Use of hybrid models for testing and debugging control software for electromechanical systems

This paper proposes a hybrid modeling language and its application to a simulator-based testing and debugging environment for the control software for electromechanical systems. The new hybrid modeling language is designed mainly focusing on simulation speed, flexibility in connecting with control software, and model reusability. This language maintains the advantages of existing hybrid modeling languages such as Hybrid cc, including the flexibility of constraint programming and the reusability of the object-oriented approach. A new feature of the language is that it allows combination of compositional constraint programming and sequential procedural programming. The compiled code is executed efficiently by the runtime system, which has a built-in mechanism for communicating with external software, eliminating the complicated setup required for integrating the simulator with the control software. Model components programmed by the object-oriented approach allow designers to use existing components and to concentrate on the task of modeling the newly designed hardware. The runtime system has been integrated with a three-dimensional kinematics simulator and a control software design tool to create a simulator-based testing and debugging environment. The effectiveness of this system has been confirmed through its application to real product design projects.