Can I call a class function from Simulink?

I created a superclass with the name Aircraft, which has various properties to describe an Aircraft such as: the states, controllers, linear dynamics etc.

classdef Aircraft < handle 
    properties  
        AtmosphericProperties;
        Attributes;
        States;
        TrimSettings;   
        LinearDynamics;
        Controllers;
    end
...
end

This class also has a few method functions which is used in Simulink. In other words, after creating a model aircraft in Simulink, I used a MATLAB Function block (Simulink/User-Defined Functions/MATLAB Fcn) and called a function in the Aircraft Class:

Aircraft.myFunction(u)

The function in the class would then look something like this:

function output = myFunction(obj, input)
    ...
    ...
    output = ...  
end

Now, at the moment Simulink has not given me any problems but I would like to know if something like this is a good or bad idea? I've done some research on the web and found that people have been a bit negative about using objects and classes in Simulink. Yes, I struggle to send an object in Simulink, however, it seems to have no problem in calling the method of a particular class.

Any professional opinions or comments with regards to objects and classes in MATLAB and Simulink?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

[Jacob Halbrooks]

I'd suggest you take a look at the MATLAB System block, which is designed to support System objects in Simulink. System objects are MATLAB classes that extend "matlab.System" and then implement a few algorithm methods (most importantly, stepImpl). Here are a couple of resources so you can learn more:

• What Is the MATLAB System Block? (doc)
• The MATLAB System Block (blog)

Using the MATLAB System block is a well supported means of using a class in Simulink, but your current approach of using objects in a MATLAB Function block should also work.