HIL Systems for Emulating Small Electric Motors

Testing auxiliary systems at the electric power level

At the electric power level, the real power stages are included in the test and only the motor is emulated by an electronic load. For this reason, the device under test does not need to be modified and only minor safety restrictions apply compared to a mechanical test bench.

Application Areas

  • Emulating electric machines (brushless DC motors, induction motors, permanent magnet synchronous motors) at the electric power level
  • Suited for highly dynamic measurements and high-speed operations in electric steering systems, gearbox actuators, fuel pumps, etc.
  • Integrating electric drives in a virtual vehicle environment

Key Points

  • Full access to the motor model. Motor parameters can easily be modified.
  • High-performance electronic loads that can sink all the power coming from the ECU
  • Up to 60 V and up to 100 A (50 A RMS) per module, supporting parallel operation
  • User-programmable FPGA board for computing dynamic parts of the electric drive system
  • Minimized feed-through time, supporting the simulation of current ripples (PWM effects)
  • High-speed current regulation ideal for loading PWM power stages
  • High accuracy of emulated currents
  • More flexibility than mechanical test benches
  • Support of multiprocessor systems with more than one Processing Unit for higher computing power

Up to 30 V

The DS5380 Low-Voltage Electronic Load Module is optimized for high-speed operation as required for emulating electric motors, such as those in electric steering systems. It can work as both a current sink and a current source to provide bidirectional current flow, i.e., it consumes or generates real currents of or for the motor ECU outputs. The DS5380 Low-Voltage Electronic Load Module can be combined with a dSPACE FPGA base board. In combination with the XSG Electric Components Library, these boards provide the fast reaction times required for controlling electric machines. On the FPGA base board, the FPGA computes parts of the simulation model for the electric machine, e.g., from the XSG Electric Components Library, and operates the electronic load module.

Up to 60 V

The DS5381 Low-Voltage Electronic Load Unit emulates motor and generator currents at voltages of up to 60 V. Highly dynamic switching between the current and voltage control modes makes it possible to emulate floating brushless DC (BLDC) motor phases without additional booster components. With a voltage range of up to 60 V, the unit is also ideal for use with higher onboard vehicle voltages of 48 V.

The unit is perfect for emulating three-phase electric motor units. Energy recuperation is also included to boost the energy efficiency of the overall system. Typical test application areas are electrically supported steering, starter and generator systems, and mild hybrid drives. Multiple loads can be operated in parallel to achieve higher electric currents in the electronic load.

To make the automated tests more perceptible for the developers, the simulation systems can be extended with 3-D visualization software, a steering wheel, or a complete cockpit for the developers to sit in and “drive” the system.

Simulation models such as ASM Vehicle Dynamics make the system behave realistically.

SCALEXIO Modular real-time system for RCP and HIL applications XSG Electric Component Library Plant models of electric drives featuring FPGA-based simulations DS5381 Low-Voltage Electronic Load Unit (60 V) Low-voltage electronic load unit for the power HIL simulation of electric machines DS5380 Low-Voltage Electronic Load Module (30 V) Low-voltage electronic load module for power HIL testing of low-voltage and low-power auxiliary motors SCALEXIO Processing Unit Product lines for high core performance and high parallel performance DS6602 FPGA Base Board High-performance FPGA board with the latest Xilinx® FPGA technology for advanced electromobility applications DS6601 FPGA Base Board High-performance FPGA board with the Xilinx® FPGA technology for advanced electromobility applications DS2655 FPGA Base Board SCALEXIO I/O board with user-programmable FPGA ASM Electric Components Real-time models for automotive electric system and drive simulation ConfigurationDesk Configuration and implementation software for dSPACE real-time hardware

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