Is it possible to automatically rebuild a Simulink Multibody model using a different CAD file?

I'm going to be making many models of spines. Most of the characteristics of the model will stay the same (or can be procedurally modified for stuff like ligament stiffnesses) but I want the physical dimensions to be different.

I'm going to be importing vertebrae from other software into SolidWorks and then adding coordinate systems to which ligaments and muscles will be attached. The coordinate systems will have the same names but different locations.

Is there any way to automatically switch these files into the model so I don't have to connect 280 muscles every time I build the thing?

Answer 1

[Sebastian Castro]

Starting with R2016a, Simscape Multibody does allow you to reimport CAD models so long as they are structurally the same -- by that I mean, as you said, that the total degrees of freedom and types of motion are the same, but things like distances, masses, geometry, etc. can change.

This is because effective R2016a, all the CAD-imported parameters get loaded into a MATLAB structure. So, when you re-import the CAD model, you can choose to leave the Simulink model the way it is but change the MATLAB structure values.

http://www.mathworks.com/help/physmod/sm/ug/data-file-update.html

- Sebastian