A Model-Driven Approach for IoRT-Aware Business Process Engineering

Abstract

Recently, industries recognized the urgency of a new business generation called IoRT-aware Business Processes (BPs), which automates BPs using Internet of Robotics Things (IoRT) technology. According to the literature, an IoRT-aware BP can be modeled using numerous languages, such as the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). Nonetheless, the BPMN lacks a formal aspect, potentially leading to inconsistencies and ambiguities. Therefore, to effectively execute an IoRT-aware BP modeled using BPMN and scrutinize their behaviors, adopting the Model Driven Engineering (MDE) approach appears essential. With MDE, a BP can be modeled and transformed into a consistent formalism (e.g., Petri Net (PN), Discrete Event System Speciffcation (DEVS), etc.), simplifying its veriffcation. During this work, we consider the MDE approach to deal with the modeling, transformation, and checking of an IoRT-aware BP. From this perspective, we start, on the one hand, by proposing a meta-model for the IoRT-aware BP based on a top-down approach and, on the other hand, by extending the existing DEVS meta-model. The DEVS formalism is characterized by its beneffts, marked by its hierarchical structure that facilitates the whole system representation and ensures model reuse. Using these meta-models, we propose during this work a model-to-model transformation that facilitates the conversion of an IoRT-aware Business Process (BP) into a DEVS model. After that, we address the checking of the IoRT-aware BP model structure based on a set of anti-patterns. To evaluate the proposed approach, we consider a case study of IoRT-aware BP in the agriculture ffeld by checking its process model structure. The ffndings demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in capturing structure errors.