Intuitive design of complex real-time control systems

Designing complex dynamic systems usually involves several iterations. In each of these steps, the system specifications have to be verified and conflicts have to be detected early enough to influence the ongoing fabrication. Classical simulation tools often fail to give answers in time because several simulations are necessary to check the influence of different design parameters and to recognize trends. In this paper a computer-aided design method is proposed where in addition to the standard simulation techniques, the engineer manipulates the generated graphics with the computer mouse, sees immediately how the performance changes, and feels how different objectives are linked. The instantaneous performance display gives a better understanding of the problem; obtaining a satisfactory, compromise or detecting a conflict becomes much faster. As an application example, the Auxiliary Telescope System of the European Southern Observatory is described.