Specifying, Analyzing, Integrating Mobile Apps and Location Sensors as part of Cyber-Physical Systems in the Classroom Environment

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are characterized as complex systems usually networked, composed of several heterogeneous components that make the connection between events in the physical environment with computation. We can observe that this kind of systems is increasingly used in different areas such as automotive facilities, construction (civil engineering), health care and energy industry, providing a service or activity which depends on the interaction with users and the physical environment in which they are installed. Nowadays, in the educational context, the process of control and monitor of evaluation activities is conducted in a non-automated way by lecturers. This control is performed before, during and after the beginning of the evaluation activity, and include logistical processes such as classroom reservation, distribution of students per classroom, attendance record or fraud control. However, in an environment involving a large number of students, the execution of these tasks becomes difficult to perform efficiently and safely, requiring innovative techniques or assistance tools. In this work, the creation/design of a cyber-physical system through a modeling approach is proposed, aiming to help teachers to control and monitor evaluation activities. Based on a systematic literature study, we claim that there are no studies presenting the modeling of cyber-physical systems in an educational context, enhancing the interest of the proposed case study. In this document, we show how we used a framework named ModelicaML to model this system during the design phase. Also, this framework will offer a simulation component to simulate the behavior of the prescribed system. On the side of the hardware architecture, for the purpose of identifying the valid seats for the specific students inclass during the examination period, an indoor location system will be used, allowing to blueprint the physical layout of the room and globally manage the activity workflow. We finish this work by showing with empirical studies the gains of our solution when compared to the traditional method