1. An electronic device implemented method, comprising:
displaying, using a processor, a plurality of graphical elements of an executable graphical model of a dynamic system on a display device;
receiving an indication of a graphical operation, the graphical operation:
involving a plurality of source graphical elements, and
establishing a relationship between the plurality of source graphical elements and two or more target graphical elements of the plurality of graphical elements;
identifying the target graphical elements from among the plurality of graphical elements when the target graphical elements are compatible with:
the graphical operation, and
one or more characteristics associated with the source graphical elements, the one or more characteristics of the source graphical elements comprising one or more of: a block sample time, a block restrictive flag, a port dimension attribute, a data type of data supplied by the source graphical element, a sample rate, a data complexity, a unit attribute, a physical domain attribute, a value range, and a data dimensionality; and
visually indicating the identified target graphical elements are compatible with the graphical operation on the display device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical model is a graphical block diagram model.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the source graphical elements are ports in the graphical block diagram model.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing the graphical operation, wherein the performing causes the relationship to be established between the source graphical elements and the target graphical elements, the relationship being indicated on a display by graphical connections that connect the source graphical elements with the target graphical elements.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical operation is a drag-and-drop action that involves selecting the source graphical elements using a cursor, dragging the cursor, and dropping the cursor onto at least one of the target graphical elements to establish the relationship between the source graphical elements and the at least one of the target graphical elements.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
identifying one or more properties of the source graphical elements; and
identifying the target graphical elements based on one or more properties of the target graphical elements that are compatible with one or more properties of the source graphical elements.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein identifying the target graphical elements further comprises:
searching among the plurality of graphical elements, wherein the search of the plurality of graphical elements is limited based on a proximity of the source graphical elements to a searched element on the display device.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving an indication further comprises:
receiving a selection of the source graphical elements.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein visually indicating that the identified target graphical elements are compatible with the graphical operation is performed after the indication is received and before the graphical operation is resolved by attempting to establish the relationship.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein visually indicating comprises highlighting the identified target graphical elements.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein an incompatible graphical element in the plurality of graphical elements is not compatible with the graphical operation and wherein visually indicating further comprises changing a visual appearance of the incompatible graphical element on the display device.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises:
applying one or more rules.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
identifying a degree of compatibility of the target graphical elements with the graphical operation and the one or more characteristics of the source graphical elements.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the visual indicating produces a visual indication of the degree of compatibility.
15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media for storing computer-executable instructions, the instructions comprising:
instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
display a plurality of graphical elements of an executable graphical model of a dynamic system on a display device;
receive an indication to initiate a graphical operation involving a source graphical element from among the plurality of graphical elements,
the graphical operation when performed establishing a relationship between the source graphical element and a target graphical element from among the plurality of graphical elements; and
visually indicating that the target graphical element is compatible with the graphical operation and one or more characteristics of the source graphical element on the display device prior to conducting the graphical operation, the one or more characteristics of the source graphical elements comprising one or more of: a block sample time, a block restrictive flag, a port dimension attribute, a data type of data supplied by the source graphical element, a sample rate, a data complexity, a unit attribute, a physical domain attribute, a value range, and a data dimensionality.
16. The media of claim 15, wherein visually indicating further comprises:
highlighting the target graphical element.
17. The media of claim 15, further storing one or more instructions for:
identifying whether the target graphical element is suitable for the graphical operation based on one or more rules.
18. A system comprising:
a display device; and
a processor for:
displaying a plurality of graphical elements of an executable graphical model of a dynamic system on the display device;
receiving a selection of multiple source graphical elements from among the plurality of graphical elements;
initiating a graphical operation to establish a relationship between the multiple source graphical elements of the displayed plurality of graphical elements and at least one target graphical element of the displayed plurality of graphical elements that is compatible with the graphical operation; and
visually indicating whether the at least one target graphical element is compatible with the graphical operation and one or more characteristics of the multiple source graphical elements on the display device prior to performing the graphical operation, the one or more characteristics of the multiple source graphical elements comprising one or more of: a block sample time, a block restrictive flag, a port dimension attribute, a data type of data supplied by the source graphical element, a sample rate, a data complexity, a unit attribute, a physical domain attribute, a value range, and a data dimensionality.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of aligning a vehicle with respect to a reference plane, the vehicle including an electronic controller operatively connected to a plurality of fluid suspension members, the plurality of fluid suspension members disposed between at least one axle associated with the vehicle and at least one chassis component associated with the vehicle, the method comprising:
a) measuring the angular orientation of the vehicle relative to the reference plane; and
b) the electronic controller, determining if the angular orientation of the vehicle can be at least approximately aligned with the reference plane by only lowering one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members;
if the angular orientation of the vehicle can be at least approximately aligned with the reference plane by only lowering the one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members, selectively lowering one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members to at least approximately align the vehicle with the reference plane; and
if the angular orientation of the vehicle cannot be at least approximately aligned with the reference plane by only lowering one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members, selectively raising one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members to at least approximately align the vehicle with the reference plane, or selectively raising and lowering one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members to at least approximately align the vehicle with the reference plane,
wherein the reference plane is associated with a targeted angular orientation of the vehicle, and an alignment sensor associated with the vehicle provides at least a one-axis measurement of the vehicle angular orientation.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the alignment sensor associated with the vehicle provides at least a two-axes measurement of the vehicle angular orientation.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle reference plane is associated with a substantially horizontal targeted angular orientation of the vehicle.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the alignment sensor associated with the vehicle provides at least a two-axes measurement of the vehicle angular orientation, and the vehicle reference plane is associated with a substantially horizontal targeted angular orientation of the vehicle.
