Getting Started¶

This chapter takes you from an empty folder to the first simulation in the Lab window. Plan a few minutes, plus the one compilation of the library.

What you need¶

Item	Note
Scilab 2027	With Xcos. All results in this manual come from 2027.0.0 on Windows 10
C compiler	The one Scilab uses for toolboxes. On Windows: Visual Studio or the free Build Tools, with the workload Desktop development with C++. `sil_build()` also has a gcc path for Linux, which was not run for this manual
Stepper-C	The sources of the library; only needed once to compile, and again when they change
Python 3 with numpy and scipy	Optional: the Python twin, and test X04 with another stage file

Get the sources¶

Clone both repositories next to each other. The model then finds the library by itself:

git clone https://github.com/AntonVynohradov/Stepper-Lab.git
git clone https://github.com/AntonVynohradov/Stepper-C.git

The library can also be in any other folder: select it in the window, or see the search order.

First run: the Lab window¶

Start Scilab, open start_lab.sce in its editor, and press F5.
Check the first line of the window, Stepper-C library. It shows the folder and OK. If it asks for the folder, press Browse and select it.
Leave SIL: C code selected. Choose the scenario Velocity step to 1 rev/s.
Press Run. The first run compiles the library. The status line at the bottom then says that the run finished.
Press Report. A figure shows currents, speed, position, load angle, voltages and the detector, each with a title, a unit and a legend.

To see the diagram itself, press Open in Xcos, then press Start in Xcos. The Lab Window and Diagrams explains each part.

First run: from a script¶

Everything the window does is available as a function. Load the functions once per Scilab session, from the root of the repository; start_lab.sce and start_sil.sce do it too. The examples in this manual assume that this has been done.

exec("loader.sce", -1);
res = lab_run("SIL", 3);        // scenario 3: velocity step to 1 rev/s
d = sil_report_data(res);       // the panels of the report, and the first fault
mprintf("%d samples, last speed %.0f rpm\n", size(res.values, 1), res.values($, 5));

Results are in res.time and res.values; Reference lists the columns.

The original SIL diagram¶

start_sil.sce compiles the library and opens xcos/stepper_sil.zcos, the diagram with the command table as its only input. It is kept unchanged next to the Lab, and its scenario is set under Simulation → Set Context. MIL and SIL describes it.

The model without a controller¶

The motor equations can also be used alone, with a voltage source:

mot = motor_17hs19_2004s1();
srcp = struct("V", 3.2, "f_el", 5, "TL", 0);
t = 0:1e-4:0.04;
x = stepper_simulate(mot, src_open_loop, srcp, t);

demos/demo_open_loop.sce and demos/demo_switching.sce are scripts with plots.

Tests¶

From the root of the repository, with the bin folder of Scilab in PATH:

WScilex-cli -quit -f tests/run_all.sce      # Windows
scilab-cli -quit -f tests/run_all.sce       # Linux

A full run takes hours, so use the groups of the window or SSTEP_TEST_FILTER for everyday work. Verification has the details.

Documentation tooling¶

The website and this manual come from one set of Markdown files in docs/.

Task	Command
Install the tools	`python -m pip install -r requirements-dev.txt`
Preview the website	`mkdocs serve`
Check the website	`mkdocs build --strict`
Build the PDF	`python tools/docs/build_manual.py` (needs the Pango library)
Redraw the figures	`python tools/docs/diagrams.py`
Export the figure data after a model change	`WScilex-cli -quit -f tools/docs/export_figures.sce`
Run the Scilab examples of the documentation	`WScilex-cli -quit -f tools/docs/check_examples.sce`

On Linux, the command is scilab-cli. The version printed in the manual comes from the git tag v<version>. Without a tag it reads development.