Ordinary Differential Equation Solvers (Control Design and Simulation Module)

Because many dynamic system models consist of differential equations, you must solve these differential equations to observe the behavior of the simulated system. LabVIEW includes several ordinary differential equation (ODE) solvers that solve these equations. Before you simulate a dynamic system model, you must specify and configure the ODE solver for that simulation.

ODE solvers use methods to approximate the solution to a differential equation. The ODE solvers implement these methods in a variety of ways, each with various strengths and weaknesses. Defining characteristics of an ODE solver include the following qualities:

• Accuracy or order
• Stability
• Computational speed
• Use of a fixed time step size versus a variable time step size
• Use of a single step versus multiple steps
• Suitability for stiff problems