Need input for a solution

Hi everyone. Still new with MATLAB, but learning everyday. I am trying to develop a solution that relies on a table of data (aircraft cruise performance) in which the user can enter in relevant information (pressure altitude, rpm, and temperature) and MATLAB can generate a return value for fuel burn, true airspeed, and % cruise power. I have never worked with a lookup table, however, maybe that's not the best way to get it done. I have all of the data entered into an excel file, however I didn't see a place where I could post the file so anyone could look at the data. Any advice would be appreciated!

Answer 1

[Uday M]

You can choose to implement the solution either entirely in MATLAB or by using Simulink. The option you choose entirely depends on our end objective.

Because you already have all the aircraft cruise data in an excel file, the first step would be import this data into MATLAB using xlsread http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/ref/xlsread.html.

Now, if you would like to program the solution in MATLAB, you could use one of the table lookup methods <http://www.mathworks.com/help/search/doc/en/R2011a?submitsearch=Search&qdoc=table+lookup+product%3Amatlab+type%3Afcn> to take the values of fuel burn etc. as inputs and return the pressure, altitude etc. as the outputs.

If you would like to program the solution in Simulink, you can use the lookup table block, whose documentation can be found here: http://www.mathworks.com/help/toolbox/simulink/ug/bqiqpa3.html. Also at the link, you will find a section titled 'Guidelines for Choosing a Lookup Table' that I think will be helpful to you in selecting one that fits your need.

In either case, because you are new to MATLAB, it will be useful to read the documentation for both the MATLAB and Simulink based approaches to familiarize yourself with the possibilities.