Simulink Real-Time startup parameter set for a standalone application

Hi all,

Currently I have a compiled MATLAB GUI which loads a compiled Simulink real-time application and its parameters (read from a .txt file on the GUI PC) to a 32-bit target PC every time it is executed. The GUI and application are made using MATLAB R2015a. During installation on a customer site where I don’t have access to any MATLAB license, these parameters are tuned and the newly tuned values are then saved to the .txt file. So every time the GUI executable restarts, the application together with the tuned parameters are loaded to the target.

Because of a new requirement that the target PC and the GUI PC must be independent of each other this behavior is not wanted. The real-time application is now build as a standalone application which starts up with its initial (compile) parameter values every time the target PC is rebooted. I’m wondering if it is possible to let it start up with a tuned parameter set instead. As far as I know the ability to add a specific startup parameter set to a real-time application is not present in MATLAB until R2021a. But the release notes for Simulink real-time R2020b state the following: Support for MATLAB compiler deployment of MATLAB applications to control real-time applications is disabled.

My questions then are:

• Is it possible to use the parameter set functions present in R2021a, in a deployed GUI?
• Are there other ways to set the tuned parameters as startup parameters (possibly also for earlier versions of MATLAB) in a situation where no MATLAB licenses are available?
• Is it possible to use the same 32-bit target machine when using R2021a?

Thanks in advance,

~ Micky

Answer 1

[Dimitri MANKOV]

Hi Micky,

Parameter sets were already supported in MATLAB R2016b according to the documentation (perhaps even earlier). For more information on this topic, see here. Similar functions can be used in R2020b and later releases.

As you correctly stated, GUIs created in App Designer and using the Simulink Real-Time API cannot be exported as independent executables in MATLAB R2020b and R2021a. However, this function was re-introduced in MATLAB R2021b with the support for MATLAB Compiler deployement.

As to your last question, the answer is: it depends. Support for custom/third-party target hardware has been removed from Simulink Real-Time in R2018a. Starting from that release, only Speedgoat target machines and I/O modules are supported. Speedgoat offers target machines fully compatible with the latest MATLAB releases.

For more information, have a look at www.speedgoat.com and at the Release Notes for Simulink Real-Time.

Best regards,

Dimitri