The Task
Electric vehicles typically use multiple voltage levels to optimally supply their various applications and thus enable all the different vehicle functions.
A common voltage level for the battery and the traction system is either 400 V or 800 V. However, many other components on board the vehicle usually run at 12 V (cars), 24 V (trucks), or 48 V (cars and trucks), such as entertainment or safety systems.
To convert the high voltage to lower levels, power converters based on power electronics are used. These converters are equipped with controllers to ensure that the output voltages and currents meet the specific requirements of the loads.
The Challenges
A key functionality of the controller is its fallback routines in case of a fault. To be able to test these routines, the first step is to create a fault within the circuit.
One approach could be to use prototype hardware for this. This hardware needs to be modified in a way that it is able to introduce a fault, e.g., a short-circuit in one of the semiconductor switches, into the circuit.
However, executing these tests on the modified hardware involves potential risks, such as arc flashes, thermal overload, and more, requiring the testing to take place in a secured environment.
The dSPACE Solution
Failure simulation of the power electronics circuit is supported by our XSG Power Electronics Systems (PES) solution. The powerful dSPACE software provides a library containing ready-to-use simulation models of common power electronics circuits and is the ideal choice for developing and testing highly dynamic electrical systems.
When it comes to fault simulation, XSG PES allows you to force the individual semiconductor switches to be either in open-circuit or short-circuit, no matter what the output of the controller is. As a result, the simulated values do not match the expected values of the controller, so the controller switches to fallback mode. As the entire simulation only takes place on the signal level, this kind of testing does not involve any potential risks.
Our XSG PES solution creates the required FPGA model of your circuit, including the desired fault condition. After integrating this model into your existing FPGA framework, you can configure and generate the FPGA build using the dSPACE FPGA Programming Blockset, the Simulink® blockset for using an FPGA model created with a dSPACE system. Finally, you can upload the FPGA build to your SCALEXIO hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) system to run your simulation and tests and keep track of the results.
