On July 25, 2014, the Modelica Association Project Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) announced the release of the FMI standard 2.0. FMI is an open, manufacturer-independent interface that lets the user integrate simulation models from different modeling tools into one overall model. The latest version of the standard brings with it new functions. For example, simulation parameters can now be altered during the simulation. dSPACE is among the first providers to support the FMI standard 2.0 in its tool chain.
Torsten Blochwitz, R&D Manager ITI GmbH and FMI Project Leader, says, "I am very glad to present the FMI 2.0 specifications after such intensive development work. I thank our international partners for their close cooperation. Comprehensive realistic tests allow us to release a high-quality specification, so FMUs of different tools and platforms are compatible right from the start. New functions pave the way for new application fields and increase usability. Among these functions are: altering parameters during the simulation, an improved initializa-tion, event handling and use in a real-time environment such as in a hardware-in-the-loop simulator."
Professor Dr. Ing. Martin Otter, Chairman of the Modelica Association and Vice Director of the Institute for System Dynamics and Control at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), states, "Finally! As a co-developer of FMI 2.0, I am very glad that a much improved version of the standard was brought to the market. The close cooperation of around ten FMI software providers makes a very stable exchange of dynamic systems between tools possible. We will increasingly use FMI in our research projects at the DLR Institute for System Dynamics and Control, because FMI 2.0 and its support by important software providers opens new possibilities, particularly in the real-time environment."
FMI in the dSPACE tool chain
Three dSPACE products support FMI 2.0: the PC-based platform VEOS, the hardware-in-the-loop simulator SCALEXIO, and the data management software SYNECT.
FMI support benefits the users because more modeling tools can be used in model-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop projects with dSPACE VEOS and SCALEXIO. Model components and their visualization, test and experiment projects can be consistently reused throughout the dSPACE tool chain. SYNECT supports the management of the created data, including the FMUs, during the entire development and test process.