Model-Based Engineering for Embedded Systems in Practice

Model-Based Engineering (MBE) aims at increasing the e↵ectiveness of engineering by using models as key artifacts in the development process. While empirical studies on the use and the e↵ects of MBE in industry generally exist, there is only little work targeting the embedded systems domain. We contribute to the body of knowledge with a study on the use and the assessment of MBE in that particular domain. Therefore, we collected quantitative data from 112 subjects, mostly professionals working with MBE, with the goal to assess the current State of Practice and the challenges the embedded systems domain is facing. Of the 112 subjects, the majority are experienced with MBE, working at large companies in the automotive, avionics, or healthcare domains. Additionally, mainly OEMs and First-tier suppliers are represented in the study. Our main findings are that MBE is used by a majority of all participants in the embedded systems domain, mainly for simulation, code generation, and documentation. Reported positive e↵ects of MBE are higher quality and improved reusability. Main shortcomings are interoperability difficulties between MBE tools, high training e↵ort for developers and usability issues. The data also shows that there are no large di↵erences between subgroups with respect to domains, position in the value chain, company size and product size