Siemens' Sinamics DriveSim Software Enables Drive Simulation

Sinamics DriveSim Basic from Siemens offers simulation of drive technology and enables machine and plant manufacturers to accelerate their own development phase, according to the company. The software can simulate first-time drive constellations and their behavior in machines and plants. 

The simulation is designed to provide answers to drive questions before a concrete product selection has been made. For the virtual commissioning of the PLC control with known Profidrive telegrams or complex mechanics on the virtual drive shaft, the model provides a representation of the drive system in the required level of detail, according to Siemens.

One possible application is coupling PLC with a mechanical model. The calculated load profiles can then be loaded into the TIA Selection Tool or the Sizer and a drive selection can be made. The necessary drive parameters and the interfaces known from reality are available for the simulation. The user configures only the part of the drive that they need for the simulation. A complete virtual commissioning of the drive is not required. The models in Sinamics DriveSim Basic link to the existing drive documentation and have been validated against the real Sinamics drives using the same test vectors.

Sinamics DriveSim Basic is available as a standardized FMU (Functional Mockup Unit) model. The software offers the same FMU file for every Sinamics drive. The Sinamics S120 and G120 drives, including the motor, can already be represented. Further drives will follow. This FMU can be imported directly into the simulation program used. Sinamics DriveSim Basic is compatible with many commercially available simulation programs, such as Simit, Simcenter Amesim, NX Motion or Matlab Simulink. Together with other virtual Siemens solutions such as Simatic S7 PLCSIM Advanced or NX Mechatronics Concept Designer, a consistent model-based development process can be implemented, according to Siemens.