Before they adopted Model-Based Design, Bombardier followed a traditional waterfall workflow for control software development: One team was responsible for the requirements and design, which would be handed off to a second team for implementation via traditional hand coding, which is both manual and error prone. Most testing was done in a hardware-in-the-loop environment followed by a combined hardware/software system test, and some tests had to be conducted on the train itself. If errors are discovered late in this process, it can lead to weeks or even months of costly rework and delays.

Bombardier needed an approach that would enable them to avoid project delays and cost overruns due to ambiguous requirements, complex standards, and the inability to test designs until late in the development process.

Recognizing that adopting a new methodology would be organizationally challenging, they wanted to smooth the transition by providing engineering teams with appropriate support.

Bombardier adopted Model-Based Design and worked with bat365 to facilitate the transition to the new development approach.

Bombardier engineering teams attended seminars conducted by bat365 engineers that focused on detecting and correcting design errors through simulation. Following these sessions, Bombardier engineers worked with bat365 support on a pilot to demonstrate the concept in an actual customer delivery project.

In one instance, the team created an electrical and control system model in MATLAB and Simulink. By simulating the model, they identified an electrical fault that typically would not have been found until a combined system test. The success of the modeling, which had an ROI of more than 100%, helped reduce organizational resistance to the new development approach.

In the new workflow, Bombardier engineers configure and adapt control models provided in Simulink to satisfy customer-defined requirements captured in IBM^® Rational^® DOORS^® or Microsoft^® Word documents. They then create electrical hardware (plant) models of the propulsion systems and run closed-loop simulations to validate requirements, verify functionality, and assess controller performance.

They generate C code from their controller models using Embedded Coder^®. After compiling the code and deploying it to an embedded target, they run hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) tests to verify the real-time operation of the software. HIL tests are followed by tests on propulsion hardware in the lab and then on the actual train.

Bombardier engineers are working to extend their workflow to include software-in-the-loop (SIL) and processor-in-the-loop (PIL) testing and use of IEC Certification Kit to streamline EN 50128/EN 50657 certification.

• Costs reduced by 45%, lead time by 35%. “For one of our first projects with Model-Based Design, we developed a complex new function requested by a customer,” says Lindskog. “Compared with using our traditional approach, with Model-Based Design we required far fewer design, implementation, test, and documentation iterations, resulting in a cost reduction of 45% and a lead time reduction of 35%. The customer was deeply impressed by receiving an extremely challenging function that worked flawlessly from start.”
• Adoption of new workflow streamlined. “Introducing a new way of working is often more complex than you expect it to be,” says Lindskog. “Having technical engagement from bat365 helped not only to address technical issues but also to ensure that the approach we were taking aligned with industry best practices.”
• Code implementation delays minimized. “Having separate teams for design and implementation led to misunderstandings; it also meant we faced delays of two weeks or more if the implementation team was busy,” notes Pontus Jernberg, software application engineer at Bombardier Transportation. “Now we work as one team, and implementation is practically immediate because we generate code with Embedded Coder.”