We are pleased to announce the release of the Building Controls Virtual Test
Bed 1.4.
The following changes have been made compared to version 1.3:
* Added two Python actors for scripting.
* Improved the Functional Mock-up Unit (FMU) for co-simulation import
interface to support the Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) for
co-simulation API for tool coupling.
* The example files have been updated for EnergyPlus 8.1.
The Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB) is a freely available
open-source software environment that allows expert users to couple
different simulation programs for co-simulation,
and to couple simulation programs with actual hardware. For example, the
BCVTB allows to simulate a building in EnergyPlus and the HVAC and control
system in Modelica,
while exchanging data between the software as they simulate. The BCVTB is
based on the Ptolemy II software environment.
The BCVTB allows expert users of simulation to expand the capabilities of
individual programs by linking them to other programs.
Due to the different programs that may be involved in distributed
simulation, familiarity with configuring programs is essential.
Programs that are linked to the BCVTB are
* the EnergyPlus whole building energy simulation program,
* the Modelica modeling and simulation environment Dymola,
* the MATLAB and Simulink tools for scientific computing,
* the Radiance ray-tracing software for lighting analysis,
* the ESP-r integrated building energy modeling program,
* the TRNSYS system simulation program,
* Functional Mock-up Units (FMU) for co-simulation,
* the BACnet stack, which allows exchanging data with BACnet compliant
Building Automation System (BAS),
* the analog/digital interface USB-1208LS from Measurement Computing
Corporation that can be connected to a USB port.
In addition to using programs that are coupled to Ptolemy II, Ptolemy II's
graphical modeling environment can also be used to define models for control
systems, for physical devices,
for communication systems or for post-processing and real-time
visualization.
For free download and more information, please visit
http://simulationresearch.lbl.gov/bcvtb
Best regards,
Thierry Stephane Nouidui, PhD
