Controlling a virtual rover using AutoFOCUS3

Zusammenfassung

AUTOFOCUS3 (AF3) is a mature model-driven engineering environment for developing software for embedded systems. For the past 20 years, several versions of AF3 have served as a platform for experimenting with cutting edge research ideas in Model-Driven Development. AF3 is a tool that fully encompasses the software lifecycle, from requirements, to architecture, simulation, deployment, code generation and verification. In this article, we describe how we used an existing model of a complex controller for a real-life miniature vehicle and have downsized and adapted it to control a rover in a virtual environment. The model we present here automates the maneuvering of a rover to follow an-other leader rover in a virtual environment, while keeping a safe distance to it. The controller operates by adapting the rover’s speed and steering according to the position and movements of the leader. The results we present in this article illustrate the whole development cycle of an embedded system using AF3, from the development of the model down to deployment to a specific platform as well as code generation and connecting to the hardware