ASU VIPLE uses the same computing model as Microsoft VPL. The program is running on a Windows computer, a desktop, a laptop, or a tablet. The computer sends commands to control the robot actuators (motors) and receives the sensory data and motor feedback from the robot. The data between the computer and the robot is encoded in a JSON object which is in plain text format. It supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB connections between the main computer and the robot. ASU VIPLE is based on Robot as a Service concepts and uses standard interface to communicate with different IoT and robotics platforms. It supports EV3 and any self-developed robots. ASU developed different robots based on Intel architecture, the Linux operating system, and the Windows operating system. Two VIPLE simulators are developed, which can be used as a step in the development process before using physical robots, as well as alternatives when physical robots are not available. The simulators support all the functionalities of the physical robots. One simulator is developed using Unity 3D game engine, which provides realistic and real-time behaviors of robots, and the other simulator is developed using HTML 5 and JavaScript, which runs in any Web browser. VIPLE is a programming language that supports the following paradigms: - General-purpose control flow programming (imperative) - Service-oriented computing, supporting RESTful and WSDL services - Parallel / multithreading programming, with underlying threads safety - Event-driven programming, with built-in and custom events - Workflow and visual programming - IoT and Robotics programming "Hello world" Example ASU VIPLE is similar to Microsoft VPL not only in concepts but also in programming. The intention is to have Microsoft VPL programmers use ASU VIPLE with little learning. Examples of basic programming in ASU VIPLE. Start with the Hello World program. Figure 2.2 shows the two versions of code using VPL and ASU VIPLE. The two diagrams look the same. However, ASU VIPLE has simplified a couple of steps: it automatically changes the type to String after a string is entered, and the default null value step in Microsoft VPL is eliminated. Libraries Implementations VIPLE is implemented and operational since 2015. The software maintained and updated in monthly basis. The software is free and the latest version can be downloaded from Arizona State University Site. See also Autonomous decentralized system Cloud Computing Internet of Things Robot as a Service Service-oriented architecture References Further reading Service-Oriented