On the use of UML for modeling mechatronic systems

Abstract—This paper describes a modeling language, firstly proposed in [1]–[3], that aims to provide a unified framework for representing control systems, namely physical plants coupled with computer-based control devices. The proposed modeling methodology is based on the cardinal principle of object orienta-tion, which allows to describe both control software and physical components using the same basic concepts, particularly those of capsules, ports and protocols. Furthermore, it is illustrated how the well-known object-oriented specification language UML can be adopted, provided an adequate formalization of its semantics, to describe structural and behavioral aspects of control systems, related to both logical and physical parts