Model-based design is an emerging software development methodology for designing and implementing modern embedded systems. This presented research project examines the existing model-based techniques and modeling tools for developing dependable embedded software programs running on smart devices in IoT applications. To be specific, we experimented with a popular system-modeling tool called Matlab/Simulink from Mathworks. We developed a new set of Matlab libraries and Simulink models on low-power 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 microcontrollers from STMicroelectronics. We also used the created Simulink libraries to build an embedded application for a smart home energy monitoring system as a case study. The case study demonstrates that it is much easier and cost-effective to develop reliable embedded end nodes for cloud-based IoT.