This paper describes guidelines for the design and implementation of simulation environments for the control of large, complex systems. There are numerous areas of application for this research, however as a case study, this paper applies these guidelines to the problem of maintaining the alignment of multiple floating platforms in the open ocean using thrusters. The Mobile Offshore Base (MOB) has been used as a catalyst for our research. The MOB is a large, self-propelled, floating, pre-positioned ocean structure reaching up to 1,500 meters in length. In most concepts, the structure is made of three to five modules, which have to perform long-term stationkeeping in the presence of winds, waves and currents. This is usually referred to as Dynamic Positioning (DP). In the MOB, the alignment is maintained through the use of thrusters, connectors, or a combination of both. A simulation environment for the MOB, MOB-SHIFT, has been developed, which incorporates libraries of models for the MOB itself (including sensors, actuators and communication protocols), the environment and the associated disturbances, the passage of time, automated processes, visualization windows and communication protocols for distributed processing. This architecture provides the foundation for fast, cost-effective MOB prototyping. It lends itself to the uniform design, simulation and evaluation of competing platform and dynamic positioning controller designs for the MOB. Using MOB-SHIFT as both a catalyst and a case study, this paper presents some guidelines for the architectural design of generic simulation environments based on the lessons learned in the course of the MOB project. The MOB-SHIFT simulation environment is explored in detail, and some typical results are given as an illustration. The benefits of this systematic approach to simulation environment design are presented. The software models are currently being validated by model tests conducted at the University of California, Berkeley.
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