A Virtual Design Engineering Environment for Control System Design and Validation

Abstract

Companies are looking for a more efficient way to design, validate, test and commission a control system. In near future, automated intelligence (Agents/Holons) that will support the control logic actions will need some form of environment for easing the validation of the decision making rules. This paper discusses tools to help increase design efficiency and productivity, by enabling virtual multi-disciplinary engineering collaboration through an integrated set of design software products. This article proposes an integration of information from different design, simulation, control and visualization systems into a common platform for simulation and control validation. The proposed technology provides an analytical framework for system design, including virtualized control technology connected to a simulation engine coupled with 3D visualization. The capability of this prototype to visualize real time control of mechanisms in a virtual environment, proves how a virtual design engineering environment for control system design and validation, can help qualify the production controller before connecting it to the real machine. It will also assist in understanding the behavior of the system, detect problems early in the design process, reduce downtime, troubleshooting and project cost. These tools will help reduce development time of control systems and improve productivity.