FMI & FMU Cosimulation

“If we can take things we once did in the physical world - having to design things, build things, integrate things. If they can go digital, then we can design and build all the time”

Will Roper

FMI (functional mockup interface) is a standardized interface for model exchange and co-simulation of dynamic models across different modeling and simulation tools. It is supported by a large number of tools, including Dymola, JModelica.org, SIMPACK, SimulationX, and Simulink. It allows for the seamless integration of different simulation models from various domains, such as mechanical, electrical, and thermal systems. FMU (functional mockup unit), on the other hand, is a self-contained unit that can be used for co-simulation, which includes all the model information, simulation algorithms, and input/output variables.

Co-simulation allows hardware and software designers to simulate their designs simultaneously by enabling the integration of different simulation models from various domains. This means that the hardware and software components of a system can be modeled separately using specialized simulation tools, and then combined in a co-simulation environment to analyze the behavior of the entire system.

FMI and FMU are powerful tools that can benefit embedded system development. By using FMU co simulation, hardware and software designers can optimize their designs and reduce design errors, ultimately leading to more efficient and reliable systems.

2010

FMI was first published as a tool-independent standard for making models binary compatible

Why is cosimulation of functional mockup units important for embedded systems?

Co-simulation is valuable in embedded system development because it can help to identify and solve design issues early on in the development process. When teams are developing systems that include both hardware and software components, they can use co-simulation to simulate how these components will interact and identify any potential issues before physical prototypes are built. For example, let's say an engineer is developing a control system for an autonomous vehicle. The designer can use a specialized simulation tool to create a model of the hardware components, such as the sensors and actuators, and a separate simulation tool to create a model of the software components, such as the control algorithms. These models can then be integrated into a co-simulation environment, which allows the designer to simulate how the hardware and software components will interact in a real-world scenario. This can help:

  • Reduce design errors and optimize system performance by enabling hardware and software components to be tested and refined simultaneously in a virtual environment
  • Identify and resolve design issues early on in the development process so the company can ultimately save time and money, reducing the need for physical prototypes and design iterations

A shift is underway - are your modeling and simulation tools helping or hindering?

Collimator is the only tool that natively integrates with FMUs so you don't need to compromise. You can use the tools best suited for the job in an easy and seamless way

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Traditional Applications

Cannot quickly ingest or export data required to cosimulate end-to-end systems
Difficult to import data from other tools using the FMI standard
Involves extra time, effort and money to run HPC simulations
Traditional Applications UI
Collimator UI
Collimator Logo
Seamlessly ingest or export data by directly connecting to your database via API
Native integration with FMU FMI standard for seamless cosimulation with 3rd party tools
Unlimited compute to run high performance computing in the Cloud

Traditional Applications

Traditional Applications
Cannot quickly ingest or export data required to cosimulate end-to-end systems
Difficult to import data from other tools using the FMI standard
Involves extra time, effort and money to run HPC simulations
Collimator Logo
Collimator UI
Seamlessly ingest or export data by directly connecting to your database via API
Native integration with FMU FMI standard for seamless cosimulation with 3rd party tools
Unlimited compute to run high performance computing in the Cloud

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