Task: Testing a Navigation Computer
Early testing is crucial for reducing development costs of cyber-physical systems, such as flight control computers. However, real flight conditions of the entire mission must be simulated to test a flight control computer in the laboratory, e.g., the navigation computer of a high-altitude research rocket.
Challenge: Simulation of Realistic Sensor Data
In the early test phase, the navigation devices, for example, global positioning systems, inertial measurement units (IMU), or star trackers (STR), are not available yet. Therefore, they must be simulated to provide the required sensor data for the navigation computer during the tests.
Solution: SCALEXIO for Real-Time Environment Simulation
The dSPACE SCALEXIO hardware-in-the-loop system covers the entire mission of the high-altitude research rocket through real-time preflight simulation. Initially, due to the unavailability of the navigation devices, the HIL system is connected to the navigation computer and simulates the required sensor data during testing. The simulation is executed together with the flight sequence and the navigation signals. In later verification phases, real navigation devices replace their virtual counterparts. In this case, the SCALEXIO system continues to simulate the physical environment depending on the mission profile, thus enabling the real navigation devices to provide the corresponding sensor data to the navigation computer.
This approach allows the execution of entire mission profiles on the ground based on real mission data and the reproduction of complex test scenarios at every development stage in a fully automated laboratory environment.
