Exploring Simscape model statistics information to analyze model complexity | Simscape Electrical Modeling Practices for Fast Simulation

Hello. My name is Eva. And I'm an Application Engineer at MathWorks. In this video, I would like to demonstrate the Statistics Viewer. The Statistics Viewer will summarize model statistics for a Simscape network and can help in evaluating the complexity of a Simscape network. The model used in this example was taken from the Simscape Electrical Examples library.

Using this example model, I will walk through the tool. Open it by going to Debug, Simscape, and then Statistics Viewer. If the model has not been run or initialized yet, it won't be populated with any data. I will do an update to trigger the initialization.

The summary report groups the results into up to four different categories. One, the physical system, refers to statistics associated with blocks from Simscape, Simscape Electrical, Simscape Driveline, Simscape Fluids, and Simscape Battery. 3D multibody statistics is not showing up here. But it lists statistics corresponding to Simscape Multibody components.

Accordingly, 1D, 3D interface statistics are not listed as well. And the statistics Simulink Simscape Interface lists all Simscape Simulink converter blocks. Selecting an item in the left pane will give more detail.

Here, choosing the 1D Physical Systems variables lists all variables for the 1D Simscape network that still remain after the equation reduction that the solver performs. These are then categorized as retained, eliminated, and secondary continuous, and as discrete, and secondary discrete variables. You can find more information on the different variable types in the documentation.

Additionally, the number of zero crossing signals and variable constraints can be listed. Zero crossing signals indicate the number of signals that could cause discontinuity monitored by the solver. Specifically, the variable constraints should be removed where possible. The constraint results in a high-index differential algebraic equation that can cause numerical difficulties and simulation slowdown. Selecting a variable type in the top pane and then a variable path in the bottom pane allows to then navigate directly to the corresponding block.