Using the DiaSpec design language and compiler to develop robotics systems

A Sense/Compute/Control (SCC) application is one that interacts with the physical environment. Such applications are pervasive in domains such as building automation, assisted living, and autonomic computing. Developing an SCC application is complex because: (1) the implementation must address both the interaction with the environment and the application logic; (2) any evolution in the environment must be reflected in the implementation of the application; (3) correctness is essential, as effects on the physical environment can have irreversible consequences. The SCC architectural pattern and the DiaSpec domain-specific design language propose a framework to guide the design of such applications. From a design description in DiaSpec, the DiaSpec compiler is capable of generating a programming framework that guides the developer in implementing the design and that provides runtime support. In this paper, we report on an experiment using DiaSpec (both the design language and compiler) to develop a standard robotics application. We discuss the benefits and problems of using DiaSpec in a robotics setting and present some changes that would make DiaSpec a better framework in this setting.Comment: DSLRob'11: Domain-Specific Languages and models for ROBotic systems (2011

Towards a Tool-based Development Methodology for Pervasive Computing Applications

Despite much progress, developing a pervasive computing application remains a challenge because of a lack of conceptual frameworks and supporting tools. This challenge involves coping with heterogeneous devices, overcoming the intricacies of distributed systems technologies, working out an architecture for the application, encoding it in a program, writing specific code to test the application, and finally deploying it. This paper presents a design language and a tool suite covering the development life-cycle of a pervasive computing application. The design language allows to define a taxonomy of area-specific building-blocks, abstracting over their heterogeneity. This language also includes a layer to define the architecture of an application, following an architectural pattern commonly used in the pervasive computing domain. Our underlying methodology assigns roles to the stakeholders, providing separation of concerns. Our tool suite includes a compiler that takes design artifacts written in our language as input and generates a programming framework that supports the subsequent development stages, namely implementation, testing, and deployment. Our methodology has been applied on a wide spectrum of areas. Based on these experiments, we assess our approach through three criteria: expressiveness, usability, and productivity

DiaSuite: a Tool Suite To Develop Sense/Compute/Control Applications

International audienceWe present DiaSuite, a tool suite that uses a software design approach to drive the development process. DiaSuite focuses on a specific domain, namely Sense/Compute/Control (SCC) applications. It comprises a domain-specific design language, a compiler producing a Java programming framework, a 2D-renderer to simulate an application, and a deployment framework. We have validated our tool suite on a variety of concrete applications in areas including telecommunications, building automation, robotics and avionics

Design-driven Development of Dependable Applications: A Case Study in Avionics

International audienceMaking an application dependable demands that its functional and non-functional requirements be stringently fulfilled throughout its development process. In this context, a design-driven development approach has the key advantage of enabling requirements to be traced from their high-level design forms to the resulting executable artifact. However, because such approaches are mostly general purpose, they provide little design guidance, if any. This situation makes unpredictable the coherence and the conformance of an application with respect to its requirements. To address this situation, we propose an approach that leverages a design-driven development process dedicated to a specific paradigm. This approach guides the verification of the coherence and conformance of an application throughout its development. We demonstrate the benefits of our approach by applying it to a realistic case study in the avionics domain

An Evaluation of the DiaSuite Toolset by Professional Developers: Learning Cost and Usability

International audienceThis paper evaluates a design-driven, tool-based approach, named DiaSuite, dedicated to developing applications involving sensors and actuators. Specifically, we evaluate the usability and the learning cost of DiaSuite as a first step to assess the potential for transferring this technology to the industrial practice of this domain. We assess the cost of learning DiaSuite by involving four professional programmers in a usability study involving a software engineering task. This experiment brings preliminary evidence that the DiaSuite technology can be used effectively by professional developers after only half a day of training. We then present qualitative data about the usage and usability of DiaSuite, collected from developers, via questionnaires and interviews. Finally, we discuss lessons learned from this work

Towards a Tool-based Development Methodology for Sense/Compute/Control Applications (Poster)

posterInternational audienceThis poster presents a design language and a tool suite covering the development life-cycle of a Sense/Compute/Control (SCC) application. This language makes it possible to define the architecture of an application, following an architectural pattern commonly used in SCC applications. Our underlying methodology assigns roles to the stakeholders, providing separation of concerns. Our tool suite includes a compiler that takes design artifacts written in our language as input. The compiler generates customized support for subsequent development stages, namely implementation and test. In doing so, it ensures the conformance between the architecture and the code. Our tool suite also includes a simulator for testing SCC applications, without requiring code modification. Our methodology has been applied to a wide spectrum of areas, such as building automation, advanced telecommunications, and health-care

A Survey on Domain-Specific Modeling and Languages in Robotics

Nordmann A, Hochgeschwender N, Wigand DL, Wrede S. A Survey on Domain-Specific Modeling and Languages in Robotics. Journal of Software Engineering in Robotics. 2016;7(1):75-99