AutoIoT: a Framework based on User-driven MDE for Generating IoT Applications

International audienceDeveloping an Internet of Things (IoT) system requires knowledge in many different technologies like embedded programming, web technologies, and data science. Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) techniques have been used as a concrete alternative to boost IoT application development. However, the current MDE-to-IoT solutions require expertise from the end-users in MDE concepts and sometimes even in specific tools, such as the Eclipse Modelling Framework, which may hinder their adoption in a broader context. To tackle this problem, this work proposes AutoIoT, a framework for creating IoT applications based on a user-driven MDE approach. The proposed framework allows users to model their IoT systems using a simple JSON file and, through internal model-to-model and model-to-text transformations, generates a ready-to-use IoT server-side application. The proposed approach was evaluated through an experiment, in which 54 developers used AutoIoT to create a server-side application for a real-world IoT scenario and answered a post-study questionnaire. The experiment reports the efficacy of AutoIoT and user satisfaction of more than 80% through 6 out of 7 evaluated criteria