The Mathworks Automotive Conference took place in Stuttgart at the start of June.

Engineers and researchers from Daimler Chrysler AG presented the results of their work on “Functional Variants Handling in Simulink® Models” – work that is partly based on use of the pure::variants software product line management solution.

The presentation (PDF) begins with a rationale for the work – the ever increasing amount of functional variability present in automotive products – so much so that statistically no two Mercedes-C class vehicles produced in any year should be identical.

This variability drives a corresponding need to reuse software across the vehicle product line. To achieve this reuse the engineers argue that a systematic approach is required to variant management.

pure::variants underpins this approach by allowing them to model what the common and variable features of their products are and then using this model to produce variant-specific Simulink® models. (You can find out more about how pure::variants works here.)

In addition to improving reuse of software and models this approach also allows them to improve traceability throughout the life cycle. A valuable benefit in a safety-critical setting such as automotive.

As well as a PDF presentation the presenters also provided an associated whitepaper that describes the work in more detail.

Simulink is a registered trademark of The Mathworks Inc.