MATHEMATICS, SIMULATION AND MODELLING
Companies partner on hardware-in-the-loop simulations
24 May 2011
B&R and Maplesoft have announced a partnership that will bring together products from both companies for hardware-in-the-loop simulations. Being able to design an adequate machine or system model plays an important role in simulation-based development. At the same time, mapping out all the dynamic characteristics of a machine can take a lot of time. ‘Tools for physical modelling such as MapleSim from Maplesoft provide optimal support and reduce the amount of time and work considerably,’ said Philipp Wallner, global technology manager at B&R.
The open architecture of Automation Studio – B&R's programming and development software – ensures that physical models designed in MapleSim can be easily transferred to B&R controller hardware. The result is a hardware-in-the-loop simulation that emulates the machine's behaviour in real-time, in a completely safe testing environment.
‘Using MapleSim, Automation Studio users can very quickly develop high-fidelity models of the control plant, analyse the dynamics, and then generate highly-optimised real-time code for the plant,’ said Dr Laurent Bernardin, vice president, research and development, Maplesoft. ‘By adding an easy-to-use and cost-effective physical modelling phase to the automation workflow, engineers will be able to increase virtual testing prior to hardware commitments. A definite way to reduce costly design errors.’