Composable Models for Simulation-Based Design

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of combining both form (CAD models) and behavior (simulation models) of mechatronic system components into component objects. By connecting these component objects to each other through their ports, designers can create both a system-level design description and a virtual prototype of the system. This virtual prototype, in turn, can provide immediate feedback about design decisions by evaluating whether the functional requirements are met in simulation. To achieve the composition of behavioral models, we introduce a port-based modeling paradigm. The port-based models are reconfigurable, so that the same physical component can be simulated at multiple levels of detail without having to modify the systemlevel model description. This allows the virtual prototype to evolve during the design process, and to achieve the accuracy required for the simulation experiments at each design stage. To maintain the consistency between the form and behavior of component objects, we introduce parametric relations between these two descriptions. In addition, we develop algorithms that determine the type and parameter values of the lower pair interaction models; these models depend on the form of both components that are interacting. This article presents the initial results of our approach. The discussion is limited to high-level system models consisting of components and lumped component interactions described by differential algebraic equations. Expanding these concepts to finite element models and distributed interactions is left for future research. Our composable simulation and design environment has been implemented as a distributed system in Java and Cϩϩ, enabling multiple users to collaborate on the design of a single system. Our current implementation has been applied to a variety of systems ranging from consumer electronics to electrical train systems. We illustrate its functionality and use with a design scenario.

Automated synthesis of electromechanical design configurations from empirical analysis of function to form mapping

“…The representation developed here aims to relate components in terms of their dynamic behavior, shape, and purpose. In this way, the research is similar to other dynamic simulation methodologies such as those presented in Paredis, et al (2001) and Bracewell et al (1996). In recent years, engineering researchers have discovered that graph grammars (Rozenberg, 1997) and shape grammars (Stiny, 1980) provide a flexible and yet structured approach to engineering design methods (Cagan, 2001).…”

“…At an abstract level, it also represents the behavior of components by modeling them as "black box" entities that transform certain input flows into certain output flows. In this way, the behavior representation is similar to port based methodologies such as those presented in (Paredis et al, 2001;Liang and Paredis, 2004). As a whole, the CFG captures the conceptual solution of a design problem.…”

Simulation Optimization: A Review and Exploration in the New Era of Cloud Computing and Big Data

“…Although simulation models are widely used in analyzing and designing these systems (Paredis et al, 2001), the engineering designers have to deal with a large number of the possible design alternatives (Chapman et al, 2001) and are still forced to compromise on model fidelity, modeling accuracy, and the optimality of the selected design alternatives through the whole engineering design process. A high-fidelity simulation model can provide an accurate evaluation of a given design alternative.…”

Model Generation for the Verification of Automatically Generated Mechatronic Control Software

“…Reference [13] introduces the concept of Composable Objects, combining form (CAD) and behavior into a single object. The interaction between components is port-based and reconfigurable, such that components at different levels of detail are interchangeable.…”