Simulink Coder overview - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Simulink Coder overview

📖 Scenario: You are working on a project where you want to convert your Simulink model into C code automatically. This helps you run your model on real hardware or share it with others who use C programming.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to set up a simple Simulink model and use Simulink Coder to generate C code from it.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a simple Simulink model with a Gain block and a Constant block

Configure the model for code generation using Simulink Coder

Generate C code from the model

Display the generated code file names

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Simulink Coder is used to convert simulation models into C code for embedded systems, hardware testing, and production deployment.

💼 Career

Knowledge of Simulink Coder is valuable for engineers working in automotive, aerospace, and control systems industries where model-based design is common.

1

Create a simple Simulink model

Open Simulink and create a new model. Add a Constant block and a Gain block. Connect the output of the Constant block to the input of the Gain block. Set the Gain value to 5. Save the model as simple_model.

Simulink

# Your Simulink model setup here

Hint

Use the Simulink Library Browser to drag and drop blocks. Connect lines by dragging from output to input ports.

2

Configure the model for code generation

Open the Configuration Parameters of simple_model. Under the Code Generation pane, set the System target file to ert.tlc to enable Simulink Coder. Save the configuration.

Simulink

% Open Configuration Parameters and set System target file to ert.tlc
# Your code here

Hint

Use set_param function to set the system target file programmatically.

3

Generate C code from the model

Use the rtwbuild command on simple_model to generate C code. This will create code files in the current folder.

Simulink

rtwbuild('simple_model')
# Your code here

Hint

Run rtwbuild('simple_model') in the MATLAB command window to build code.

4

Display the generated code files

List the generated C code files by using the dir command to show files starting with simple_model_ and ending with .c or .h. Print the list of these files.

Simulink

files = dir('simple_model_*.c');
files = [files; dir('simple_model_*.h')];
file_names = {files.name};
print(file_names)
# Your code here

Hint

Use dir to find files and disp to print them.