Hi Chet,
I have occasionally had the same issue with MATLAB, lately. I am using version R2017b, also, and have found that I tend to have this error appear when I run a command in MATLAB after my computer has been locked and in sleep mode for any period of time (with MATLAB open on the computer). I found a similar question asked on MATLAB Answers at the following address: https://au.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/392291-java-error-when-running-script
However, in that case, the issue seemed to be related to running a file on multiple devices at once and/or using multiple versions of MATLAB. I have only ever used version R2017b and only on one device, so I don't believe that this solution would stop me from receiving the error. I suspect it may be related to the computer going to sleep with MATLAB open, although I'm not sure why that would cause an error. Was your device asleep before you started receiving that error?
