Kinematics support for design and simulation of mechatronic systems

We present a framework that combines 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. The framework verifies and maintains the consistency between the representations of the form, function, and behavior of the virtual prototype. This virtual prototype, in turn, can provide immediate feedback about design decisions by evaluating whether the functional requirements are met in simulation. When the designer makes a change to one aspect of the representation, our framework automatically updates all other aspects impacted by this change and reports inconsistencies. Inconsistencies occur when the kinematic behavior of the device does not match the form, or the kinematic behavior does not match the currently specified functional description. Continuous feedback of this nature shortens the design-simulate cycle for product design. To achieve composition of behavioral models, we use a port-based modeling paradigm in which component interactions are defined by connections between ports. Component objects and component interactions together form the system model of the device. Simulation models for the components are defined in VHDL-AMS and are solved with a commercial solver.