System-level model integration of design and simulation for mechatronic systems based on SysML

The design of a mechatronic system (MTS) is not a trivial task due to the complexity of the systems. The evaluation of various design scenarios for the given requirements of a specific MTS is also difficult. Currently, model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and the modeling language SysML provide a novel means for the systematic design of MTSs. However, the specific requirements of MTS behavior modeling, i.e., continuous dynamics or even discrete/continuous hybrid behavior modeling, and automatic simulation and evaluation of the behavior models, are not supported by SysML which intends to create descriptive static design models. Therefore, extension should be made for SysML to support detailed hybrid behavior modeling and the transformation between hybrid models in SysML and executable simulation models in certain simulation environment. For this study, a meta-model based method is proposed to integrate the system design and simulation models of MTSs. First, a set of stereotypes is defined to facilitate the designer to explicitly model hybrid dynamic behavior based on SysML. The necessary simulation information is also formalized in SysML to support an analysis of the system dynamic behavior with the aid of simulations. Finally, the SysML-based system dynamic behavior, and the related simulation information are integrated with the platform-specific simulation model through a bidirectional model transformation approach based on a triple graph grammar (TGG), which facilitates the automatic model consistency and traceability between system design and simulation. The proposed method is implemented and illustrated by using an Inverted Pendulum System (IPS).