Leaps and Bounds in Simulation Technology!
Surak Perera
Product Specialist
Autumn 2008 sees the official
launch of Maplesoft's
supercharged simulation
software, MapleSim. Much to
the relief of results-driven, time
pressured engineers, this
innovative new product
promises to help users produce
better products and
dramatically shorten the
product development cycle.
Leaps and bounds in simulation
technology are few and far between,
but engineers constantly demand the
next big step change in modelling power and
flexibility. This is driven by their need to add
greater value through better engineering
design than their rivals. The computer
models necessary to generate these designs
consume engineer-hours at an unbounded
rate as they become increasingly
sophisticated.
A significant bottleneck, for example, in
developing high-fidelity simulations is the
first-principles derivation of the modelling
equations by hand, a task not yet
mechanised by computers. For non-trivial
systems this is time consuming and error
prone, and needs intensive human effort.
Additionally, once the system equations
are rigorously audited, they have to be
solved with software. This, of course,
demands that the engineer invests more
time in translating the system equations into
syntax the software understands, and that
the software has the power to solve
problems of the complexity that arise in realworld
applications.
These are the issues that have driven
the development of MapleSim, a newblock
diagram multi-domain simulation
tool from Maplesoft, the recognised
leaders in software technology for
technical professionals. Its unique
modelling methodology eliminates the
need to develop system equations by
hand; models are created by dragging
physical components onto a worksheet
and wiring them together. The
components are drawn from multiple
physical domains and range from gears
and joints to electrical and hydraulic
components. Engineers can also develop
their own components from physical firstprinciples,
while a remarkably intelligent
interface ensures that connections are
allowed only where physically
meaningful.
The wires that connect the components
represent a real physical connection with
energy flowing in both directions. This
means that simulations resemble a schematic of the real system under study,
resulting in models that are faster to
develop and far easier to understand.
When the simulation is run, MapleSim
automatically derives the system
equations and translates them into a
highly computationally efficient form.
Finally, the equations are passed to
numerical solvers that excel at solving
complex non-trivial systems.
MapleSim also offers a spectrum of
functionality for enhancing the engineering
design process. Engineers can view and
manipulate the symbolic system
equations in Maple – an interactive
worksheet environment that’s already the
core of many technical workspaces. This
delivers confidence over the underlying
methods and assumptions used by the
software in deriving the system
equations.
Simulations can also be optimised to
discover the best operating parameters, and
converted to C or RTW-compatible Simulink
s-functions for Hardware-in-the-Loop
applications. MapleSim also delivers tools
for time and frequency domain analysis.
Modellers already familiar with legacy
block-diagram simulation tools will find
the ability to import Simulink models a
time-saver. Additionally, as well as the
multi-domain physical component blocks, MapleSim offers the traditional
blockdiagram functionality of Simulink, giving modellers the flexibility
to work how they want to work.
Always a customer-focused company, Maplesoft worked with a
core group of over 400 technologists worldwide to help guide MapleSim’s
development. Their ideas and suggestions have given MapleSim the momentum
to surpass all expectations when it leaps on to your desktop! |
