Model-driven engineering for mobile robotic systems: a systematic mapping study

Mobile robots operate in various environments (e.g. aquatic, aerial, or terrestrial), they come in many diverse shapes and they are increasingly becoming parts of our lives. The successful engineering of mobile robotics systems demands the interdisciplinary collaboration of experts from different domains, such as mechanical and electrical engineering, artificial intelligence, and systems engineering. Research and industry have tried to tackle this heterogeneity by proposing a multitude of model-driven solutions to engineer the software of mobile robotics systems. However, there is no systematic study of the state of the art in model-driven engineering (MDE) for mobile robotics systems that could guide research or practitioners in finding model-driven solutions and tools to efficiently engineer mobile robotics systems. The paper is contributing to this direction by providing a map of software engineering research in MDE that investigates (1) which types of robots are supported by existing MDE approaches, (2) the types and characteristics of MRSs that are engineered using MDE approaches, (3) a description of how MDE approaches support the engineering of MRSs, (4) how existing MDE approaches are validated, and (5) how tools support existing MDE approaches. We also provide a replication package to assess, extend, and/or replicate the study. The results of this work and the highlighted challenges can guide researchers and practitioners from robotics and software engineering through the research landscape

MODEL-DRIVEN ENGINEERING FOR MOBILE ROBOT SYSTEMS: A SYSTEMATIC MAPPING STUDY

The development of autonomous Mobile Robot Systems is attracting nowadays more and moreinterest from both researchers and practitioners, mainly because they may open for a wide rangeof improvements for quality of life. Mobile robots are systems capable of accomplishing missionsby moving in an unknown environment without human supervision. Throughout mechanisms ofdetection, communication and adaptation, they can adapt their behavior according to changes ofthe environment. Individual robots can even join teams of autonomous mobile robots that, throughindividual tasks, accomplish common missions. These are called Mobile Multi-Robot Systems andare meant to perform missions that a single robot would not be able to carry out by itself.When it comes to the development of Mobile Robot Systems, currently there is no standard methodology.This is mainly due to the complexity of the domain and the variety of di↵erent platformsthat are available on the market. A promising methodology that recently has gained attention insoftware industry for its ability of mitigating complexity and boosting platform-independence, isModel-Driven Engineering.This thesis proposes a systematic mapping study on the state-of-the-art of Model-Driven Engineeringfor Mobile Robot Systems. Through our contribution, researchers can get a picture of theactual trends and open challenges for further research, while practitioners can realize the suitabilityof Model-Driven Engineering by checking to what extent it has been applied to real-world projects

Model-driven engineering for mobile robotic systems: a systematic mapping study

Mobile robots operate in various environments (e.g. aquatic, aerial, or terrestrial), they come in many diverse shapes and they are increasingly becoming parts of our lives. The successful engineering of mobile robotics systems demands the interdisciplinary collaboration of experts from different domains, such as mechanical and electrical engineering, artificial intelligence, and systems engineering. Research and industry have tried to tackle this heterogeneity by proposing a multitude of model-driven solutions to engineer the software of mobile robotics systems. However, there is no systematic study of the state of the art in model-driven engineering (MDE) for mobile robotics systems that could guide research or practitioners in finding model-driven solutions and tools to efficiently engineer mobile robotics systems. The paper is contributing to this direction by providing a map of software engineering research in MDE that investigates (1) which types of robots are supported by existing MDE approaches, (2) the types and characteristics of MRSs that are engineered using MDE approaches, (3) a description of how MDE approaches support the engineering of MRSs, (4) how existing MDE approaches are validated, and (5) how tools support existing MDE approaches. We also provide a replication package to assess, extend, and/or replicate the study. The results of this work and the highlighted challenges can guide researchers and practitioners from robotics and software engineering through the research landscape