Managing dynamic state of a physical system

• US 8,738,784 B1
• Filed: 05/17/2011
• Issued: 05/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Inventors: Mirtich, Brian, Wendlandt, Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Kizou, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOPEZ-VARGAS, GUSTAVO E
• Application Number:
  US13/109,671
• Time in Patent Office: 1,106 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328, 370/310, 370/254, 370/395.6, 370/392, 709/226, 709/223, 709/231, 709/206, 709/224, 706/12, 706/13, 706/14, 706/15, 345/649, 345/650, 715/764
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/17 Mechanical parametric or variational design

Abstract

In an embodiment, a network may represent a physical system. The network may have an element that represents an entity of the physical system. A value of a state associated with the network may be identified (e.g., generated) using various techniques. The state may be a low-level state associated with the network. The techniques may include, but are not limited to, for example, generating the value based on a scaffold defined for the network, generating the value based on a target value for the state, and/or generating the value based on applying an operation to various values of the state. The identified value may be associated with an identifier. The identifier may distinguish the value, for example, from other values of other states in the network and/or other values of states in other networks.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

interacting, using a computing device, with an executable model, the executable model representing a physical system, the physical system including one or more of a mechanical system or an electrical system, the executable model including an executable element having a state, the state representing a characteristic associated with the executable element, and the executable element representing an entity of the physical system;

receiving, using the computing device, a target value for the state associated with the executable element, the target value indicating a desired value or a suggested value for the state associated with the executable element;

determining, using the computing device, that the target value is feasible for the state associated with the executable element based on information associated with the physical system;

establishing, using the computing device, a value for the state associated with the executable element based on the target value after determining that the target value is feasible for the state associated with the executable element;

modifying, using the computing device, the executable element to generate a modified element;

determining, using the computing device, that the target value applies to the modified element;

identifying, using the computing device, a value for the state associated with the modified element based on the target value;

executing, using the computing device, at least a portion of the executable model to simulate the physical system, the portion of the executable model including the modified element;

executing at least the portion of the executable model including;

using the identified value for the state associated with the modified element; and

storing, using the computing device, a result of executing at least the portion of the executable model.

2. The method of claim 1, where, when the target value indicates the suggested value, the suggested value provides a range of values for establishing the value for the state associated with the executable element.

3. The method of claim 1, where establishing the value of the state associated with the executable element comprises:

setting the value for the state associated with the executable element to the target value.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating an identifier with the executable element; and

associating the identifier with the value established for the state associated with the executable element.

5. The method of claim 4, where the identifier is a globally unique identifier (GUID) that uniquely identifies the executable element such that the executable element is distinguished from all other elements of the executable model.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that another target value is not feasible for another state associated with another executable element of the executable model; and

reporting an error based on determining that the other target value is not feasible for the other state associated with the other executable element.

7. The method of claim 1, where the information associated with the physical system includes information regarding one or more of constraints within the physical system or a design of the physical system.

8. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to;

interact with an executable model, the executable model representing a physical system, the physical system including one or more of a mechanical system or an electrical system, the executable model including an executable element having a state, the state representing a characteristic associated with the executable element, and the executable element representing an entity of the physical system;

receive a target value for the state associated with the executable element, the target value indicating a desired value or a suggested value for the state associated with the executable element;

determine that the target value is feasible for the state associated with the executable element based on information associated with the physical system;

establish a value for the state associated with the executable element based on the target value after determining that the target value is feasible for the state associated with the executable element;

modify the executable element to generate a modified element;

determine that the target value applies to the modified element;

identify a value for the state associated with the modified element based on the target value;

determine, based on the value identified for the state associated with the modified element, a result of executing at least a portion of the executable model to simulate the physical system;

and store the result of executing the at least the portion of the executable model.

9. The media of claim 8, where the executable model is stored in a first storage entity, where the result of the executing is stored in a second storage entity, and where the second storage entity is different from the first storage entity.

10. The media of claim 9, where the first storage entity is one of a file, a record, or a database table.

11. The media of claim 8, where, when the target value indicates the suggested value, the suggested value provides a range of values for establishing the value for the state associated with the executable element.

12. The media of claim 8, where the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to;

provide, for display, an interface for specifying target values for a plurality of states associated with a plurality of elements of the executable network,

the plurality of elements including the executable element,

the plurality of states including the state associated with the executable element,

the target values including the target value, for the state associated with the executable element, and one or more other user-supplied values, and

the interface including a status bar that indicates that at least one of the one or more other user-supplied values is infeasible.

13. The media of claim 8, where the state is a position state, and where the target value is an amount of degrees.

14. The media of claim 8, where receiving the target value comprises:

receiving the target value via an interface provided to a user of the computing device, and where the target value is of a particular type of units.

15. A system comprising;

one or more processors to;

interact with an executable model, the executable model representing a physical system, the physical system including one or more of a mechanical system or an electrical system, the executable model including an executable element having a state, the state representing a characteristic associated with the executable element, and the executable element representing an entity of the physical system;

receive a target value for the state associated with the executable element, the target value indicating a desired value or a suggested value for the state associated with the executable element;

determine that the target value is feasible for the state associated with the executable element based on information associated with the physical system;

establish a value for the state associated with the executable element based on the target value after determining that the target value is feasible for the state associated with the executable element;

modify the executable element to generate a modified element;

determine that the target value applies to the modified element;

identify a value for the state associated with the modified element based on the target value;

determine, based on the value identified for the state associated with the modified element, a result of executing at least a portion of the executable model to simulate the physical system;

and store the result of executing the at least the portion of the executable model.

16. The system of claim 15, where, when acquiring the target value, the one or more processors are to:

acquire the target value via an interface provided to a user of the system.

17. The system of claim 15, where the information associated with the physical system includes information regarding one or more of constraints within the physical system or a design of the physical system.

18. The system of claim 15, where, when determining the value for the state associated with the executable element, the one or more processors are to:

determine the value for the state associated with the executable element based on the target value and a design of the physical system.

19. The system of claim 15, where, when determining the value for the state associated with the executable element, the one or more processors are to:

generate a resultant value by applying a factor to the target value, and

determine the value for the state based on the resultant value.

20. The system of claim 15,

where the state is a position state, and

where the target value is an amount of degrees.