xpc target

Hi to all, I'm a student of automation engineer.

For my thesis, my tutor said to me that would be important to learn using the xpc Target of Simulink. I agree with him but now I don't know if I understood well its utility. I want to show you what I understood about xpc target in few words:

xpc target is a real time software environment that allows the simulation of a physical system. To let work xpc target and perform the Hardware in the Loop (HIL) I need 2 computers: 1 host computer that I need as Interface 1 target computer that I need as target and on this computer I want to simulate my physical system. The 2 computers are connected through a RS232 serial cable and I can watch what's happen in the physical system and I can change the behavior of it.

Do you think that I have understood what xpc target is?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Answer 1

[Diego Kuratli]

xPC Target has been renamed to Simulink Real-Time.

To learn more about Simulink Real-Time, please visit the product page:

https://www.mathworks.com/products/simulink-real-time.html

Answer 2

[Doug Eastman]

Yes, you have the basic idea correct. If you haven't already I recommend reading through the xPC Target Product Page. All the features are described there in detail. There is also a nice video that gives a brief overview.

I would only make a couple comments on your description:

1) It is certainly used to simulate physical systems for HIL testing as you mention, but it can work with other Simulink models, such as control algorithms, so you can quickly test the algorithm with the actual plant (rapid prototyping).

2) The connection between the host and target can also be through ethernet, which is the more common and recommended approach.

[chef13]

Oh, thank you Doug.

I want also to know other basic things:

1) Is it possible to work with the xox target without an hardware connected to the target pc and simulate the hardware through a model? Or I need an acquisition card?

2) can I use a 64 bit windows 7 pc as a host and a 32 bit windows xp pc as a target pc?

Thank you in advance for your answers!!

[Doug Eastman]

1) Yes, the xPC Target machine can be running a pure simulation that is not connected to any external hardware, so you don't need to have a data acquisition card.

2) Short answer is yes. The target machine runs the xPC Target Kernel, so it won't use a standard OS like Windows (you could have Windows installed and dual-boot into that if you wish, but it is not necessary). The host machine can be either 32-bit or 64-bit Windows.