Functional Debugging of Equation-based Languages

State-of-the-art debugging techniques for equation-based languages follow a low-level approach to interface users
with the complex interactions between equations and algorithms that describe cyber-physical processes. Although
these techniques are useful for understanding the low-level behaviors, they do not provide the means for creating a
system-level understanding that is often necessary during the early concept product design phase. In this paper, we
present a novel debugging technique for equation-based languages based on a high-level approach to facilitate
the system-level understanding of complex cyber-physical processes. Our debugging interface is based on functional
models that describe what the system does in a formal language that uses natural language elements to improve
inter-disciplinary communication. Our novel technique, referred to as functional debugging, can be used in the
context of the current systems engineering industrial practice in order to identify system-level problems and explore
design alternatives during the early concept design phase. We present a working implementation of our functional
debugger and we discuss the benefits of our approach using an automotive use-case.