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Create Aerospace Models

Basic Steps

Regardless of the model's complexity, you use the same essential steps for creating an aerospace model as you would for creating any other Simulink® model.

  1. Open the Aerospace Blockset™ Library.

    Type simulink to open Simulink Library Browser in the MATLAB® Command Window or click the button. The left pane contains a list of all the blocksets that you currently have installed.

    Navigate to the Aerospace Blockset node and expand the hierarchical list to display that blockset's libraries within the browser.

    Alternatively, to open the Aerospace Blockset window from the MATLAB command line, enter


    Double-click any library in the window to display its contents. The following figure shows the Aerospace Blockset library window.

  2. Select and position the blocks. You must first select the blocks that you need to build your model, and then position the blocks in the model window. For the majority of Simulink models, you select one or more blocks from each of the following categories:

    1. Source blocks generate or import signals into the model, such as a sine wave, a clock, or limited-band white noise.

    2. Simulation blocks can consist of almost any type of block that performs an action in the simulation. A simulation block represents a part of the model functionality to be simulated, such as an actuator block, a mathematical operation, a block from the Aerospace Blockset library, and so on.

    3. Signal Routing blocks route signals from one point in a model to another. If you need to combine or redirect two or more signals in your model, you will probably use a Simulink Signal Routing block, such as Mux and Demux.

      As an alternative to the Mux block, you can use the Vector option of the Concatenate block Mode parameter (also known as the Vector Concatenate block). This block provides a more general way for you to route signals from one point in the a model to another. The Vector mode takes as input a vector of signals of the same data type and creates a contiguous output signal. Depending on the input, this block outputs a row or column vector if any of the inputs are row or column vectors, respectively.

    4. Sink blocks display, write, or save model output. To see the results of the simulation, you must use a Sink block.

  3. Configure the blocks. Most blocks feature configuration options that let you customize block functionality to specific simulation parameters. For example, the ISA Atmosphere Model block provides configuration options for setting the height of the troposphere, tropopause, and air density at sea level.

  4. Connect the blocks. To create signal pathways between blocks, you connect the blocks to each other. You can do this manually by clicking and dragging, or you can connect blocks automatically.

  5. Encapsulate subsystems. Systems made with Aerospace Blockset blocks can function as subsystems of larger, more complex models, like subsystems in any Simulink model.

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