By using model based development (MBD) methods and crafting a virtual simulation prototype engineers are exploring more design options.
　　Faster computers and modeling/simulation software have revolutionized the design process for control system engineers. By using model based development (MBD) methods and crafting a virtual simulation prototype before committing to metal, plastic, or silicon., innovative engineers are exploring more design options控制工程网版权所有, more successfully predicting performanceCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, an

d optimizing systems more quickly than ever before.
　　Although the current MBD software toolchain is effective, engineers in many fields also are experiencing one of those fundamental sea changes typical in computing circles: New software techniques are delivering models that are much faster控制工程网版权所有, have higher fidelity, and are simply smarter than traditional engineering modeling software. Software that traditionally has been used for mathematics research and education is being used in engineering modeling to rapidly produce concise控制工程网版权所有, numerically efficient models of complex systems for high-performance execution. The control-design field is one of the areas feeling this most.
　　Over the past 20 years, techniques for simulating and implementing embedded control systems have developed into a high art. However, one element of the design process still remains something of a black art: the process of developing the necessary equations required for a simulation. Plant modeling remains a cumbersome, often daunting and error-prone task. Many feel that for the emerging era of everything-by-wire, more automated techniques are required.
　　Analog computers in history
　　Digital computer evolution is the stuff of legends. Lesser known is that of the analog computer. With similar beginnings in the mid-20th centuryCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, these cousins of the digital computer were even more intimately tied to modeling equations.
　　Unlike digital computers that need to be programmed with a suitable numerical method to solve a