Introducing Safety Requirements Traceability Support in Model-Driven Development of Robotic Applications

• Published in: IEEE transactions on computers Vol. 60; no. 8; pp. 1059 - 1071
• Main Authors: Sanchez, P., Alonso, D., Rosique, F., Alvarez, B., Pastor, J. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.08.2011; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Computer programs; Design engineering; Hazards; Model-driven engineering; Object oriented modeling; Preserves; Safety; safety systems; Service robots; Software; Studies; traceability; Transformations; Unified modeling language
• ISSN: 0018-9340; 1557-9956
• DOI: 10.1109/TC.2010.149

Requirements traceability is a technique intended to help determine the impact of changes in software design, support their integration, preserve knowledge, and assure the quality and correctness of the overall system. This paper presents an approach that considers traceability of safety requirements in the context of model-driven development of teleoperated services robots. The combination of the model-driven approach with safety requirements traceability makes it possible to construct systems using techniques for automatically identifying, managing, and mitigating risks so that these systems are safe enough to work in a particular environment. To secure the advantages of these mechanisms, we have developed a tool that provides users with traceability reports after applying model transformations. These reports enable developers to determine whether or not all safety requirements have been considered, the impact of changing a safety requirement, and how they are considered both in architectural decisions and code implementations.