Modeling of Systems

Modeling of Systems > Home

	Home
	Greenhouses
	Software-MDD


	Modeling of Systems Information Systems Group & Computers and Environmental Group

Software engineering techniques are used in engineering for systems modeling. Traditional concepts of the Object Oriented Techniques (OOT) in the Component-Based Software Development (CBSD) branch of software engineering (such as design based on models, specification of components, standards, the use of component libraries, and the reuse of design structures – also known as pattern design), as well as the concepts of assembly or composition of the components, are all common techniques in the design of greenhouses.

Modeling of (complex) systems using the CBSD paradigm involves the use of modeling standards such as DPS (Distributed Problem Solving) and CAD (Computer Assisted Design) techniques. The former are useful in engineering processes that require design strategies using decomposition for creating the object product (for example, DPS is useful for the construction of structures, such as greenhouses). The latter (CAD) are traditional techniques for visual design, which are complemented by other graphical techniques for visualization (e.g., NURBS, Voxels, photorealism), illumination techniques (like radiosity and ray tracing), and animation techniques (morphing, cinematic and dynamic techniques, atmospheric effects). Other OOTs used for modeling complex systems are techniques based on XML (eXtensible Markup Language) from the W3C, and UML (Unified Modeling Language) devised by the OMG. In this article we focus solely on these two techniques for modeling greenhouse structures.

XML is a W3C (http://www.w3.org) technique for representing and describing information. It is used as a means of exchanging data between programs (XDR, eXchange Data Representation). It is also frequently used in engineering for data modeling and for defining specification documents since it is supported on XML-Schemas, a language for grammar definition in XML documents. Another useful associated modeling technique is XML Query, also known as XQuery, a specification of a query language for XML documents from the W3C.

On the other hand, UML (Unified Modeling Language, http://www.omg.org) is a specification of a modeling language from the OMG originally devised for modeling software objects. The language permits various views of the system to be modeled using diagrams that help to identify, collect and express diverse information, such as system requirements, behaviour, interaction, collaboration, actors and roles. UML has been enriched with new facilities on numerous occasions to model aspects of systems in real-time, or to model dynamic systems, for example. Currently, UML is being used in numerous engineering disciplines for systems modeling (and not only of software systems). It allows the structure and functioning of a system under study to be understood and described. Examples of the use of UML in systems modeling occur in the automobile sector, teleoperation, robotics and banking, to name a few.

Applications of Modeling of Systems

We have studied the application of the modeling techniques in the following engineering environments:

Modeling of greenhouses systems
Modeling of software systems

Contact info

Edificio Científico Técnico III Matemáticas e Informática (CITE III)
Planta:	2
Despacho:	2.11.0
Ctra. Sacramento s/n La Cañada de San Urbano 04120 - Almería