Visual Programming Environment for W3C Web of Things Device Implementations

Description:
The Web of Things (WoT) aims to enable interoperability across IoT platforms and application domains. While client-side tools like BLAST [1] already facilitate the visual programming of WoT consumers in the browser, there is a need for complementary tools supporting the implementation of WoT Things (devices). This thesis focuses on developing a browser-based visual programming environment for creating and deploying WoT Things. With this visual programming environment, users can create virtual IoT devices or Digital Twins that mirror the behavior of real devices, without having to learn a programming language. Furthermore, the browser-based nature of the tool enables rapid prototyping and testing of IoT device behaviors in a safe, sandboxed environment before deploying to physical hardware. The goal is to enable users to visually design, program, and execute WoT Things that can seamlessly interact with existing WoT client applications, particularly BLAST. This research bridges the gap between client and
device programming in the WoT ecosystem through a low-code approach.

Expected Outcomes:

1. A browser-based visual programming environment for WoT Thing implementation
2. A runtime environment for executing the programmed WoT Things
3. Integration capabilities with the BLAST environment for testing and validation
4. Documentation of the system architecture and programming model
5. Evaluation of the environment’s usability and effectiveness through user testing

If you are interested in this topic, please write an email to Thomas Wehr (thomas.wehr@fau.de).

[1] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-11609-4_13