Composable Models for Simulation-Based Design

This article introduces the concept of combining both form (CAD models) and behavior (simulation models) of mechatronic system components into component objects. By composing these component objects, designers automatically create a virtual prototype of the system they are designing. This virtual prototype, in turn, can provide immediate feedback about design decisions by evaluating whether the functional requirements are met in simulation. To achieve the composition of behavioral models, we introduce a port-based modeling paradigm in which components interactions are defined by connections between ports. The port-based models are reconfigurable, so that the same physical component can be simulated at multiple levels of detail without having to modify the system-level model description. This allows the virtual prototype to evolve during the design process and to achieve the accuracy required for the simulation experiments at each design stage. To maintain the consistency between the ..