Model-Based Design (MBD) is a mathematical and visual model-centric approach for designing and developing control, signal processing, communications, and other complex dynamic systems. MBD is an engineering paradigm shift that focuses on high-level executable models for system development and allows exploring a wide range of low-cost analysis, high-fidelity simulation, test-case generation, and early-development cycle concept proofs.
The core of MBD is its systematic use of development process to enable system-level and component-level design & simulation, analysis, automatic code generation, and continuous test & verification instead of relying on physical prototypes and textual specifications. As Model-Based Design considers all components (algorithms, control logic, and physical & intellectual property) usually associated with system performance, the resultant developed model becomes the source of many outputs (reports, C code, and HDL code).
MBD gives a standard environment to ease collaboration between development engineering groups:
- Software engineers can generate embedded code from simulation models and check if algorithms will work before writing the embedded code.
- System engineers can verify and test system components (mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, and software) using virtual prototyping before sending the design to hardware manufacturing.
- Mechanical engineers can create virtual assemblies (analogous to CAD software) to understand in advance how the product parts and elements will behave and interact with each other.
Because of its convenient, understandable graphical description of systems, continuous verification and validation at all stages of engineering development, as well as its inherent robustness against coding errors in early development stages, Model-Based Design has become a state-of-the-art method in automotive, aerospace, and defense industries. It is having a widespread adoption in motion control, medical & industrial applications for also minimizing the financial impact and the time-to-market with its reuse of design elements for upgrades and expansion derivatives.