Model-Based Design: A key enabling technology in maximising the opportunities and meeting the challenges inherent in today's civil and defence industries

Rob Aberg, The MathWorks

Aerospace and Defense systems have increasingly relied on Model-Based Design as a key enabler to remain competitive in delivering complex vehicles and systems containing millions of lines of embedded software. Publicly announced customer successes using MathWorks tools recently include Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk, Fire Scout, X-47A, and RMAX and the F-35 Lightning II flight controls and vehicle systems software announced by Lockheed Martin. The continued pace of technological change challenges systems and vehicle engineering teams to find new ways to create advanced algorithms at the same time software and hardware engineers are advancing the state of the art in embedded computing platforms. For these types of projects, increased parallel development is a must. Managing the program risks of more parallel development is creating new tool requirements, due to the need to avoid performance gaps or late system-level issues. To that end, the broad use of system-level models and simulations instead of prototypes and local models has levied new performance demands on a project's tools and engineering processes. In response to these needs, MathWorks continues to invest heavily in multiple areas of Model-Based Design including verification and validation, automatic code generation, and new large scale component, team-based, and architectural modeling capabilities to help provide a way forward for delivering complex aerospace projects.

Rob Aberg directs the core development teams for Simulink. He holds an M.S.M.E. and B.S.M.E. from the University of Arizona. Rob started at The MathWorks as a developer in 1998, specialising in real-time applications, and has made contributions to Simulink, Real-Time Workshop, and related products. Prior to joining The MathWorks, Rob worked for 14 years in the aerospace industry, including unmanned air vehicle work at the U.S. Navy Research Laboratory’s Tactical Electronics Warfare Division, Offboard Countermeasures Brach; control system design and software engineering for digital engine control systems and real-time simulators at Honeywell Engine Systems and Services; and at a test systems consulting firm for engineering projects such as satellite payloads and other aerospace vehicle systems.

BAE Systems Military Air Solutions (MAS) Uses the MathWorks Suite of Tools on a Variety of Programmes

Anne Morris and Clive Downes, BAE Systems

ASTRAEA (Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment) is an aerospace advanced technology programme, currently worth £32 million with the aim of opening non-segregated airspace to unmanned autonomous aircraft. Progress on the Prognosis and Health Management Technology subproject and overall programme demonstration subproject will be presented. The presentation will also show how these subprojects also integrate contributing technologies provided by partner companies to create a UAV demonstrator running in a synthetic environment.

The role of the MathWorks tools in this project will be highlighted, in particular, how the Simulink® and Stateflow® products have been used to model a representative range of vehicle system elements including avionic systems, fuel systems, landing gear, aerodynamics, and environment for the demonstration UAV.

Anne Morris is a Research Technology Manager with 8 years experience in Fuel System modelling, Fuel System design and Low Observablility research. Working in Military Air Solutions at BAE Systems at Warton, she is responsible for leading Low Observablility research and the BAE aspects of the ASTRAEA E4: Demonstration theme.

Clive Downes is a Senior Vehicle Systems Engineer with 5 years experience in Prognosis and Health Management in the aerospace & defence domain. Prior to 2002, 19 years were spent at the University of Salford as lecturer and researcher working in the related fields of Robotics and Computer Aided Control System Design. Now, working in Military Air Solutions at BAE Systems at Warton, he is responsible for leading the ASTRAEA T7: Prognosis and Health Management theme.

Airbus UK: Model-Based Design for Fuel Control Systems

Chris Slack, Airbus, UK

This presentation will focus on the use of the MathWorks toolset in the design, development and analysis of the Fuel Control System within modern Airbus fly-by-wire passenger aircraft. We will cover how the Model-Based Design processes were implemented, and how opportunities were realised in the re-use of those models in the development of Desktop Simulators, Avionics Test Benches, and Flight Training Simulators.

The challenges of adopting Model-Based Design within a framework of existing processes, and managing multiple releases of the MathWorks tools on multiple programs will be discussed and experience shared.

Chris Slack is a Fuel System Modelling Expert with the Airbus Fuel Systems Division. Chris has over 20 years experience in the area of simulation and modelling, primarily with Airbus and prior to his current role held the position of Group Leader within Fuel Systems Simulation and Modelling.

Using Physical Modeling Tools to Design Power Optimized Aircraft

The MathWorks

A number of initiatives are underway to make tomorrow’s aircraft more efficient while reducing aircraft emissions. Projects such as the Power Optimized Aircraft and the Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative are focused on finding more efficient ways of transporting power throughout an aircraft while improving the environmental impact of air transport. Efforts like these require an optimized system design. This talk focuses on achieving this goal by modeling a flight actuation system and performing tradeoff studies that can lead to more realistic requirements and optimized system performance.

