Animating Mixing Tank with PID Controller for Fluid Flow Control

[danago]

I am working on an assignment which is based around studying and designing the control system for a tank which has two inlet flows and one outlet flow. For the purpose of what i am doing, i will be assuming that only one of the inlet flow rates changes.

Part of the assignment requires me to make an interactive animation which depicts the mixing tank and the height of fluid in the tank over time due to a step change in the required output concentration. The control system utilizes a PID controller and the animation should allow the user to change the value of the PID gains.

Now i have no issues with modeling the system and the mathematics; my problem lies with the production of the animation -- I haven't really done anything like this before. I do not have an especially strong background in programming which really limits my options.

Does anybody have suggestions on what software i should look into? Basically, i have about 1 week to finish the animation so i don't have enough time to learn a new programming language with any sufficient detail. I used to use Macromedia Flash MX a little so i do have some very basic knowledge with actionsctipt, but nothing extensive.

All suggestions are very much appreciated!

Thanks,
Dan.

 

[danago]

I have been reading a bit about the Virtual Reality toolbox in MATLAB which can be linked with the output of a simulink simulation. Does anybody have much experience with this?