Specifications

FASTER Engineering Model

be created using the Real-Time Workshop and a C compiler; this will run on a compatible

target PC in real-time mode using the same initial parameters from the Simulink model

that were available at the time of code generation [Ref. (47)].

The target PC is booted using an xPC Target boot disk (or from a network boot

image) that loads the xPC Target real-time kernel and then the target application can be

downloaded from the host machine. xPC Target software uses the real-time resources on

the target PC hardware and based on the selected sample rate it uses interrupts to step the

model at the proper rate. With each new interrupt, the target application computes all the

block outputs from the model. In some cases the xPC Target Embedded option can be

useful because allows the standalone operational mode, in which target application and

real-time kernel are combined and booted together on the target PC, from an hard drive or

a flash memory. The target application can be provided with the same scopes used in the

Simulink model, so if the target PC has a display connection, system status can be

continuously monitored; otherwise signal data can be stored in RAM or log files can be

written on a mass memory.

The xPC Target module has an extensive block library which supports the most

common I/O functions(48), including:

 Analog input and output;

 Digital input and output;

 RS232/422/485 support for serial communication with external devices;

 UDP support for communications with other systems using the standard

UDP/IP network protocol;

xPC Target also supports a wide range of PC and I/O boards including, especially, the

Advantech PC/104+ board used for the FASTER engineering model. In this case, the

embedded option was used because the system works all time as a standalone application

and tuning of the internal parameters is possible only before the system startup,

modifying directly the source files stored on the Compact Flash support.

The Simulink model is shown in Figure 67 and it is composed by six main parts: the

GPS acquisition block; the IMU acquisition block; an external magnetometer (currently

not in use) acquisition block; the Tunnel In The Sky management block; the EOS 450

shot control and camera arm switch acquisition block, the data log management block and

a block that sends data to the FASTER system monitor. In the following paragraphs a

detailed description of each block will be given.