Virtual%20Systems%20Engineering

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Virtual Systems Engineering
Course objective To study methods for design
and analysis of virtual systems What is a virtual
system ? A virtual system is an approximation of
a real system Usually composed of a model
simulated on a computer It is accurate enough so
that it can interact with the outside world in a
realistic manner A virtual system can be used as
a virtual prototype in place of a physical
prototype for training and testing purposes
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Motivation for Virtual Systems
There is great need for virtual prototyping in
industry as systems become more complex and
design cycles shorten Embedded systems that
combine CPU, hardware and software are especially
difficult to debug Mistakes caught during
prototyping are easier and much less costly to
fix Virtual prototypes are usually easier and
less costly (especially copies) to develop than
physical prototypes Virtual prototypes can be
tested for extreme operating conditions and are
useful for training purposes
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Classification of Virtual Systems
Non-real-time Virtual Prototype No real-time
interaction with the environment Modeling,
simulation, dynamics Finite Element Method
(FEM) Computational Fluid Mechanics
(CFD) Advanced visualization and
animation Special effects in movies
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Real-time Virtual Reality (Virtual
Environment) Real-time interaction with one or
more people Flight simulator, car simulator,
power plant simulator Medical training
simulators, telerobotics Realistic video
games Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)
Simulation Real-time interaction with
hardware Normally simulation must be updated much
faster than VR Stability is very important so
equipment is not damaged Useful for debugging
embedded and control systems
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Why Study Virtual Systems Engineering ?
Virtual systems are highly challenging and
combine several different disciplines (Mech Eng,
Elec Eng, CS) Real-time virtual systems are
dynamic systems that require stability and
performance of many feedback loops Time delays
are very common Modeling of complex systems is
challenging There is often a tradeoff between
complexity and accuracy Real-time programming 3D
Graphics and user interaction Real-time networking
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3D Graphics
Need to make visually realistic virtual
systems Emphasis on real-time graphics This
includes shading and textured surfaces We will
use Direct3D (DirectX) graphics functions Main
D3D graphics primitives are Lists of points,
lines, triangles,and textured triangles Complex
surfaces can be constructed by combining
primitive objects