Improved tools for closed-loop control systems

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 23, 2004

The MathWorks has released two new and three upgraded products for engineers developing closed-loop control systems.

The MathWorks has released two new and three upgraded products for engineers developing closed-loop control systems.

These tools work seamlessly within the Simulink environment and expand the range of The MathWorks' products for modelling dynamic systems and designing closed-loop controllers.

As a result, control engineers can use model-based design to develop control systems by modelling the behaviour of the system, designing the software, and then simulating the entire system to accurately predict and optimise performance.

Simulink Control Design is a new product that provides advanced functionality for performing linear analysis of nonlinear models.

Using Simulink Control Design, engineers can extract linear approximations of a Simulink model to analyse characteristics such as time and frequency responses and pole-zero dynamics.

A graphical user interface (GUI) and programming capabilities reduce the complexity and time required to develop the linearised models.

Also new, Simulink Parameter Estimation calculates model parameters to match the response of Simulink models to the measured outputs of physical systems, eliminating the need to tune model parameters by trial and error or to develop independent optimisation routines.

The upgraded Control System Toolbox provides specialised tools for designing and analysing controllers for closed-loop control of dynamic systems.

This toolbox now provides an upgraded numerical engine that uses the Lapack and Slicot libraries for faster and more accurate computations.

The improved System Identification Toolbox lets engineers build and evaluate linear models of dynamic systems from measured input-output data.

This toolbox now offers identification and validation using frequency-domain data.

Simulink Response Optimisation tunes design parameters in Simulink models by optimising time-based signals to meet user-defined constraints.

It optimises scalar, vector, and matrix-type variables and constrains multiple signals at any level in the model.

The new version contains new optimisation algorithms from the Optimisation Toolbox and the Genetic Algorithm and Direct Search Toolbox for improved solution convergence.

The new and upgraded modelling tools enable engineers to merge fundamental-principle and data-driven modelling approaches to develop more accurate system models.

New and enhanced control design products let control engineers apply linear analysis and control design methods to develop more responsive controllers and optimise control system performance.

"The MathWorks is pleased to be the first company to offer engineers one environment in which to perform a full spectrum of integrated modelling approaches combined with a comprehensive set of tools for linear controller design and control system tuning", said Tony Lennon, Control Products Marketing Manager, The MathWorks.

"Our full range of modelling and control design products forms a fundamental part of model-based design for embedded control systems, and enables engineers to implement an end-to-end solution from executable specifications through code generation to test and verification".

Simulink Control Design, Simulink Parameter Estimation, Simulink Response Optimisation, the Control System Toolbox, and the System Identification Toolbox are available immediately for Windows, Unix/Linux, and Macintosh systems.