Development of a Brake Dynamometer-Vehicle Model Hardware-in-the-Loop System

This paper presents the development of a hardware in the loop (HIL) simulation system for evaluating and optimizing the interactions of the brake system with the vehicle. This unique HIL set-up consists of an inertial brake dynamometer with a brake corner module, an electronic control unit, a real time 3D total vehicle model and a computer system with a high-speed operating platform. The HIL system simultaneously confers advantages of both computer modeling and hardware testing. It offers the capability to do upfront design and assess performance of the foundation brake hardware and the chassis controls, as well as their interactions, in advance of testing and tuning a vehicle. This powerful tool enables reduction in development time and cost. A simple example of applying the brake dynamometer HIL system will be presented. The FMVSS135 test was simulated using the HIL approach, demonstrating the effect of various front brake corner modules on vehicle stopping distance in the inoperative power condition.