HIL in Automotive Systems
In the context of automotive applications "Hardware-in-the-loop simulation systems provide such a virtual vehicle for systems validation and verification." Since in-vehicle driving tests for evaluating performance and diagnostic functionalities of Engine Management Systems are often time-consuming, expensive and not reproducible, HIL simulators allow developers to validate new hardware and software automotive solutions, respecting quality requirements and time-to-market restrictions. In a typical HIL Simulator, engine dynamics is emulated from mathematic models, executed by a dedicated real-time processor. In addition, an I/O unit allows the connection of vehicle sensors and actuators (which usually present high degree of non-linearity). Finally, the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) under test is connected to the system and stimulated by a set of vehicle maneuvres executed by the simulator. At this point, HIL simulation also offers a high degree of repeatability during testing phase.
In the literature, several HIL specific applications are reported and simplified HIL simulators were built according some specific purpose. When testing a new ECU software release for example, experiments can be performed in open loop and therefore several engine dynamic models are no longer required. The strategy is restricted to the analysis of ECU outputs when excited by controlled inputs. In this case, a Micro HIL system (MHIL) offers a simpler and more economic solution. Since complexity of models processing is dumped, a full-size HIL system is reduced into a portable device composed of a signal generator, an I/O board, and a console containing the actuators (external loads) to be connected to the ECU.
Read more about this topic: Hardware-in-the-loop Simulation
Famous quotes containing the word systems:
“The geometry of landscape and situation seems to create its own systems of time, the sense of a dynamic element which is cinematising the events of the canvas, translating a posture or ceremony into dynamic terms. The greatest movie of the 20th century is the Mona Lisa, just as the greatest novel is Gray’s Anatomy.”
—J.G. (James Graham)