Machine Control Model Development and Simulation

This is one of those posts that has had me stuck for days. I finally have to write it and move on. It is the confluence of several meetings I've had over the past couple of weeks plus a trend I've seen in digital development of control systems.

The MathWorks is a leading developer of mathematical computing tools. MatLab, called "the language of technical computing" by the company, is a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numeric computation. Simulink is a graphical environment for simulation and Model-Based Design of multidomain dynamic and embedded systems. Engineers can develop control algorithms in the environment generating targeted code in languages such as C and C++. In a recent interview on new products, product marketing people from MathWorks told me that they now have the ability to generate Structured Text--one of the four "languages" for programming programmable logic controllers (PLCs) under IEC 61131-3.

The trend is growing use of such techniques and technologies as digital control model development, simulation and especially "hardware in the loop" testing where you can get a test bed of hardware to check things out before building anything expensive. National Instruments has been talking about this for a couple of years. It also links to MathWorks in some areas.

When the MathWorks spokespeople told me about pushing more tools for control development into the PLC/PAC arena, I immediately thought of the two geographically close European control rivals B&R Automation (Austria) and Beckhoff Automation (Germany). Beckhoff told me that its new programming software will work with MatLab and Simulink accepting C++ code generated after development.

Now comes news that B&R Automation has been accepted into the MathWorks system integrator program. The company's development environment, Automation Studio, connects to simulation and code generation tools to enable model-based development methods for machine manufacturing.

B&R Automation Studio Target for Simulink and Simulink PLC Coder enable users to bring their Simulink or Stateflow models to the B&R PLC or industrial computer quickly and efficiently. Algorithms modeled in Simulink are translated into PLC source code (ANSI-C or IEC 61131-3 ST); integrated into B&R's development environment, Automation Studio; and transferred to the PLC or industrial computer at the push of a single button. This approach helps users to significantly cut down on development time to set up prototypes (on-target rapid prototyping).

MathWorks also announced the availability of xPC Target Turnkey, a fully assembled, real-time testing solution for rapid control prototyping and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation using Simulink. xPC Target Turnkey combines xPC Target from MathWorks with real-time target machines and I/O modules provided by Speedgoat GmbH  to form a complete real-time testing solution.

Configuring a real-time test system involves the time-consuming and resource-intensive process of evaluating software platforms, hardware technologies and options, and project requirements. xPC Target Turnkey is optimized for Simulink and xPC Target, enabling engineers to use a customized Speedgoat target machine to interactively design, prototype, and test Simulink models in real time with hardware. Each real-time target machine is assembled based on the project specific performance, I/O connectivity, and environmental requirements.

Simulation and knowledge transfer

One reason for investing in simulation technologies is to facilitate knowledge transfer--maybe also called best practices. Emerson's Jim Cahill discuss this, and points to the Mynah blog--which I did not subscribe to but do now. Thanks.