System architecture and software engineering for Cyber-Physical System

Why are Cyber-Physical Systems important? 

Cyber-Physical Systems are becoming more common in our everyday lives and control many important functions and processes in today's society, and we often do not think about the systems as long as they work as planned. These types of systems are central enablers for solving challenges in areas such as fossil dependence and its climate impact, energy supply and transport needs, for example, by exchanging more information with its surroundings in order to more effectively control a driveline in a truck or coordinate transport needs for more efficient traffic flows. In our research, we examine new methods, tools and processes for more efficient, secure and capable systems that can meet the challenging needs of the future. With our experience and expertise, we are happy to support other research and innovation projects that have needs linked to Cyber-Physical Systems.

What is a Cyber-Physical System?

Cyber-Physical Systems are systems that contain software that interacts with both physical components and their environment. Examples of such systems are industrial robots, self-driving vehicles, intelligent transport systems, smart grids, telecommunication and healthcare equipment, etc. These systems are often safety-critical and have strict requirements for robustness and predictability. In addition, the systems are often complex, with a large proportion of software with strong dependencies on the hardware components of the system and the physical environment with which the system interacts.

What is unique about Cyber-Physical Systems?

When developing and studying complex Cyber-Physical Systems with a large proportion of software with strong dependencies on the system's hardware components, it is important to describe the system's architecture and how the system's hardware components affect the software and vice versa. The system's features and functionality are often implemented through the software, which means that software engineering is a critical competence for Cyber-Physical Systems.

What is our core competence?

In our expert group, we have solid and broad competence in the entire development process for system architecture and software engineering with a focus on Cyber-Physical Systems. We structure our research according to the life cycle of systems, as this type of system often lives a long time and is updated throughout its life;

• Understand future needs and current system requirements - we have extensive experience in systematically understanding the needs and challenges and how to formulate these in a technical description of what needs to be done (a.k.a. requirements engineering).
• Understand how to design the system to meet needs and expectations - we have experience in the role of solution architect who is involved in creating system solutions that realize concrete needs. We also work with data-driven methods and iterative development, e.g. with the help of A / B testing, to evaluate different alternatives and understand how different alternatives can affect, for example, the system's efficiency.
• Understand working methods for a structured, efficient and measurable development and maintenance process - we have experience with agile development processes and its methods such as CI / CD, and quality work, both preventive and during operation throughout the system life cycle.

Within our expert group, we have extensive experience in working with quality-related issues that concern the entire system's development cycle. The results of our research show, for example, that the consequences of sub-optimal decisions or ill-considered implementation can have far-reaching negative and costly effects on the end product, in the form of, for example, quality deficiencies or loss of productivity. These effects are often referred to as "technical debt", and by addressing these, many technical, financial and work-related problems can be minimized or avoided.

Feel free to contact us if you are interested in participating in our development work or want to take part in results from our research on, for example:
Process and method development, system and software architecture, simulations and digital twins, prototype building and experimentation, analysis and evaluation of the socio-technical conditions.

What have we done before?

RISE has a strong project portfolio with several ongoing and finalized projects, as well as applications for new projects in this area, for example TrAF-Cloud (https://trafcloud-project.se), FEDeRATED (http://federatedplatforms.eu), Open Innovation Lab (https://openinnovationlab.se), VICTA Lab (https://vehicle.lindholmen.se/node/40273), Second Road fas 2 (https://sites.google.com/site/srf2hrseminar/), Software and data-intensive applications (https://www.ri.se/sv/vad-vi-gor/projekt/soda-software-data-intensive-ap…), Health and Security Management in Open Source Software  (https://www.ri.se/sv/vad-vi-gor/projekt/health-and-security-management-…).

Who are we?

RISE PhD researchers working on the projects have many years of industry and research experience in the field. Contact one of our experts to find out more!