From Design to Reality: An Overview of the MontiThings Ecosystem for Model-Driven IoT Applications

The Internet of Things (IoT) networks everyday objects that can perceive and influence their environment using sensors and actuators. Since IoT systems are inherently distributed systems, often built on fault-prone hardware and exposed to harsh environmental conditions such as vibration or humidity, developing such systems is challenging. In recent years, some DSLs for IoT system development have been introduced, yet they only slightly improve IoT system development. This chapter provides an overview of MontiThings, an ecosystem for model-driven development of IoT systems that covers the life cycle of IoT systems from design in the form of Component and connector (C&C) models, through (dynamic) deployment, to failure analysis. MontiThings is designed to handle different classes of errors and failures. By being able to make counter-suggestions to device owners, the requirement-based deployment algorithm enables device owners to customize their IoT systems to their needs. MontiThings also offers an app store concept to decouple hardware development from software development in order to prospectively reduce problems such as e-waste and security issues that result from too close a coupling. Overall, MontiThings demonstrates an end-to-end model-driven approach to IoT system development.