Simulink: Is there an easy way to replicate a sub-system in the same simulation?

I have a simulation composed of several interconnected subsystems, and I wish extend this to simultaneously, but independently, simulate the same process, but in the reverse direction.

I know that I can copy & paste my existing blocks, then manually rename the variables, gotos, etc.

Wondering if there is a simple and easy way to do this where these are renamed automatically (maybe adding pre-/suffix to the existing names)?

I've tried to keep this general, as I think any answer would apply whatever you might be doing with simulink, but am happy to provide any and all details, if it will help someone find an easier solution.

Answer 1

[Sebastian Castro]

You can automate this using a script. Some relevant functions include:

• add_block to add and copy blocks, as well as position them
• add_line to connect blocks together
• set_param to rename blocks or change block parameters e.g. Goto/From tag names

- Sebastian

[Daniel Tweed]

Thanks Sebastian, this sounds a lot easier. I'm guessing there is also a way to programmatically obtain a list of all param's in a given block, and all block's in a given subsystem, then I could do this recursively from the top down... otherwise it's almost as onerous as manually changing things.

Have you done anything like this before? and possibly have any other advice to simplify? Thanks, -Daniel

[Sebastian Castro]

I've done a little bit of this. I know that people generally use these techniques to string together multiple repetitive blocks, for example, strings of battery cells or finite-element models.

You can use "find_system" to do your search of blocks inside a subsystem... or even to search for the subsystems themselves.

To get a list of all block parameters, you can do:

>> get_param(blockName,'ObjectParameters');

- Sebastian

[Daniel Tweed]

Thanks, I thought this would be a lot more complicated. I was looking at about 150 individual params needing to be changed and, although I could invest the time to do it manually if needed, I assumed there must be an easier way.

Daniel