Dstl: Modelling and Simulation of Submarine Power Systems using MATLAB and Simulink

The MathWorks

A submarine power system comprises many diverse elements. To understand the impact of the adoption of a novel power source, it is necessary to understand how this will interact with the entire submarine power system. To this end, models have been developed for submarine power systems in order to assess novel power sources, such as fuel cells and advanced batteries, in the context of the complete submarine power system. Methodologies have been developed to enable the interaction of low fidelity simulations with higher fidelity simulations using a common interface. This allows detailed information to be obtained on components of interest such as batteries whilst maintaining runtimes at a usable level.

In order to predict the effects of inserting novel power source technologies into a submarine electrical system, models of the baseline power system architectures for a typical boats were produced. In addition, a possible power system architecture for an Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) submarine was modelled. Components modelled included diesel generators, turbo generators, steam turbines, steam raising plant, propulsion motors, fuel cells, and a range of batteries. These were combined to produce whole boat models.

This presentation will explain the modelling strategies employed and preliminary outputs of the models produced. The models produced consist of a library of component models that can be connected to represent the power system architecture of a submarine. This approach allows models of novel power sources to be added to the component library and to be easily substituted for existing power sources in order for the performance of novel power systems to be simulated. It is intended that potential scenarios can be constructed and the response of any specified submarine power system architecture simulated. The models will therefore aid the decision making process in the choice of the optimum hybrid power source for future submarines.

Dr Andrew Bennett graduated from the University of Bath with a B.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics in 1996, and with a Ph.D. in Power System Modelling, Analysis and Control in 2000. During both of his degrees, engineering experience was gained with the UK National Grid Company Ltd. He joined The MathWorks in 1999, and has worked on a wide variety of projects in the terrestrial power systems, marine power systems and other industrial sectors. He is a senior engineer within the consulting services group at The MathWorks.

Dr. Darren Browning graduated from the University of Southampton with a B.Sc. in Chemistry with Biology in 1992, and with a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry in 1995. He joined the DRA (Defence Research Agency) in 1995 and remained with the agency during its transition to DERA and QinetiQ. In 2004, Darren joined Dstl (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory). During his career he has worked on a wide range of power source projects including fuel cells, batteries, energy harvesting and power management for military and civilian applications. He currently works as a subject matter expert on power sources with particular responsibility for underwater systems.

Model-Based Design for Safety-Critical Systems

Bill Potter, The MathWorks

The MathWorks products provide Model-Based Design tools for improving the engineering productivity when developing safety critical systems, including those that must meet DO-178B certification standards. A workflow will be presented in order to demonstrate how MathWorks™ tools can be used for requirements validation, algorithm design, traceability, code generation, test generation, formal methods verification and processor in-the-loop testing. Interfaces to requirements management and configuration management tools will also be presented.

Bill Potter is a technical marketing manager for aerospace certification applications. Bill has been at The MathWorks since 2006. Prior to joining The MathWorks, Bill worked for 28 years in the aerospace industry, including autopilot hardware development at Rockwell Collins; control system design and software engineering for digital flight control systems at Honeywell Aerospace, including 11 years of experience using Model-Based Design.  Bill is a member of RTCA Special Committee 205/Eurocae Working Group 71, which is developing revision C for DO-178. He holds a B.S.E.E. from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

The Benefits and Challenges of Deploying a Simulink® Code of Practice Within MBDA

Tony Gailor and Tyrone Catt, MBDA

Historically, MBDA’s deployment of MathWorks products has been characterised by individual specialist areas using the tools in isolation. As part of an MBDA initiative to create a more multi-disciplinary team approach to solving system issues, in 2004 MBDA commissioned The MathWorks to write a Code of Practice for Simulink® tailored to their requirements. This presentation will explore the benefits of adhering to the Code of Practice plus the challenges of deploying it within a large organisation. A key aspect of helping deployment has been the recent integration of parts of the Code of Practice with the Simulink® Model Advisor, this now providing an automatic checking mechanism for mandatory rules.

Simulink has been chosen for development of a strategic capability, known as the MBDA Generic System Model. This capability is based on a modular approach with well defined functional architecture and interfaces. It has been used on Technical Demonstrator Programmes, where multidisciplinary teams working concurrently form the basis of the development team (Guidance, Control & Navigation, Simulation and Modelling, Software, Systems Engineering, Hardware/Software in the Loop, Synthetic Environment, Sensors & Seekers). A benefit of Simulink is that it is the tool of choice for many of these groups and it lends itself to rapid exchange of models between the disciplines. In this context, the Code of Practice presents an opportunity to establish a set of rules that try to ensure that models can be used cross-functionally.

Tony Gailor is Head of Simulation and Modelling for the Anti-Armour, Air-Air and Air Defence sector of MBDA in the UK and France. Tony has 27 years experience in the area of simulation and modelling, predominantly at MBDA. As Capability Leader for Simulation and Modelling he also has the responsibility for ensuring that the Simulation and Modelling Function moves forward with the best possible process, methods and tools available to deliver MBDA's complex programmes.

