DeCoRe: Tools and Methods for the Design and Coordination of Reactive Hybrid Systems

Summary

A recurring problem of digitalised industries is to design and coordinate hybrid systems that include IoT (Internet of Things), edge, and cloud solutions. Currently adopted methods and tools are not effective to this end, because they rely too much on informal specifications that are manually written and interpreted by humans. We aim at exploring the applicability of forefront technologies and methods developed at SDU, KU, and AAU for the design of reactive hybrid IoT-edge-cloud architectures in Danish industry. These technologies are based on unambiguous formal languages, which can be processed by computers to check for desirable design properties (such as compatibility of software interfaces) and to deploy components for monitoring the correct functioning of systems. Adopting these techniques has shown to substantially increase the productivity of digital industries (for example, up to 4x increase in development speed). We will: (a) carry out a concrete use case with a partner company (Sanovo Technology Group) (b) initiate knowledge sharing on this topic among AAU, KU, and SDU through workshops (c) communicate our findings to the rest of the DIREC community.

Value Creation

Scientific value: The scientific value of the project is twofold: (a) concrete knowledge on the advantages and potential challenges brought by the application of cutting-edge techniques like Jolie for the development of hybrid systems (IoT-edge-cloud) in the Danish industry (using Sanovo Technology Group for the case study); and (b) knowledge on the synergies and future directions for the integration of forefront scientific methods for hybrid systems developed by Danish universities (Jolie, UPPAAL, DCR Graphs). Providing a perspective that comes from concrete industrial experience, with substaintiated needs, has significant potential to influence the future development of both research and industrial development in Denmark. Capacity building: Companies will thus benefit from an increased number of students that they can hire to satisfy their needs with respect to hybrid systems. Universities benefit by gaining sustainable candidates for PhD positions in future projects connected to this exploration. Business and societal value: Due to the growth potential in solutions for automation and data intensive processing solutions, this project will strengthen Danish competitiveness through a reduced cost of developing deploying and running IoT and cloud software. Potentially, this could lead to increased export of IT products and services.