Vision for Ark Automate

Pitch

What can be achieved with our software at the end of the project?

Customer view

Using Ark Automate users can automate business or everyday processes by simply sketching the steps of their process. By using simple flowcharts or powerful BPMN in their process outlines, users can create small software solutions using RPA that finish their tasks much faster and more reliably.

Technical view

Using Ark Automate users can build their own digital coworkers by visualizing business or everyday processes and automating these using robotic process automation (RPA). The digital coworkers request files or help whilst working on their own tasks which have been taught to them through the multiple modeling notations available.

If you are interested in our 5-year vision, please contact us to get access to the file. Our vision with architecture and limits is stored on HackMD.

Current Architecture

The main architectural benefit will be the modularity and interchangeability of the single components within the system. As the main platform will be created as a single web application, all system components are accessible through a single browser.

Describing the interaction and the components

More detailed description

That way a Low-Code RPA-Developer can build new robots in the Web-Browser using the Modelling Interface with the mentioned multiple modeling tools.

About our Database-Structure:

• The Robot Repository is where all created robots are stored and are available for the users to retrieve and make changes.
• The RPA Activity Storage stores all activities that can be automated with our software.
• The User Data Storage stores all the user's data, such as login details, personal settings etc., so that the user can work with the same status of the software on any device.
• The Robot Job Storage stores the execution information for each bot like status, user and error messages.

Customers can start the robots via the Control Interface in their Web Browser. There they can also view basic statistics about the individual robots. (Currently not implemented) This interface also allows the RPA developers to execute the robots, since they also have all the permissions of the end users.

In addition, an API is provided to the robots. External companies can use this to start robots in our system. Also, in the future, our robots could be controlled via this API through control and the IoT, for example.

To start robots or to get further information about executed robots, there is a communication with the Robot Coordinator Backend.

The Robot Coordinator Backend interacts with the Local Client and launches the bots on the local machine. In addition, the backend gets all the information it needs from the database.

Using Ark Automate

Here we state how Ark Automate is supposed to be used and which individual steps happen (on an abstract layer).

User interaction with our software: Use Case Diagram

See our Use Case Diagram

Which steps happen in the software?

See list

• Displaying of modeling interfaces
• Getting the available RPA tasks and apps from the server
• Providing an interface to expand activities with RPA apps, tasks, and properties
• Parsing BPMN to SSOT (and back)
• Parsing other modeling notation (flowchart f.e.) to SSOT (and back)
• Parsing SSOT to .robot (and back)