274
Copyright © 2019, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
Chapter 12
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-7271-8.ch012
ABSTRACT
Complex systems usually have to deal with a huge number of potential situations and contingencies.
Therefore, a mechanism is required that enables the expression of variability at design-time so that it
can be efciently resolved at run-time. As composability plays an increasingly relevant role in build-
ing systems in an economic way, variability management should also contribute to and be taken into
account in terms of composability. This chapter presents a variability management workfow aimed at
supporting diferent developer roles in an ecosystem context. Two kinds of variability are addressed: in
system operation and associated with quality of service. The former provides robustness to contingen-
cies, while the latter focuses on the quality of the application (in terms of non-functional properties)
under changing situations and limited resources. The concepts introduced in this chapter conform to the
structures and principles of the H2020 European Project RobMoSys, which consolidates composability
in the robotics domain.
Managing Variability as a Means
to Promote Composability:
A Robotics Perspective
Matthias Lutz
Ulm University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Juan F. Inglés-Romero
Biometric Vox, S.L., Spain
Dennis Stampfer
Ulm University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Alex Lotz
Ulm University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Cristina Vicente-Chicote
Universidad de Extremadura, Spain
Christian Schlegel
Ulm University of Applied Sciences, Germany