Stringent high-performance requirements for reliable products are rising design complexity both in hardware and software; because of this, embedded systems are becoming a key differentiating factor for (technological and commercial) success. This demanding need to create robust and complex systems with huge quality, safety and security, in less time and cheaper, is pushing engineers to turn into Model-Based Design (MBD) —a mathematical and visual approach for developing complex control systems.
MBD is disrupting the whole embedded systems development industry by its systematic use of models throughout the development process for design, analysis, simulation, automatic code generation, and verification of motion control, signal processing, communications, and other complex dynamic systems for industrial, automotive, and aerospace applications.
Model-Based Design allows embedded developers to create simulation models to find if algorithms will work (before writing embedded code); prototype virtual systems to see if the model will perform as intended (before manufacturing and testing hardware); and optimize overall system (mechanical, electrical, and embedded, plus hydraulic and pneumatic) design.
Engineers are transforming how they work with Model-Based Design, bringing to their desktop the tasks that were at laboratories and field. MBD uses a model as an executable specification throughout development instead of relying on prototypes and specifications; supporting both component- and system-level design and simulation, automatic code generation, and continuous test and verification.
IMAGE: Model-Based Design workflow - Mathworks
The NXP Model-Based Design Toolbox (MBDT) is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and toolchain for automatically configure and generate the necessary software to execute complex applications. MBDT integrates Mathworks Simulink
embedded target and peripheral device blocks and drivers to fast prototype, verify, and validate real targets for algorithms developed in Mathworks MATLAB environment focused on Motor Control algorithms, Communication Protocols (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART), and Sensor-based applications using NXP microcontrollers.
The main value drivers of MBD are accelerating development (solving tight times constraints) and reducing the number of physical prototypes (helping to save money and prove out the ROI), allowing companies to achieve dramatic and ongoing benefits by using Model-Based Design for embedded development.