The 34th Mediterranean Conference
on Control and Automation

T2: Object-Oriented Modelling with Modelica for Control and Cyber-Physical Systems

Organizer: Prof. Alberto Leva

Affiliation: DEIB, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Type: Tutorial

Duration: Half-day tutorial

Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Time: 14:00 - 17:00 Room N - D3A

Speaker Biography

Alberto Leva is Professor of Automatic Control at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy. His main research interests concern methods and tools for the automatic tuning of industrial controllers and control structures, process modelling, simulation and control, particularly within the object-oriented modelling paradigm, and modelling and control of energy systems with particular reference to large grids.

He is also interested in advanced tools and methods for control education. In recent years, he has been concentrating on control and control-based design of computing systems, addressing in a system- and control-theoretical manner problems such as scheduling, resource allocation, time synchronisation in wireless sensor networks, thermal and power/performance management, performance-driven software adaptation, and service composition.

Abstract

Modern control applications increasingly involve cyber-physical systems where physical processes, control algorithms, software components, and digital infrastructures interact across multiple engineering domains. In these contexts, modelling approaches based exclusively on causal block diagrams may become restrictive, especially when dealing with multi-domain physical systems, hybrid continuous/discrete dynamics, and tightly integrated control architectures.

This tutorial introduces the principles of equation-based object-oriented modelling through the Modelica language and the OpenModelica environment. The tutorial combines a compact introduction to the modelling paradigm with hands-on examples and modelling activities. Participants will see how physical and control-oriented models can be developed within a unified equation-based framework using reusable components and acausal connections.

Examples will include hybrid and controlled systems involving continuous-time dynamics, sampled-data control, logical supervision, and switching behaviours. The tutorial will also present selected examples drawn from ongoing research on cyber-physical and energy-aware systems, together with a brief overview of interoperability standards such as FMI and open modelling workflows.

List of Topics and Their Descriptions

The tutorial is structured to provide both conceptual foundations and practical modelling experience with Modelica and the OpenModelica environment.

• Introduction and software setup
  Presentation of the tutorial structure and objectives, with installation and verification of the OpenModelica environment on participants’ laptops.
• Modelling paradigms for dynamic systems
  Discussion of causal signal-flow representations, equation-based modelling, acausal modelling, declarative equations, and reusable physical components.
• First executable Modelica examples
  Development and simulation of simple Modelica models to verify the software setup and introduce the basic simulation workflow.
• Basic concepts of the Modelica language
  Introduction to models, components, parameters, variables, equations, connectors, hierarchical composition, reusable subsystems, and model libraries.
• Multi-domain modelling
  Construction of models involving interacting physical domains such as mechanical, electrical, thermal, and fluid systems.
• Hybrid and control-oriented modelling
  Representation of systems combining continuous-time dynamics and discrete-event behaviour, including sampled-data control, supervisory logic, and switching systems.
• Examples from ongoing research
  Presentation of selected examples related to cyber-physical systems, thermal and power-aware computing systems, and reusable control-oriented modelling libraries.
• Open tools, interoperability, and FMI
  Overview of the OpenModelica ecosystem, available libraries, interoperability standards such as FMI, and co-simulation workflows.
• Interactive discussion and concluding remarks
  Final discussion, questions, and possible extensions toward participants’ own modelling and control application domains.

Expected Participants

The tutorial is intended for PhD students, researchers, and practitioners interested in modelling and simulation of dynamic systems, particularly when multi-domain interactions, hybrid continuous/discrete behaviour, or complex system composition are involved. It is especially relevant for participants interested in constructing reusable and scalable models without relying exclusively on causal representations.

The tutorial may be of interest to researchers working on control systems, energy systems, embedded and computing systems, industrial automation, and cyber-physical applications. No prior experience with Modelica is required. A basic background in dynamic systems and control is sufficient.

Equipment

Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops.