Object-oriented engineering data exchange as a base for automatic generation of simulation models

This document describes an approach to support an automated generation of simulation models by use of already existing engineering data. The concept enables engineers to execute tests in parallel to the development of the control applications, using a physical model of the controlled system. The simulation model forms a virtual representation of the process plant that is still under construction at that time. Both simulation approaches, Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) or System Simulation, can be applied with varying intensity during the test phases. The piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) as an essential design document within engineering processes serves as the data source for model generation. Nowadays, P&IDs are still exchanged between the different project partners on a paper base or portable document format (PDF) respectively. Thus a computer-aided further processing is not possible. In this context the authors use and extend an XML-based data exchange format to export all information from the P&ID that is required for the generation and parameterization of a physical simulation model. With this approach, the object-oriented structure available in some of today's computer aided engineering (CAE) tools can be transferred into a generic representation and be re-used for automatic model generation.