revolves around the Requirements Engineering Metamodel, denominated as REMM, which supports the definition of the boilerplate based textual requirements specification languages needed for the definition of model transformation from application requirements models to platform-specific application models and code. Results: The approach has been evaluated through its application to Home Automation (HA) systems. The HA Requirement Specification Language denominated as HAREL is used to define application requirements models which will be automatically transformed and traced to the application model conforming to the HA Domain Specific Language. Conclusions: An anonymous online survey has been conducted to evaluate the degree of acceptance by both HA application developers and MDSD practitioners. The main conclusion is that 66.7% of the HA experts polled strongly agree that the automatic transformation of the requirements models to HA models improves the quality of the HA models. Moreover, 58.3% of the HA participants strongly agree with the usefulness of the traceability matrix which links requirements to HA functional units in order to discover which devices are related to a specific requirement. We can conclude that the experts we have consulted agree with the proposal we are presenting here, since the average mark given is 4 out of 5.

A Component-Based Meta-Model and Framework in the Model Driven Toolchain C-Forge

This paper describes a Component-Based Meta-Model (WCOMM) and framework (FraCC) as part of a complete Model-Driven Software Development process and toolchain: C-Forge. The approach given in the design of WCOMM and FraCC is presented highlighting the differences with other similar approaches. To illustrate the use of C-Forge, the development of a control architecture for the robots in project MISSION is presented.

Modeling and Executing Component-based Applications in C-Forge

This paper describes a model-driven toolchain for developing component-based applications that enables users to use the same models that define their application to execute them. In this vein, models always remain true to the final application, unlike other approaches where a model tranformation generates a skeleton of the final application after the first steps of the development process. These kind of approaches normally end up with models that represent a different application than the one present in the code.

Towards a unified platform for agent-based cloud robotics

This paper describes a platform that aims to design, build, and validate a new generation of cloud robotic platforms that enable agent-based intelligent control of robots deployed in unknown and dynamic environments. The platform will consider: (1) novel techniques for programming reactive plans and robotic behaviours through missions and novel mechanisms for building new behaviours from existing ones, both for experienced and non-expert users; (2) novel multi-layered cloud platform as the infrastructure to maintain a continuous link between the robots acting on a physical environment and their agent counterparts, to provide sensor data from robots to agents, and to provide high-level autonomous decisions from agents to robots.

A Graphical Modeling Language for Home Automation

Home automation systems have emerged as one of the most attractive fields in engineering, thanks to the burgeoning demand from society for information systems. Today, the development of these systems is confined to the immediate context of the solution and is platform-dependent. This has intensified the need for suitable tools to tackle their development while enhancing quality and productivity. On one hand, domain specific languages allow the description of the system by means of graphic models easily and intuitively, using domain concepts. On the other hand, the model driven development approach stands out as a good option for solving the problems of the existing methods, as well as contributing tools that pioneer the development of domain specific languages. The present article proposes an alternative methodology and tools for the development of home automation applications following the model driven approach together with the use of a domain specific language.