Tyrone Catt is a Technical Expert and Team Leader for Future Projects in the area of Simulation and Modelling within MBDA. With 20 years experience in modelling and control, in his current position Tyrone provides advice to existing and new modelling programmes and is involved in the Simulation and Modelling strategy for MBDA across the UK and France.

Modelling Event-Driven Systems with Stateflow®

The MathWorks

Embedded software plays a critical role in the development of military and commercial aerospace systems that must meet rigorous safety-critical requirements.  This necessity requires algorithm designers to be able to trace their design seamlessly from functional requirements through to implementation.  Moreover, engineers must demonstrate that the algorithms are fully tested and can be guaranteed to meet certain functional and/or performance requirements.  In this presentation, we will discuss how Simulink® and Stateflow® can be used to develop the dynamics and control logic of an aircraft thrust reverser system, as well as how Model-Based Design tools can be used to trace functional requirements from design through implementation. In particular, we will discuss the need for specific tools to develop logic-based algorithms and how formal methods can be used to mathematically prove that functional requirements are met.

New Concepts and Tools for Effective Verification and Validation Based on Model Analysis

The MathWorks

Verification and validation is critical for implementation of Model-Based Design in production programs. This master class will introduce new concepts and tools for effective verification and validation based on model analysis techniques. The class will use MathWorks tools for model verification and validation: SystemTest™, Simulink® Verification and Validation™ to demonstrate and explain three different methods for model verification and validation:

• Robustness testing of a plant model
• Test generation for model coverage of a controller model
• Proving of critical design properties

The session will provide a brief overview presentation, followed with demonstrations. The attendees are encouraged to engage in the demonstration with their questions and suggestions

What's New in R2008a

Coorous Mohtadi, The MathWorks

This presentation will highlight the new features and capabilities included in the R2008a release for MATLAB®, Simulink® and related products that are relevant to the Aerospace and Defence industries.

An overview of the new capabilities for object-oriented programming, parallel computing, Embedded MATLAB™, verification and validation, and code generation will be covered in this session. Additionally, new feature highlights in MATLAB, Simulink and Stateflow® will also be discussed. Examples will be used to demonstrate the capabilities.

Coorous Mohtadi is a principal application engineer at The MathWorks UK. His main area of responsibility is Control Design Automation with specific interest in Hardware-in-the-Loop testing and rapid prototyping applications. He has been with The MathWorks since 2007. He has 20 years of experience in control engineering and design in various industries. Prior to joining The MathWorks he was the European technical manager for component products at Omron Electronics Europe and chief control engineer at Eurotherm Controls, part of Invensys group. He holds an M.A. in Engineering Science and a D.Phil in Control Engineering, both from Oxford University.

Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace: Use of a Model-Based Design Approach for the System Development of a Gas Turbine Control System for Civil Aerospace Applications

Dave Hill, Rolls-Royce

The presentation will cover the use of system modelling as a method to assist and analyse the development of system requirements, in a DO178-B compliant process. Further, the presentation will cover the methods and tools used to enable integration of individual functional models in order to provide a complete representation of control system software.

Finally, the development of a whole system simulation developed through integration of the full control system model with representation of the gas turbine engine will be covered. The benefits of whole system and component model simulation, including early testing and analysis will be discussed.

Dave Hill is a Systems Engineer working within the Rolls-Royce Controls organisation. He is currently responsible for the simulation and modelling team. The role of this team is to develop models of Rolls-Royce gas turbines and their associated control systems. These models are used for control system design and to assist engine-airframe integration.

Developing Communications and ISR Systems Using MATLAB® and Simulink®

The MathWorks

A video surveillance UAV application will provide attendees with an example of the integrated design and modeling of three subsystems in a single development environment. An antenna pointing control subsystem, a video imaging subsystem, and a communications link will be jointly modeled in Simulink® with several components implemented as Embedded MATLAB™ blocks. Real-world trade-offs of control loop response, platform motions, bit error rates, and video processing complexity will serve to illustrate the ease with which Simulink enables multi-domain modeling.

The Ongoing Pursuit of an Integrated Toolset for Model-Based Design: Benefits and Challenges

Steve Houghton, SELEX S&AS

This presentation reports on the usage of The MathWorks tools at SELEX Galileo in Edinburgh and will include benefits arising from consultancy, training and support.

The MathWorks tools of specific interest are MATLAB and Simulink. These are deployed on a variety of applied research work and deliverable programmes in the development of models and software solutions for embedded systems.

Topics covered will include the role of The MathWorks toolset in the context of SELEX’s model driven engineering initiative and processes, the development of embedded applications for both general purpose microprocessors and field programmable gate arrays, and the development of complex modelling environments and data analysis tools for airborne radar and electro-optical systems.

