Implementation of HIL Testing Systems for Aerospace ECUs

Over the last several years, Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulators have become the de-facto standard for aerospace control systems verification and validation. The primary purpose of these HIL systems is to allow rapid development of Electronic Control Unit (ECU) software and simultaneous controls engineering while the target plant platforms are concurrently being implemented. dSPACE HIL simulators are based on proven Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware and software tools for real-time that allow for a very flexible and intuitive implementation process. Many of the development and testing issues with aerospace ECUs can now be handled readily with accessible tools. An overview of HIL simulator components, available tools and technologies, and some of the associated implementation benefits will be shown in this paper.