Controller Design and Rapid Control Prototyping

Development process with rapid control prototyping.

The increasing popularity of electric motors means that more effort has to be put into developing, implementing, and validating the required control algorithms. Model-based design along with rapid control prototyping (RCP) allows for accelerating design iterations and reduces the time for developing control algorithms on the real ECU. New controller functions are typically developed on the basis of models in MATLAB®/Simulink®/Stateflow®.

dSPACE RCP systems make the new control algorithm tangible and let you optimize and test new control strategies in a real environment quickly and without barriers. This helps you detect design faults and correct them instantly.

Fast Iterations – Maximum Freedom

dSPACE offers a wide range of off-the-shelf software and hardware components for in-vehicle use (e.g., the modular AutoBox and compact MicroAutoBox II) and laboratory or test bench use (e.g., the modular SCALEXIO LabBox, Expansion Box and compact MicroLabBox). Since the RCP hardware is far more powerful than actual production ECUs with regard to processing power and memory space, almost no hardware limitations have to be considered. The RCP hardware can be used as an ECU substitute or extension of an existing ECU, e.g., if you have to adapt only parts of the ECU functionality. To connect RCP systems to an existing ECU, dSPACE offers a comprehensive ECU interface tool environment (e.g., ECU Interface Manager, DCI-GSI2).

With the dSPACE implementation software Real-Time Interface (RTI), models designed with MATLAB/Simulink/Stateflow can be implemented on the dSPACE RCP hardware at the click of a button. The graphical RTI block library with numerous interface functions lets you connect inputs and outputs to the model. With the dSPACE experiment software ControlDesk, you can use graphical instruments to optimize the control algorithm by monitoring and tuning variables during run time. If the function of the control algorithm itself has to be modified during the tests, you can simply adapt it in Simulink and flash it to the hardware again until all requirements are met. The perfect interaction of dSPACE hardware and software provides a convenient development and test environment.

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