Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing of automotive control systems is a very mature methodology. Yet there are a number of reasons why it has not yet seen wide proliferation in the commercial vehicle industry.
First, until recently, hardware-in-the-loop testing required the use of expensive special-purpose hardware solutions to achieve the needed real-time performance. Second, the development of highly accurate real-time-capable models of diesel engines, transmissions and complete vehicles was prohibitively labor-intensive. Third, the development of test cases required special programming skills. Fourth, the test cases were not portable from one controller program to the next, which limited their re-use.
In recent years the performance and user-friendliness of commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software products have changed to the point that they can now be used in very complex and sophisticated HIL test systems for automobiles and commercial vehicles.
As a result, these next generation HIL systems are
Built on open hardware and software architectures derived from PCs. This reduces long-term cost of ownership by a substantial amount.
Capable of running simulation tools and plant models from many different origins and vendors in real-time. This reduces the effort in developing high-fidelity real-time models for the purpose of HIL testing by a large amount.
Capable of running test cases that are implemented in such a way that they can be re-used across many controller programs and across different test benches.
This paper will provide details on the three points made above. It will show how one can implement HIL testers for commercial vehicle applications based on COTS hardware and software. It will also show how one can re-use non-real-time plant models for HIL testing. Finally, it will show how one can develop test cases that are language independent, controller program independent, and test bench independent.