Simulation of real-time systems: an object-oriented approach supported by a virtual reality-based tool

This article intends to demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of virtual reality (VR) technology to support real-time systems (RTS) simulations, as a form to evaluate the correctness of such systems. The virtual reality simulation (VR-SIM), a tool which incorporates VR modeling resources, is presented. This tool offers support to simulate the behavior of RTS, checking the scheduling of processes and timing constraints. The main concepts of RTS, simulation and VR are presented, the VR-SIM architecture and functionality are described and a RTS example from the industrial area is specified and simulated. Aspects of design and implementation of the tool, following an object-oriented approach, are discussed.