Introduction

The Simscape plant model is converted to an HDL-compatible Simulink model by using the Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor. To run the Advisor, you run the sschdladvisor function for the model.

The Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor generates an HDL implementation model from which you generate HDL code. Before you generate the implementation model, configure the Simscape plant model for generation of the implementation model using the Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor. For more information, see Generate HDL Code for Simscape Models.

In some cases, the Simscape plant model may not be compatible for generation of the implementation model using the Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor. For HDL compatibility, you modify the Simscape plant model and then run the Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor. This example illustrates the DC Motor Control plant model. The model contains a nonlinear Friction block. You can use the approach in this example to convert Simscape models with few nonlinear blocks to a HDL-compatible Simulink model.

DC Motor Control Model

The DC Motor Control model is a physical model developed in Simscape. The model contains nonlinear elements and must be modified for implementation model generation.

open_system('ee_dc_motor_control')

Enclose the DC Motor and Friction block inside a Subsystem and save the model as ee_dc_motor_control_original.

open_system('ee_dc_motor_control_original')
set_param('ee_dc_motor_control_original','SimulationCommand','Update')

DC motor control is used as a speed control structure. A PWM controlled four-quadrant Chopper is used to feed the DC motor. The DC motor consists of Rotational Electromechanical Converter, Resistor, Inductance, Friction block and an Inertia block. The control subsystem includes the outer speed-control loop, the inner current-control loop and the PWM generation.

sim('ee_dc_motor_control_original')
open_system('ee_dc_motor_control_original/Scope')

Make DC Motor Model HDL-Compatible

To convert the model to a model that is compatible for conversion with Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor:

1. Detect presence of nonlinear components or blocks in the model. To verify the presence of nonlinear blocks in Simscape plant model, enter:

simscape.findNonlinearBlocks('ee_dc_motor_control_original')

Found network that contains nonlinear equations in the following blocks:
    {'ee_dc_motor_control_original/DC Motor/Friction'}

The number of linear or switched linear networks in the model is 0.
The number of nonlinear networks in the model is 1.

ans =

  1x1 cell array

    {'ee_dc_motor_control_original/DC Motor/Friction'}

The Simscape plant model has a nonlinear block, which is the Friction block.

2. For HDL compatibility, the model must not contain nonlinear elements. Remove the Friction block from the model.

3. To simulate the model faster and to reduce the time that the Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor takes to extract the state-space equations, reduce the stop time of this model. In the Simulink Toolstrip, on the Simulation tab, change Stop Time to 1.

Save the changes into a new model as ee_dc_motor_control_modified.

open_system('ee_dc_motor_control_modified')
set_param('ee_dc_motor_control_original','SimulationCommand','Update')

To see the simulation results of the modified model, run these commands:

sim('ee_dc_motor_control_modified')
open_system('ee_dc_motor_control_modified/Scope')

Run Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor and Verify Simulation Results

To open the Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor, run the sschdladvisor for your model.

sschdladvisor('ee_dc_motor_control_modified')

### Running Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor for <a href="matlab:(ee_dc_motor_control_modified)">ee_dc_motor_control_modified</a>
Updating Model Advisor cache...
Model Advisor cache updated. For new customizations, to update the cache, use the Advisor.Manager.refresh_customizations method.

To generate the implementation model, in the Simscape HDL Workflow Advisor, leave all tasks to the default settings and then run the tasks. Click the link in the Generate implementation model task to open the model.

Simulate Implementation model and Generate HDL code

Before you can generate HDL code from the model, you must change the sample time and specify certain settings that make the model compatible for HDL code generation. The sample time of modified plant model is Ts and the number of solver iterations to compute the modes is 3. Therefore, you must change the sample time of the model. To specify the HDL-compatible settings:

To simulate the model, run this command and then open the Scope block to see the results:

sim('gmStateSpaceHDL_ee_dc_motor_control_modifie')

You see that the output generated by the modified Simscape plant model matches the output generated by the implementation model.

Generate HDL Code and Validation Model

Before you generate HDL code, it is recommended that you enable generation of the validation model. The validation model compares the output of the generated model after code generation and the modified Simscape plant model. To learn more, see Generated Model and Validation Model.

To save validation model generation settings on your Simulink model, run this command:

hdlset_param('gmStateSpaceHDL_ee_dc_motor_control_modifie', 'GenerateValidationModel', 'on');

To generate HDL code, run this command:

makehdl('gmStateSpaceHDL_ee_dc_motor_control_modified/HDL Subsystem')

By default, HDL Coder generates VHDL code. To generate Verilog code, run this command:

makehdl('gmStateSpaceHDL_ee_dc_motor_control_modifie/HDL Subsystem', 'TargetLanguage', 'Verilog')

The generated HDL code and the validation model is saved in the hdlsrc directory. The generated code is saved as HDL_Subsystem_tc.vhd. You can also verify the simulation results by running the validation model gm_gmStateSpaceHDL_ee_dc_motor_control_modifie_vnl.slx.