Maplesoft’s just-released MapleMBSE, designed to help engineers create, maintain and validate product requirements efficiently and with fewer errors, is a technological breakthrough that for the first time lets engineering organizations adopt a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approach to requirements management without forcing every engineer on the project to be an expert in complex MBSE tools.
Using an Excel-based interface, MapleMBSE makes collaboration on requirements accessible to all project stakeholders, not just the MBSE tool experts, and provides streamlined interfaces for each task in the MBSE project. This enables and fosters system-wide collaboration on the project, while slashing the time and errors almost always associated with conventional, complex MBSE tool usage.
Key advantages:
- Intuitive, Excel-based interface for easily entering system definitions without having to go through a complex MBSE tool.
- Automatic population of information into the MBSE tool, translating the engineer’s inputs into system structures, behaviors, requirements and constraints.
- Integration with standard SysML-based MBSE platforms such as IBM Rational Rhapsody, No Magic MagicDraw and others.
- Rapid impact analysis of design changes to test for conflicting requirements, all within the intuitive MapleMBSE environment.
- Optimized tool views for common MBSE tasks such as requirements, failure mode and effects analysis, tradeoff studies and structure analysis.
- Simple interfaces designed to reduce many common errors that occur when using MBSE tools directly.
- Customized implementations provided by Maplesoft Engineering Solutions experts to ensure that MapleMBSE is tailored to the user organization’s exact MBSE process.
Four-fold speedup over older MBSE technology, four-fold reduction in errors
“There is no doubt MapleMBSE saves valuable time,” said Nissan Motor Company General Manager Masaaki Kubo. “When we compared MapleMBSE with another MBSE tool and measured the time it took to perform common operations, we found MapleMBSE allowed our engineers to complete these tasks four times faster than with the other tool. MapleMBSE has a friendly and effective user interface which enabled Nissan engineers from many different disciplines, including mechanical, electronic and electrical engineers, to quickly learn the tool and perform tasks very easily.”
“MBSE tools offer organizations tremendous value in how they keep a tight connection to requirements in every phase of the project; however, they are notoriously difficult to use,” says Maplesoft COO and Chief Scientist Dr. Laurent Bernardin. “Research published during the development of MapleMBSE shows that the use of MapleMBSE resulted in a four-fold reduction in errors compared to a standard MBSE tool, and the elimination of complex, difficult-to-correct errors. It’s a practical tool with a quick ramp-up time that makes system engineering easier.”
New connector incorporates Maple, MapleSim into ModelCenter process integration platform from Phoenix Integration
MapleMBSE’s launch follows a technologically separate but thematically related development by Maplesoft and Phoenix Integration of a new plugin that lets engineers easily incorporate Maple and MapleSim into Phoenix Integration’s ModelCenter workflow integration and automation platform. The plugin lets engineers take advantage of the reduced risk, improved designs and shorter development times available from using Maplesoft’s engineering tools, along with the inherent efficiencies available from a process integration platform.
MapleSim, an advanced system-level modeling and simulation tool, enables engineers to take advantage of modern techniques in modeling and simulation. Maple is a powerful math software tool for mathematical computations and explorations. ModelCenter is a vendor-neutral software framework for creating and automating multi-tool workflows, optimizing product designs, and sharing engineering data and knowledge. It is used by leading organizations worldwide to reduce development costs, improve engineering efficiency, stimulate innovation, and design more competitive products. The new connector makes it easy to bring Maple and MapleSim into ModelCenter so they can be seamlessly incorporated into the ModelCenter-based engineering workflow.
A powerful application of this connector is functional verification of a system design by automatically testing MapleSim models against design requirements from MBSE software tools such as IBM Rational Rhapsody, No Magic MagicDraw and others. Engineers can directly connect the parametric design constraints, which are derived by the MBSE tool, to multidisciplinary system simulations in MapleSim. When a change is made to the system parameters, ModelCenter calls MapleSim to run a simulation using the new parameter set. ModelCenter then checks the simulated results against the design constraints and generates a report of the compliance test results. Any constraint failures are flagged, allowing the design team to make the necessary design changes very early in development.
Other applications include using MapleSim and Maple for design space explorations, optimization, and development projects based on executable requirements, all inside ModelCenter.
“By incorporating Maple and MapleSim in ModelCenter using this new plugin, our customers will be able to reduce manual effort and increase the efficiency of many aspects of their development workflow,” said Maplesoft vice president of engineering solutions Paul Goossens.
“Maple and MapleSim make great additions to the collection of engineering tools that can be integrated into ModelCenter,” said Phoenix Integration director of technical business development Scott Ragon. “They offer valuable benefits for modeling, simulation, analysis, and calculation management that customers can now take advantage of inside their standard ModelCenter workflow.”
The connector can be freely downloaded from the Maplesoft web site.
Maplesoft products can also be integrated with other process integration platforms such as Optimus from Noesis Solutions.
Maple 2017: Increased mathematical power, stronger visualizations, flexible deployment options, easy sharing of user-written applications
Finally, Maplesoft unveiled a major new release of its flagship product, Maple, a mathematical software package that makes it easy to analyze, explore, visualize and solve math problems. The result of over 30 years’ development, Maple has long offered comprehensive mathematical coverage and extensive usability features, but through continuous development efforts, the latest release delivers many useful improvements.
As ever, there are constant improvements in the mathematical engine, implementing new algorithms and adding more flexibility and efficiency to existing ones. New abilities include finding exact solutions to more partial differential equations with boundary conditions, finding new limits, solving more integrals, performing new graph theory computations, analyzing data in new ways, and more.
MapleMBSE:
www.maplesoft.com/products/maplembse/?P=TC-7331
ModelCenter Plug-In for Maple and MapleSim:
www.maplesoft.com/products/toolboxes/modelcenter/?P=TC-7096
Maple 2017:
www.maplesoft.com/products/maple/new_features
Maplesoft:
www.maplesoft.com/