5. The method according to claim 1,
step a) comprising:
measuring the angular orientation of at least one vehicle chassis component relative to the reference plane; and
step b) comprising:
the electronic controller, controlling one or more of the fluid suspension members to align the at least one vehicle chassis component with the reference plane until the angular orientation of the at least one vehicle chassis component is at least approximately aligned with respect to the reference plane.
6. A vehicle alignment system comprising:
a plurality of fluid suspension members adapted to be disposed between one or more associated axles and one or more associated chassis components, wherein the plurality of fluid suspension members are adapted to be selectively operated to raise and lower the one or more associated chassis components;
an alignment sensor configured to provide at least a one-axis measurement of the alignment of an associated vehicle; and
an electronic controller configured to
determine if the angular orientation of the associated vehicle can be at least approximately aligned with the reference plane by only lowering one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members;
only selectively lower one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members if the angular orientation of the associated vehicle can be at least approximately aligned with the reference plane by only lowering one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members; and
selectively raise, or selectively raise and lower, one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members to at least approximately align the associated vehicle with the reference plane, if the angular orientation of the vehicle cannot be at least approximately aligned with the reference plane by only lowering one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members.
7. A vehicle alignment system according to claim 6, wherein the alignment sensor is configured to provide at least a two-axes measurement of the alignment of the associated vehicle.
8. A vehicle alignment system according to claim 6, wherein the reference plane is associated with a substantially horizontal angular orientation of the associated vehicle.
9. A vehicle alignment system according to claim 6, wherein the alignment sensor is configured to provide at least a two-axes measurement of the alignment of the associated vehicle, and the reference plane is associated with a substantially horizontal angular orientation of the associated vehicle.
10. A vehicle alignment system according to claim 6, wherein the alignment sensor is associated with the one or more associated chassis components and measures the angular orientation of the one or more associated chassis components relative to the reference plane.
11. A vehicle alignment system according to claim 6, further comprising:
one or more chassis components; and
one or more axles,
wherein the plurality of fluid suspension members are disposed between the one or more axles and the one or more chassis components.
12. A method of aligning a vehicle including an electronic height control system in communication with a plurality of fluid suspension members disposed between at least one axle and at least one chassis component, the method comprising:
measuring a two-axes angular orientation of a vehicle relative to a substantially horizontal plane;
communicating the two-axes angular orientation information to an electronic controller;
processing the two-axes angular orientation information with the electronic controller to generate vehicle alignment program instructions to be executed by the electronic controller;
the electronic controller, selectively controlling at least one of the plurality of fluid suspension members, based on the vehicle alignment program instructions, to change the distance between the at least one axle and the at least one chassis component, wherein the two-axes angular orientation of the vehicle is changed, and the electronic controller selectively controls one or more of the plurality of fluid suspension members to only exhaust fluid to at least one of substantially align the two-axes angular orientation of the vehicle relative to the substantially horizontal plane, and partially align the two-axes angular orientation of the vehicle relative to the substantially horizontal plane; and
outputting the two-axes angular orientation information to inform an operator of at least one of whether or not the two-axes angular orientation of the vehicle is aligned to a substantially horizontal plane, whether or not the two-axes angular orientation of the vehicle is being aligned to the substantially horizontal plane, whether or not the two-axes angular orientation of the vehicle is within a range of angular orientations relative to the substantially horizontal plane to enable the alignment of the vehicle relative to the substantially horizontal plane, and whether or not the two-axes angular orientation of the vehicle is partially aligned relative to the substantially horizontal plane.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of fluid suspension members are a plurality of air springs.
14. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:
outputting the two-axes angular orientation information to an operator via at least one of a display and an audible indicator.