Multi-domain Modeling and Simulation

Abstract

One starting point for the analysis and design of a control system is the block diagram representation of a plant. Since it is nontrivial to convert a physical model of a plant into a blockk diagram, this can be performed manually only for small models. Based on reseach from the last 40 years, more andmore mature tools are available to achieve this transformation fully automatically. As a result, multi-domain plants, for example, systems with electrical, mechanical, thermal, and fluid parts, can be modled in a unified way and can be used directly as input-output blocks for control system design. An overview of the basic principles of this approach is given, and it is shown how to utilize nonlinear, multidomain plant models directly in a controller. Finally, the low-level "Functional Mockup Interface" standard is sketched to exchang multi-domain models between many different modeling and simulation environments.