Learn more about Aerospace Blockset

Introducing the Aerospace Blockset Libraries

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Introduction Opening the Aerospace Blockset Library Summary of Aerospace Blockset Libraries

Introduction

Constructing a simple Aerospace Blockset model is easy to learn if you know how to create Simulink models. If you are not familiar with the Simulink product, please see the Simulink documentation. The Aerospace Blockset library is organized into hierarchical libraries of closely related blocks for use in the Simulink library.

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Opening the Aerospace Blockset Library

You can open the Aerospace Blockset library from the Simulink Library Browser. The procedure is the same on Windows and UNIX^® platforms.

Opening the Simulink Library Browser

To start the Simulink Library Browser, click the button in the MATLAB toolbar, or enter

simulink 

at the command line.

Simulink Libraries

The libraries in the Simulink library Browser contain all the basic elements you need to construct a model. Look here for basic math operations, switches, connectors, simulation control elements, and other items that do not have a specific aerospace orientation.

Opening the Aerospace Blockset Library

The Simulink Library Browser opens when you type simulink in the MATLAB Command Window or click the button. The left pane contains a list of all the blocksets that you currently have installed.

The first item in the list is the Simulink library itself, which is already expanded to show the available Simulink libraries. Click the  symbol to the left of any blockset name to expand the hierarchical list and display that blockset's libraries within the browser.

To open the Aerospace Blockset window from the MATLAB command line, enter

aerolib 

Double-click any library in the window to display its contents. The following figure shows the Aerospace Blockset library window.

For a complete list of all the blocks in the Aerospace Blockset library, see Summary of Aerospace Blockset Libraries following.

See the Simulink documentation for a complete description of the Simulink Library Browser.

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Summary of Aerospace Blockset Libraries

The blocks of the Aerospace Blockset library are organized into these libraries.

Actuators Library

The Actuators library provides blocks for representing linear and nonlinear actuators with saturation and rate limits.

Aerodynamics Library

The Aerodynamics library provides the Aerodynamic Forces and Moments block using the aerodynamic coefficients, dynamic pressure, center of gravity, and center of pressure.

Animation Library

The Animation library provides the animation blocks for visualizing flight paths and trajectories and for working with a flight simulator interface. The Animation library contains the MATLAB-Based Animation, Flight Simulator Interfaces, and Animation Support Utilities sublibraries.

MATLAB-Based Animation Sublibrary.   The MATLAB-Based Animation sublibrary provides the 3DoF Animation block and the 6DoF Animation block. Using the animation blocks, you can visualize flight paths and trajectories.

Flight Simulator Interfaces Sublibrary.   The Flight Simulator Interfaces sublibrary provides the interface blocks to connect the Aerospace Blockset product to the third-party FlightGear flight simulator.

Animation Support Utilities Sublibrary.   The Animation Support Utilities sublibrary provides additional blocks for running the FlightGear flight simulator. It contains a joystick interface for Windows platform and a block that lets you set the simulation pace.

Environment Library

The Environment library provides blocks that simulate aspects of an aircraft and spacecraft environment, such as atmospheric conditions, gravity, magnetic fields, and wind. The Environment library contains the Atmosphere, Gravity, and Wind sublibraries.

Atmosphere Sublibrary.   The Atmosphere sublibrary provides general atmospheric models, such as ISA and COESA, and other blocks, including nonstandard day simulations, lapse rate atmosphere, and pressure altitude.

Gravity Sublibrary.   The Gravity sublibrary provides blocks that calculate the gravity and magnetic fields for any point on the Earth.

Wind Sublibrary.   The Wind sublibrary provides blocks for wind-related simulations, including turbulence, gust, shear, and horizontal wind.

Equations of Motion Library

The Equations of Motion library provides blocks for implementing the equations of motion to determine body position, velocity, attitude, and related values. The Equations of Motion library contains the 3DoF, 6DoF, and Point Mass sublibraries.

3DoF Sublibrary.   The 3DoF sublibrary provides blocks for implementing three-degrees-of-freedom equations of motion in your simulations, including custom variable mass models.

6DoF Sublibrary.   The 6DoF sublibrary provides blocks for implementing six-degrees-of-freedom equations of motion in your simulations, using Euler angles and quaternion representations.

Point Mass Sublibrary.   The Point Mass sublibrary provides blocks for implementing point mass equations of motion in your simulations.

Flight Parameters Library

The Flight Parameters library provides blocks for various parameters, including ideal airspeed correction, Mach number, and dynamic pressure.

GNC Library

The GNC library provides blocks for creating control and guidance systems, including various controller models. The GNC library contains the Control, Guidance, and Navigation sublibraries.

Control Sublibrary.   The Control sublibrary provides blocks for simulating various control types, such as one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional models.

Guidance Sublibrary.   The Guidance sublibrary provides the Calculate Range block, which computes the range between two vehicles.

Navigation Sublibrary.   The Navigation sublibrary provides blocks for three-axis measurement of accelerations, angular rates, and inertias.

Mass Properties Library

The Mass Properties library provides blocks for simulating the center of gravity and inertia tensors.

Propulsion Library

The Propulsion library provides the Turbofan Engine System block, which simulates an engine system and controller.

Utilities Library

The Utilities library contains miscellaneous blocks useful in building models. The library contains the Axes Transformations, Math Operations, and Unit Conversions sublibraries.

Axes Transformations Sublibrary.   The Axes Transformations sublibrary provides blocks for transforming axes of coordinate systems to different types, such as Euler angles to quaternions and vice versa.

Math Operations Sublibrary.   The Math Operations sublibrary provides blocks for common mathematical and matrix operations, including sine and cosine generation and various 3-by-3 matrix operations.

Unit Conversions Sublibrary.   The Unit Conversions sublibrary provides blocks for converting common measurement units from one system to another, such as converting velocity from feet per second to meters per second and vice versa.

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Using the Aerospace Blockset Software

Creating Aerospace Models

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