A vision for automotive electronics hardware-in-the-loop testing. (20th February 2004) - J.Wagner,
The widespread application of electronics to automotive powertrain, chassis and body systems for improved performance, reliability and safety is challenging from an engineering design perspective. The continued progression from stand-alone electronic controllers to the integration of distributed controllers, using communication buses to share information, places greater demands on the design and validation tools. During the past two decades, product development and test equipment has evolved from static simulators, which demand user participation throughout a test, to automated testing stations which provide realistic operating conditions but require highly trained support staff. In this paper, the vision and realisation of an economical automotive hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) mechatronic system testing tool will be presented. Specifically, the hardware and software features for a modular and user friendly bench top simulator will be presented based on extensive experience with electronic controller testing. Two systems-level tests for an antilock brake and traction control system controller will be presented to demonstrate the capabilities of HIL automotive simulators.