Steve Houghton graduated in Computer Science and started his career working in Radar Systems in Chelmsford in 1989. Steve developed several projects using SASD techniques before progressing onto object-oriented-based development towards the end of the nineties. Having spent time working in gas detection and industrial control industries, Steve returned to military targeted development in 2001 when he joined SELEX Galileo. Over the last few years Steve has gained experience with the introduction of Mathworks™ tools at SELEX Galileo on both internal and deliverable projects. Steve’s current position is head of software engineering.

Thales Missile Electronics: Software Development with Real-Time Workshop® Embedded Coder™

Nigel Holiday, Thales

Thales Missile Electronics have been piloting a Model-Based Design process including code generation with Real-Time Workshop® Embedded Coder™.

• Algorithm development using Simulink® and Stateflow® software in parallel with software implementation decisions/activities.
• The (re-) use of simulation test cases facilitated rapid prototyping on existing platforms or evaluation boards. This enabled early hardware choices to be validated and early detection of algorithm defects and performance issues.
• Detection of such issues early in the design cycle minimised the costs of corrective action.
• Less need for detailed specifications for implementation when well-documented Simulink models are used.

Nigel Holliday gained a BSc with honours in 1996 from The University of Salford. In 1997 he gained an MSc in Instrumentation and Design from the University of Manchester. In 2000 he successfully obtained a PhD from the University of Manchester after spending three years research designing a novel magnetic sensor and investigating suitable materials for inclusion in its build. Between 2000 and 2003 Nigel was a Research Fellow at the University of Leeds where he worked as part of a team developing a patented tomography system. Nigel was responsible for designing embedded hardware and writing the embedded software for the system. In 2003 Nigel joined Thales Missile Electronics (TME) where he has been involved in PCB IF design and trials work for a Battlefield Target ID system and most recently managing a project that involved making use of a Model Based Design process for modelling algorithms and implementing them on hardware using code generation techniques.

Solving Data Analysis Challenges Using MATLAB® and Statistics Products

The MathWorks

Engineers often have significant quantities of data that need to be analyzed. Complicating the need to rapidly analyze the data are anomalies (drop-outs, sensor failures, etc) which often leads to manual and laborious tasks to discover, categorize, and deal with missing or bad data. An example application will be presented in order to demonstrate how MATLAB® and statistics add-on products can be used to improve data quality and enhance understanding of the data through quantitative statistical methods.

Embedded MATLAB™: Design embeddable algorithms and automatically generate C code with MATLAB®

In this workshop, we will showcase new capabilities of MathWorks products enabling you to automatically generate C code from your Embedded MATLAB™ code. We learn about these capabilities by going through an example for the design of a video processing system. We examine all stages of the design workflow from modeling and simulation, converting the design from a floating-point to a fixed-point representation, automatically generating C code or VHDL® and Verilog® code for deployment onto DSP or FPGA hardware and verifying the design through real-time simulation on the hardware.

• How to create and modify your MATLAB algorithms to be compliant with the Embedded MATLAB subset.
• How to generate C code (both floating-point and fixed-point) from your Embedded MATLAB code directly from MATLAB desktop.
• How to call your Embedded MATLAB code as a new block within Simulink® to integrate and simulate your algorithm as part of a larger system model.
• How to use new capabilities in Simulink Fixed-Point Tool to streamline the process of converting your design from a floating-point to a fixed-point numerical representation.
• How to automatically generate target-specific C-code from Simulink models that include the Embedded MATLAB blocks for deployment on TI’s DSPs.

Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming in MATLAB®

R2008a included a major update to object oriented programming in MATLAB®, enabling easier development and maintenance of large applications and data structures. Using engineering examples, this master class will demonstrate how to define classes and work with objects, highlighting the benefits of this programming approach over traditional procedural techniques. Features covered include class definitions, properties, property attributes, methods, method attributes, and inheritance. No knowledge of object oriented programming is required.

Introduction to Parallel Computing with MATLAB

This master class will show you how the new products and features for MATLAB® enable you to take advantage of recent advances in computer hardware, from multiprocessor machines to computer clusters. You will learn how to utilize multiple cores in your desktop machine through the new parallelism capabilities of MATLAB and Parallel Computing Toolbox™. We will also introduce the use of MATLAB Distributed Computing Server on a computer cluster to speed up your algorithms and handle larger data sets.

New Concepts and Tools for Effective Verification and Validation Based on Model Analysis

Verification and Validation is critical for implementation of Model-Based Design in production programs. This master class will introduce new concepts and tools for effective verification and validation based on model analysis techniques. You will learn how to:

• Verify that your models meet requriements and modeling standards
• Prove correctness of the generated code and trace this information back to the model
• Use automation and tools to aid with design reviews and document generation.