limit computation time of a simulink simulation

Hi,

is it possible, to set a time limit for a simulink simulation? When the time limit is reached, the simulation should be aborted.

Edit: I need a time limit for the computation time.

Thanks, Arco

Answer 1

[Azzi Abdelmalek]

You can control your simulink model by using a set_param command.

set_param('your_simulink_model_name', 'SimulationCommand', 'start')
%use a pause command
pause(200) % wait 200 second
set_param('your_simulink_model_name', 'SimulationCommand', 'stop')

[Arco]

That works great for controling the excecution time, thank you. However it would be nice, if the script continues:

- if the execution time exceeds a limit (that works fine with your code)

- OR as soon as the simulation has finished.

Is there a way to achieve this?

[Daniel]

I slightly extended this idea not to wait unnecessary: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/35446636/access-to-cpu-time-during-simulink

[Subbarao Varigonda]

Thank you, the method described and code given here is very helpful!

It does seem to work for simple, well behaved models.

However, we do see cases where Simulink model simulations get stuck and pressing stop from the Simulink does not terminate the simulation and return control. It is not clear if the command

set_param(model,'SimulationCommand','stop')

can force termination of the simulation on a priority basis and is more reliable than pressing the "stop" button on GUI.

When doing large scale batch runs of simulink models, we need highly reliable way of terminating the simulation from within Matlab/Simulink model or simulation setup scripts based on allocated CPU or wall clock time rather than relying on external scheduler or OS functions for this.

Appreciate a clarification. Thanks!

Answer 2

[Mischa Kim]

Sure, in the model window the simulation time can be entered (in sec). In the figure below it is set to 10 sec.

[Arco]

Thank you. My question was not clear, therefore, I edit it. So I ask more precisely: My simulation depends on a set of parameters. There are unfortunate parameter sets, which cause the model to get stucked because the solver takes incredible small steps. Therefore, I want to limit the computation time.

[Mischa Kim]

Oh, I see. Check out the documentation.

To begin with you could try to change error tolerances and/or set a lower limit on the minimum step size (> Simulation > Model Configuration Parameters).

[Subbarao Varigonda]

Would like to know the direct answer to the question asked here. Can a Simulink model be run with a wall clock or CPU time constraint? As stated by the original poster of this question, there are times when parameter values used may be bad and simulation may get stuck. We are not interested here in making the simulation work for such cases as it is not practical to do when running a large number of cases in a design of experiments setting. We simply need Simulink simulation to self-terminate (possibly with return status indicating this) if it is not completed successfully in allocated time. If this feature is not supported by Simulink and Matlab scripting language to run Simulink models, please consider adding this. Thank you!

Answer 3

[Andreas Goser]

You may want to abort a simulation based on your results being in a range that make you sure those parameter are not good. Check out this library

[Arco]

haven't thought about this yet. Thank you.