Modeling and Control of Mechanical Systems in Simulink of Matlab

Abstract

Mechanical systems are types of physical systems. This is why it is important to study and control them using information about their structure to describe their particular nature. Dynamics of Multi-Body Systems (MBS) refers to properties of the mechanical systems. They are often described by the second-order nonlinear equations parameterized by a configuration-dependent inertia matrix and the nonlinear vector containing the Coriolis and centrifugal terms. These equations are the cornerstone for simulation and control of these systems, and then many researchers have attempted to develop efficient modeling techniques to derive the equations of motion of multi-body systems in novel forms. Furthermore, to prove the efficiency of these models and simulate them, efficient software for modeling is needed. In the last few years, Simulink has become the most widely used software package in academia and industry for modeling and simulating mechanical systems. Used heavily in industry, it is credited with reducing the development of most control system projects. Simulink (Simulation and Link) is an extension of MATLAB by Mathworks Inc. It works with MATLAB to offer modeling, simulation, and analysis of mechanical systems under a graphical user interface (GUI) environment. It supports linear and nonlinear systems, modelled in continuous time, sampled time, or a hybrid of the two. Systems can also be multirate, i.e., have different parts that are sampled or updated at different rates. It allows engineers to rapidly and accurately build computer models of mechanical systems using block diagram notation. It also includes a comprehensive block library of sinks, sources, linear and nonlinear components, and connectors. Moreover it can allow the users to customize and create their own blocks. Using Simulink we can easily build models from presentative schemes, or take an existing model and add to it. Simulations are interactive, so we can change parameters “on the fly” and immediately see the results. As Simulink is an integral part of MATLAB, it is easy to switch back and forth during the analysis process and thus, the user may take full advantage of features offered in both environments. So we can take the results from Simulink and analyze them in Matlab workspace. In this chapter we present the basic features of Simulink focusing on modeling and control of mechanical systems. In the first part, we present the method for creating new Simulink models using different toolboxes to customize their appearance and use. Then in the second