An Open-Source Graphical Composite Modeling Editor and Simulation Tool Based on FMI and TLM Co-Simulation

A common situation in industry is that a system model (here a composite model) is composed of several submodels which may have been developed using different tools. FMI is one important technology for exporting/importing models between tools and/or connecting them via co-simulation. TLM based modeling and co-simulation is another important technique for modeling, connecting, and simulation of especially mechanical systems, which is simple, numerically stable, and efficient. A number of toolspecific simulation models, such as Modelica models, SimuLink models, Adams models, BEAST models, etc., have successfully been connected and simulated using TLM based co-simulation. However, previously there was no general open source tool for creation, graphic editing, and simulation of composite models connected via FMI or TLM based co-simulation. In this paper we present a graphical composite model editor based on OpenModelica which is integrated with the OpenModelica and the SKF TLM co-simulation frameworks to support both FMI and TLM based composite model editing and simulation. The editor supports creating, viewing and editing a composite model both in textual and graphical representation. The system supports simulation of composite models consisting of sub-models created using different tools.