The
MathWorks said Monday it has rolled out a new modeling language that enables
engineers to develop complex systems that require interdisciplinary
interaction between electronic, mechanical, and hydraulic domains. The new
language is notable because it could help engineering teams to more easily develop
advanced systems, such as hybrid vehicles and fuel cells, which require that
interdisciplinary interaction.
"Traditionally,
people have come out with simulation packages that are highly specific to one
domain," says Jon Friedman, manager of aerospace, defense and automotive
marketing for The MathWorks. "This language provides the context and vocabulary
for the different disciplines to talk to one another."
The new Simscape language, as it
is known, was demonstrated here at the Convergence 2008
transportation electronics conference in Detroit, MI on Monday. The language, based on the
MATLAB language, is built atop The MathWorks' Simulink environment. The
MathWorks says Simscape is important for the automotive engineers at this
conference because it can be extended by end users and partners to create and
share reusable models, thereby raising team efficiencies. With the shared
physical models, design teams reportedly can simulate system behavior more
accurately and develop more robust control strategies.
"In the past, if you had an
electronics model and you plugged it into a mechanical model, you would have
needed a translator to make them work together," Friedman says. "With Simscape,
you have an all-in-one modeling package."
Friedman says
Simscape enables engineers to capture proposed technologies in the new
Simscape-Simulink environment.
"If you're GM and you're trying to
develop the next-generation Volt, and you want to describe your next-generation
battery, you can use this to model your own intellectual property," Friedman
says. "You don't have to wait for next year's hardware to be available and you
don't have go back to the vendors to model next-year's battery."
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