Design Models for the TestDrive Interface

Model designers must have basic knowledge of RT-LAB, MATLAB, and Simulink software before modifying or preparing models for the TestDrive Interface. For more details on MATLAB and Simulink, refer to the MATLAB documentation.

Since the TestDrive Interface uses models that were compiled in RT-LAB, we recommend that you recompile and run the model in RT-LAB after any model modification. To learn more about using RT-LAB, please refer to RT-LAB User's Manual.

Signal Names

In this example model, the simulator is a subsystem called SM_Simulator. As shown on the picture below, the SC_Console is sending signals to the SM_Simulator: the inputs of the simulator. The SM_Simulator is also sending signals to the SC_Console: the outputs of the simulator.

Signal Tree's top parents’ names are respectively SM_"Name" and SC_"Name" taken from the model. If the strings are empty, the names are forced to: "To Simulator" and "From Simulator".

In the TestDrive Interface's Signal Tree, the signals are grouped into the inputs of the SM_Simulator subsystem and the acquisition groups defined in the OpCom blocks, which are fed by the SC_Console's inputs.

To make the signal names appear in the TestDrive Interface Signal Tree, the signals must first be named inside the model itself. In this example, the signals named before the SM_Console outports become inputs to the simulator.

The default alias list is automatically generated from the capital letters and numbers that make up the signal names in the model.

Likewise, the signals named before the outports of the SM_Simulator become inputs to the SM_Console.

The signals must be named in their scalar form since they are treated individually by the TestDrive Interface. We advise you to name the signals right after a non-virtual block. Simulink documentation describes virtual and non-virtual blocks.

For example, in the picture above, the signals named Out_Three_A and Out_Three_B were named inside Subsystem 1; see the picture below. The TestDrive Interface will find the name up to the last non-virtual block.

If you want Simulink to display propagated signal names

• Right-click the signal and select Signal properties… from the context menu
• In the Signal Properties dialog box, set the Show propagated signals option button to
• Click the OK button to close the dialog
• To update the diagram, press Ctrl +
• The names of the signals coming out of the subsystem block (which is a virtual block) are automatically propagated when the diagram is updated.