MV-7011: Co-Simulation with Activate via Function Mockup Interface (FMI)

In this tutorial, you will learn about the process of setting up an MBS model to co-simulate with Activate by following the FMI.

This exercise uses the Quadrotor_complete.mdl, rotor.h3d, shaft.h3d, superblade.h3d and Quadrotor_Control_fmu.scm files located in the mbd_modeling\motionsolve\cosimulation\activate> folder.

The co-simulation “flavor” of the FMI prescribes a protocol for different software to iteratively communicate data with one another, thus enabling multiple solvers to co-simulate amongst one another.

By leveraging this interface, MotionSolve can co-simulate with Activate, or with any other software that supports the FMI standard. To do this, the MotionSolve model is first converted to a Functional Mockup Unit (FMU) which is a stand-alone modeling unit that represents the MotionSolve model. FMUs adhere to the protocol prescribed by the FMI and can thus be imported or exported by software that support this interface.

MotionSolve can export an FMU of type “co-simulation” which can be imported into other software such as 1-D simulators. The type “co-simulation” implies that the MotionSolve FMU is responsible for calculating its part of the solution i.e. MotionSolve is invoked at the time co-simulation is started.

This tutorial will describe the steps required to:

  1. Open and inspect the MBS model
  2. Export an FMU from MotionView
  3. Use the FMU to run a co-simulation analysis using Activate
  4. Review co-simulation results in Activate

A model representing a quad-rotorcraft is used for this tutorial. The model structure, rotor blades etc. are modeled using MotionView/MotionSolve and Activate is used to control the spin rate of the rotors to control the thrust and lateral movement of the rotor. Roll forces are applied to the rotorcraft to mimic the effect of wind. The aim of the simulation is to control the thrust to make the rotor achieve a target height.

Software required to complete this tutorial successfully:

  • HyperWorks 2017.1 or later
  • sT/Activate 2017.1 or later

Review the Model

  1. Launch a new session of MotionView.
  2. From the Model-Main toolbar, click the Open Model icon .
    Tip: You an also select File > Open > Model.
  3. From the Open model dialog, select the Quadrotor_complete.mdl file from your <working directory> and click Open.
  4. Review the model.


    Figure 1.
    Note: The model has been instrumented to contain inputs (ControlInput) and outputs (PlantOutput). Outputs are signals sent by MotionSolve to the environment (Activate). Inputs are signals accepted by MotionSolve from the environment.
    In this example, the following outputs are computed by MotionSolve and passed to the external solver (Activate):
    Name Description
    Roll Angle The roll angle of the rotor craft in the global frame.
    Altitude The height of the rotor craft in the global frame.
    Pitch Angle The pitch angle of the rotor craft in the global frame.
    PosX The X coordinate of the rotor craft in the global frame.
    PosY The Y coordinate of the rotor craft in the global frame.
    VX The X velocity of the rotor craft in the global frame.
    VY The X velocity of the rotor craft in the global frame.
    The following inputs are expected from the external solver by MotionSolve:
    Name Description
    Roll_Command The control signal for controlling the roll of rotor craft.
    Throttle_Command The control signal for controlling the throttle of rotor craft.
    Pitch_Command The control signal for controlling the pitch of rotor craft.

Export MDL as an FMU

  1. From the Standard toolbar, click the Export Model icon .
    Tip: You an also select File > Export > Model.
    The Export Model dialog is displayed.
  2. Select the Export as Functional Mockup Unit (FMU) option and use the Select FMU file browser to designate the file name for the FMU as Quadrotor.fmu.


    Figure 2.
  3. Click the Export button.
    Note: You may be prompted to save your model before it is exported, click OK at that point.
    MotionView creates an archive (or zip) package (of type *.fmu) that contains the complete MotionView model and other libraries as per the FMI standard. Once the export is complete, an FMU is created in your working directory. Since an FMU is basically a ZIP file, you can open this file to inspect its contents. A MotionSolve FMU consists of the following sets of files:
    modelDescription.xml
    This file describes the FMU and its contents to the importing software (here Activate).
    "binaries" folder
    This folder contains platform specific binaries that are required to use this FMU for co-simulation with MotionSolve.
    "resources" folder
    This folder contains the archived MDL model along with all the files that are required to run the model. Also it contains some auxiliary files that are required to run co-simulation.

Import the FMU in Activate

  1. Before the FMU is imported into Activate, set the following environment variables that indicate the install location of HyperWorks. The environment variables differ based on the operating system:
    Operating System Environment Variable/s
    Windows ALTAIR_FMU_ROOT=altair_install
    Linux ALTAIR_FMU_ROOT=altair_install/altair

    LD_LIBRARY_PATH= altair_install/altair/hwsolvers/motionsolve/bin/linux64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

    (MotionSolve solver location is being appended to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable)

    RADFLEX_PATH= altair_install/altair/hwsolvers/common/bin/linux64
  2. Launch Activate and open the Quadrotor_Control_fmu.scm file from your <working directory> using the Open Model button .
    Tip: You an also use the File > Open menu option to select the Quadrotor_Control_fmu.scm file.


    Figure 3.
  3. From the Palette Browser on the right, double-click Activate > CoSimulation and drag-drop the FMU block into the model GUI.


    Figure 4.
    Note: If the Palette Browser is not visible on the right, you can turn it ON by clicking View > Palette Browser in the Menu.
  4. Double-click on the FMU block to specify the FMU.


    Figure 5.
  5. Click the browse file button and select the FMU exported from MotionView.
    Note: Once the FMU is loaded, you will notice that several of the other fields in this dialog are auto-populated.


    Figure 6.
    Tip: You can specify the different location of the output files from MotionSolve (.mrf, .abf, .h3d, etc.) by changing the text in the parameter with the name “Output file location”.
  6. The Info button on the dialog box provides information about the FMU being imported. Click the same to review the details and click Close to exit.
  7. Click OK to select the FMU and exit.
    The FMU block is changed to reflect the right number of inputs and outputs based on the FMU.


    Figure 7.
    Tip: You can resize the FMU block until the input and output names become visible.


    Figure 8.
  8. Connect the FMU block to the rest of the model through connector ports.
    After connection, your model should look like the one shown below.


    Figure 9.


    Figure 10.

Run the Activate Model

  1. Click File > Preferences.
    Note: Activate needs to be aware of the location of the MotionSolve licensing utility in order for the run to complete successfully. The Preferences dialog allows this to be set.
  2. Using the Activate > Paths > Cosimulation with MotionSolve option, set the MotionSolve license to the location of the MotionSolve license modules. For example, D:/Program Files/Altair/2017.1/hwsolvers/common/bin/win64.


    Figure 11.
  3. Click the Run the Simulation button to begin the co-simulation.
    Note: Activate invokes the FMU which in turn generates an XML from the packaged MDL and uses that to begin the co-simulation. The co-simulation is based on inter-process communication (IPC), thus MotionSolve is started on a new thread.

Review the Results

Double-click on any of the Scope blocks to review the results of the simulation for this model.


Figure 12.
Note: Scopes may be used to monitor the inputs and outputs to and from the MotionSolve FMU block in real time.

The altittude1 scope shows the altitude of the rotor craft. After about 8 seconds, the quadrotor seems to stabilize at the desired height.

The ScopeXY scope shows the target X, Y path (red) vs. the actual X, Y path (pink) of the quadrotor.

You can retrieve results from the MotionSolve output files like the MRF, ABF, PLT, H3D etc. You may also create expressions in your MotionSolve model that are used solely to monitor the system.