Model in Loop (MIL), Software in Loop (SIL) and Hardware in Loop (HIL) Testing in MBD

Model based design (MBD) is becoming an integral part of embedded systems development in many organisations. This paper presents the methodology and benefits of MBD through a theoretical case study of gantry crane system modeling and control for loading/unloading applications. Various aspects of MBD such as modeling using Industrial Physics toolbox of Matlab, Simulink modeling, code generation, model-in-the-loop (MIL) testing, time synchronization, real time simulations in Simulink, software-in-the-loop (SIL) testing and oscillation detection during hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing have been discussed with respect to the gantry crane application. This paper shows how MBD helps to detect design issues very early in the development process, which is very difficult to achieve in case of the traditional development methodologies. The importance of MIL, SIL and HIL tests are discussed in detail to establish the immense potential of MBD approach in new system development.