SICONOS is an Open Source scientific software primarily targeted at
modeling and simulating
non-smooth dynamical systems (NSDS):
* Mechanical systems (
Rigid body
In physics, a rigid body (also known as a rigid object) is a solid body in which deformation is zero or so small it can be neglected. The distance between any two given points on a rigid body remains constant in time regardless of external fo ...
or
solid
Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structura ...
) with
Unilateral contact
In contact mechanics, the term unilateral contact, also called unilateral constraint, denotes a mechanical constraint which prevents penetration between two rigid/flexible bodies.
Constraints of this kind are omnipresent in non-smooth multibody d ...
and
Coulomb friction
Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction:
*Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of tw ...
as we find in
Non-smooth mechanics
{{Short description, Modeling approach in mechanics
Non-smooth mechanics is a modeling approach in mechanics which does not require the time evolutions of the positions and of the velocities to be smooth functions anymore. Due to possible impacts, ...
,
Contact dynamics
Contact dynamics deals with the motion of multibody systems subjected to unilateral contacts and friction. Such systems are omnipresent in many multibody dynamics applications. Consider for example
* Contacts between wheels and ground in vehicl ...
or
Granular material
A granular material is a conglomeration of discrete solid, macroscopic particles characterized by a loss of energy whenever the particles interact (the most common example would be friction when grains collide). The constituents that compose ...
.
* Switched Electrical Circuit such as
Power converter
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may ...
,
Rectifier
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The reverse operation (converting DC to AC) is performed by an inve ...
,
Phase-locked loop
A phase-locked loop or phase lock loop (PLL) is a control system that generates an output signal whose phase is related to the phase of an input signal. There are several different types; the simplest is an electronic circuit consisting of a ...
(
PLL
A phase-locked loop or phase lock loop (PLL) is a control system that generates an output signal whose phase is related to the phase of an input signal. There are several different types; the simplest is an electronic circuit consisting of a ...
) or
Analog-to-digital converter
In electronics, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC, A/D, or A-to-D) is a system that converts an analog signal, such as a sound picked up by a microphone or light entering a digital camera, into a digital signal. An ADC may also provide ...
*
Sliding mode control
In control systems, sliding mode control (SMC) is a nonlinear control method that alters the dynamics of a nonlinear system by applying a discontinuous control signal (or more rigorously, a set-valued control signal) that forces the system to "s ...
systems
Other applications are found in Systems and Control (hybrid systems, differential inclusions,
optimal control with state constraints), Optimization (
Complementarity problem and
Variational inequality In mathematics, a variational inequality is an inequality involving a functional, which has to be solved for all possible values of a given variable, belonging usually to a convex set. The mathematical theory of variational inequalities was init ...
) Biology
Gene regulatory network
A gene (or genetic) regulatory network (GRN) is a collection of molecular regulators that interact with each other and with other substances in the cell to govern the gene expression levels of mRNA and proteins which, in turn, determine the fun ...
,
Fluid Mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them.
It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and ...
and
Computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great deal ...
, etc.
Components
The software is based on 3 main components
* Siconos/Numerics (C API). Collection of low-level algorithms for solving basic Algebra and optimization problems arising in the simulation of nonsmooth dynamical systems
**
Linear complementarity problem In mathematical optimization theory, the linear complementarity problem (LCP) arises frequently in computational mechanics and encompasses the well-known quadratic programming as a special case. It was proposed by Cottle and Dantzig in 1968.
...
(LCP)
**
Mixed linear complementarity problem (MLCP)
**
Nonlinear complementarity problem
In applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combi ...
(NCP)
**
Quadratic programming
Quadratic programming (QP) is the process of solving certain mathematical optimization problems involving quadratic functions. Specifically, one seeks to optimize (minimize or maximize) a multivariate quadratic function subject to linear constr ...
problems (QP)
** Friction-contact problems (2D or 3D) (Second-order cone programming (SOCP))
** Primal or Dual Relay problems
* Siconos/Kernel. API C++ that allows one to model and simulate the nonsmooth dynamical systems. It contains
** Dynamical systems classes : first order one,
Lagrangian system
In mathematics, a Lagrangian system is a pair , consisting of a smooth fiber bundle and a Lagrangian density , which yields the Euler–Lagrange differential operator acting on sections of .
In classical mechanics, many dynamical systems are Lagr ...
s,
Newton-Euler systems
** Nonsmooth laws : complementarity, Relay, Friction, Contact,
impact
Impact may refer to:
* Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period
* Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US
Science and technology
* Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event
* Impac ...
* Siconos/Front-end (API Python) Mainly an auto-generated
SWIG
The Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator (SWIG) is an open-source software tool used to connect computer programs or libraries written in C or C++ with scripting languages such as Lua, Perl, PHP, Python, R, Ruby, Tcl, and other langu ...
interface of the API C++ which a special support for data structure.
Performance
According to
peer reviewed
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...
studies published by its developers, Siconos was approximately five times faster than
Ngspice
''Ngspice'' is an open-source mixed-level/mixed-signal electronic circuit simulator. It is a successor of the latest stable release of Berkeley SPICE, version 3f.5, which was released in 1993. A small group of maintainers and the user community ...
or ELDO (a commercial SPICE by
Mentor Graphics
Siemens EDA is a US-based electronic design automation (EDA) multinational corporation for electrical engineering and electronics, headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon. Founded in 1981 as Mentor Graphics, the company was acquired by Siemens ...
) and 250 times faster than
PLECS
PLECS ( Piecewise Linear Electrical Circuit Simulation) is a software tool for system-level simulations of electrical circuits developed by Plexim. It is especially designed for power electronics but can be used for any electrical network. PLE ...
when solving a
buck converter
A buck converter (step-down converter) is a DC-to-DC power converter which steps down voltage (while stepping up current) from its input (supply) to its output (load). It is a class of switched-mode power supply (SMPS) typically containing at ...
.
[Acary, V., Bonnefon, O., Brogliato, B. (July 2010)]
Time-Stepping Numerical Simulation of Switched Circuits Within the Nonsmooth Dynamical Systems Approach
, ''Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, IEEE Transactions on'' (Volume:29, Issue: 7), pp. 1042-1055,
See also
* (an extension of the notion of
differential equation
In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation that relates one or more unknown functions and their derivatives. In applications, the functions generally represent physical quantities, the derivatives represent their rates of change, a ...
) on which much of the NSDS theory relies
*
*
*
*
*
* , which affects ODEs/DAEs for functions with "sharp turns" and which affects numerical convergence
References
External links
The official Siconos site
other related publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:SICONOS - SImulation and COntrol of NOnsmooth Systems)
Free software
Science software