TwinOps - DevOps meets model-based engineering and digital twins for the engineering of CPS

Abstract

The engineering of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) requires a large set of expertise to capture the system requirements and to derive a correct solution. Model-based Engineering and DevOps aim to efficiently deliver software with increased quality. Model-based Engineering relies on models as first-class artifacts to analyze, simulate, and ultimately generate parts of a system. DevOps focuses on software engineering activities, from early development to integration, and then improvement through the monitoring of the system at run-time. We claim these can be efficiently combined to improve the engineering process of CPS. In this paper, we present TwinOps, a process that unifies Model-based Engineering, Digital Twins, and DevOps practice in a uniform workflow. TwinOps illustrates how to leverage several best practices in MBE and DevOps for the engineering Cyber-Physical systems. We illustrate our contribution using a Digital Twins case study to illustrate TwinOps benefits, combining AADL and Modelica models, and an IoT platform.