Model Based Design

Model-Based Design (MBD) is a mathematical and visual method of addressing problems associated with designing complex control, signal processing and communication systems. It is used in many motion control, industrial equipment, aerospace, and automotive applications. Model-based design is a methodology applied in designing embedded software.

Model-based design provides an efficient approach for establishing a common framework for communication throughout the design process while supporting the development cycle ("V" diagram). In model-based design of control systems, development is manifested in these four steps:

The model-based design paradigm is significantly different from traditional design methodology. Rather than using complex structures and extensive software code, designers can use Model-based design to define plant models with advanced functional characteristics using continuous-time and discrete-time building blocks. These built models used with simulation tools can lead to rapid prototyping, software testing, and verification. Not only is the testing and verification process enhanced, but also, in some cases, hardware-in-the-loop simulation can be used with the new design paradigm to perform testing of dynamic effects on the system more quickly and much more efficiently than with traditional design methodology.

The dawn of the electrical age brought many innovative and advanced control systems. As early as the 1920s two aspects of engineering, control theory and control systems, converged to make large-scale integrated systems possible. In those early days controls systems were commonly used in the industrial environment. Large process facilities started using process controllers for regulating continuous variables such as temperature, pressure, and flow rate. Electrical relays built into ladder-like networks were one of the first discrete control devices to automate an entire manufacturing process.

Control systems gained momentum, primarily in the automotive and aerospace sectors. In the 1950s and 1960s the push to Space generated interest in embedded control systems. Engineers constructed control systems such as engine control units and flight simulators, that could be part of the end product. By the end of the twentieth century, embedded control systems were ubiquitous, as even white goods such as washing machines and air conditioners contained complex and advanced control algorithms, making them much more "intelligent".

In 1969, the first computer-based controllers were introduced. These early programmable logic controllers (PLC) mimicked the operations of already available discrete control technologies that used the out-dated relay ladders. The advent of PC technology brought a drastic shift in the process and discrete control market. An off-the-shelf desktop loaded with adequate hardware and software can run an entire process unit, and execute complex and established PID algorithms or work as a Distributed Control System (DCS).

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