Avoid costly capital expenditure, and save time, by using the Raptor embedded Model-Based Development (EMBD) Platform for all your rapid prototyping.
Rapid controls prototyping (RCP) is an effective way to speed up your development process. As an engineer, you will no doubt be aware it certainly isn't new, but the tools can make all the difference. Using a model-based design approach gives engineers the ability to iterate control strategies, edit and create new processes in a real-time environment using physical hardware. Your developers can also test control algorithms and correct them as necessary early in the design process, which is an advantage because, at this point, revisions are still relatively inexpensive. There is no need for integration and complex coding.
Choosing a Prototyping System
So, the real purpose of this article is to explain how we would go about choosing a prototyping system and how it highlights the advantages of using New Eagle's Raptor. Prototyping systems are available commercially on the open market, and they comprise an entire personal computer in a box, with interfacing input and output sockets to make life easier. The purpose of an RCP solution is to bring about software enabling engineers to develop MATLAB/Simulink models, which are crucial for the design process and built to run on the PC processor that comes embedded. The input-output sections give an interface to the real world, and these are expensive pieces of kit that often cost as much as the end product itself. In addition, these items may stand redundant for large periods of time, once the concept development for a project is complete.
Processing Power and Risk
You also need to consider the ultimate target hardware because if your algorithm is not proven on a non-production controller platform, timing commitments will be vague and hard to predict. It will be much more challenging to quantify the design and build process and optimise the algorithm. Suppose you are constructing an algorithm with a high-powered processor with computer capabilities that do not translate to a realistic production volume and cost option. In that case, you could also run into difficulties. What happens if you arrive at the production of hardware and find it cannot be implemented. This could potentially create significant extra spending that you did not plan for on your hardware and, in some cases, send you right back to stage one.
Raptor is the Perfect Solution
The New Eagle Raptor eMBD (embedded Model-Based Development Platform) includes an RCP that gives your designers the ability to move quickly from prototype to production, providing a development life cycle in full on the production hardware. It has been designed to be significantly cheaper than off-the-shelf solutions. Still, it has everything you need for MATLAB/Simulink giving intuitive model-based graphical programming environments for your designers and engineers to be able to create, edit, test, debug and calibrate all your software.
EMB is delighted to be able to supply the New Eagle Raptor solution exclusively in the UK, so for more information or to discuss your project; please contact us today to discuss your next project.
EMB can provide components pre-programmed with the Raptor toolset, or we can provide the software for your in-house development team to accelerate your production. Let us know how we can help you today!