Electromobility is fundamentally transforming the automotive industry – from vehicle architecture to validation methods. To support this transformation, dSPACE and ENORISE have formed a strategic partnership. At the heart of this collaboration is the integration of a powerful test environment, which can be seamlessly embedded into existing laboratory and test infrastructures and is specifically tailored to the requirements of electric drive systems.
dSPACE and ENORISE: Strong Partners for Turnkey Power HIL Test Systems
To offer customers in the automotive industry a turnkey solution for the validation of power electronics assemblies from a sole source, dSPACE entered a partnership with the engineering service provider ENORISE (formerly FEV) in 2023.
Together, the two companies provide customized power HIL test benches worldwide, which can be seamlessly integrated into existing test centers. In addition to comprehensive software validation, these test benches also enable full electrical power tests. The range of services extends from facility planning to the provision and integration of hardware and software to commissioning.
The responsibilities within the partnership are clearly defined:
- dSPACE boasts extensive experience in the field of hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) as well as established power HIL test systems. With the combination of SCALEXIO and the DS5386 High-Voltage Electronic Load Module, dSPACE offers a powerful real-time platform for testing and validating power electronics assemblies under genuine full-load conditions.
- ENORISE brings 35 years of experience in the integration of laboratory test benches and offers international expertise in automotive test systems as well as automation and real-time solutions. With MORPHEE®, ENORISE provides proven test bench software that can be tailored precisely to the needs and requirements of its customers.
What makes SCALEXIO and the DS5386 High-Voltage Electronic Load Module the ideal power HIL system?
With SCALEXIO, dSPACE provides a powerful real-time platform for signal-based HIL testing. Its modular architecture enables the precise simulation of electric drives, battery systems, and grids at the signal level – including model-based representation of voltages and currents via the relevant I/O interfaces. SCALEXIO offers a wide range of ready-to-use simulation libraries, including XSG PES for power electronics as well as XSG EC and XSG GDM for motor simulation. All libraries are immediately deployable and can be flexibly adapted.
For power HIL applications, where real power levels are tested, SCALEXIO is complemented by the DS5386 High-Voltage Electronic Load Module. This module transfers the model behavior to the power level, enabling tests under genuine electrical conditions. This closes the gap between simulation and physical performance – a crucial step in validating components in high-voltage environments. This allows the testing of power electronic control units with voltages up to 1,250 V and several megawatts of power. Each module operates as a standalone unit, is controlled decentrally via FPGA, and acts as a highly dynamic current source or sink. In doing so, it represents a specific function, such as a machine phase or a battery pole, whose behavior is defined by the real-time model.
Thanks to their modular design, the dSPACE power HIL test systems can be flexibly adapted to different applications and power requirements. Configuration is straightforward, simply involving the selection of the appropriate number of DS5386 High-Voltage Electronic Load Modules, depending on the desired functionality and test bench capacity. And best of all: If the requirements change during the course of the project, the system grows with them. Need new features? More power? Additional modules make it possible.
Why is MORPHEE® ideally suited as an efficient control center for power HIL test benches?
For comprehensive control and automation of the power HIL test bench, the MORPHEE® software is used. It offers unique real-time measurement performance with a sampling capacity of up to five million individual values per second, making it ideally suited for the precise analysis of charging and discharging behavior as well as the electrical and mechanical characteristics of batteries in electromobility.
Furthermore, MORPHEE® enables direct control of third-party components such as climate chambers and cooling water conditioners via setpoint specifications. Power meters can be seamlessly integrated into the automation environment, as can safety-relevant laboratory interfaces – such as the central emergency stop for error shutdown. In this way, MORPHEE® makes a decisive contribution to the safe, flexible, and consistent execution of demanding power HIL tests.
How do SCALEXIO and MORPHEE® work together?
In the power HIL test bench, SCALEXIO and MORPHEE® work hand in hand: SCALEXIO conducts low-latency real-time simulation of electrical and mechanical components directly on an FPGA basis, while MORPHEE® enables overarching control and parameterization of the test environment. This combination makes it possible to accurately calculate highly dynamic processes, such as the behavior of electric machines, and to transmit the resulting setpoints to the electronic load modules with virtually no delay.
At the same time, MORPHEE® allows key model parameters such as phase resistances, inductances, or mechanical operating points to be flexibly adjusted during run time. This means that complex driving cycles can be not only realistically represented but also repeated with varying machine parameters – for example, to analyze control unit behavior while taking manufacturing tolerances into account.
A corresponding proof of concept (PoC) has demonstrated just how powerful and versatile this system integration is for the development and validation of modern electric drive technologies.
PoC: How a Power HIL Test Works with SCALEXIO and MORPHEE®
As part of a proof of concept (PoC), the interaction between SCALEXIO and MORPHEE® was demonstrated in a compact low-voltage test environment. Although the joint offering is primarily geared towards high-voltage power HIL systems, this setup shows just how flexibly these platforms can also be used for smaller applications – such as in the field of micromobility. From a signal perspective, there are no differences compared to the high-voltage variant since the same real-time systems are used. This highlights the scalability and configurability of the dSPACE solutions.
For the PoC, an inverter from an electric scooter was connected to a low-voltage load module, which realistically emulated the behavior of the motor and battery. The inverter was controlled by MORPHEE® via CAN, while SCALEXIO performed real-time simulation using FPGA technology. Communication between SCALEXIO and the load modules took place via dSPACE’s real-time bus IOCNET.
Additionally, SCALEXIO and MORPHEE® communicate via EtherCAT and the ASAM XIL API. EtherCAT is used bidirectionally to exchange mechanical setpoints as well as electrical measurement and simulation data. The ASAM XIL API enables the parameterization of the emulated machine and its position encoders. After selecting the motor model in SCALEXIO, the entire test bench can be directly controlled and adjusted from MORPHEE®.
The wide range of available interfaces makes it possible to seamlessly integrate additional equipment such as climate chambers or cooling water conditioners into the automated test process. The successful PoC demonstrates how efficiently and flexibly SCALEXIO and MORPHEE® can be deployed together, even in compact power HIL scenarios.
Possible signal flow diagram of a power HIL test system: Overview of the key components and how they interact.
What do the experts say?
The partnership with dSPACE has shown us just how valuable strong technical collaboration can be. Together, we have not only expanded our technological capabilities but also set new benchmarks in test bench integration. This synergy is the key to our shared success.
Our close collaboration with ENORISE has enabled us to seamlessly integrate our high-performance power HIL system into existing laboratories and connect it with all third-party components. Through continuous exchange and the joint utilization of expertise, we have significantly increased the efficiency and precision of our test systems. Operation is managed via a single piece of software, and best of all: everything comes from a sole source!
Summary
The strategic partnership between dSPACE and ENORISE offers the automotive industry turnkey power HIL test systems specifically tailored to the requirements of electrified drivetrains. By combining dSPACE’s powerful real-time SCALEXIO platform and DS5386 High-Voltage Electronic Load Module with ENORISE’s flexible MORPHEE® test bench software, the result is integrated power HIL solutions that can be seamlessly incorporated into existing test centers.
Customers benefit from:
- bespoke test benches for high-voltage applications,
- realistic simulation of electrical systems under full-load conditions,
- high levels of automation and measurement accuracy,
- flexible expandability of test systems thanks to modular architecture,
- direct integration of third-party components,
- and a comprehensive service from a single source – from planning to commissioning.
These complete solutions enable efficient, safe, and scalable validation of modern power electronics in electromobility.
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Would you like to learn more about our power HIL testing or are you already planning a customized test system for your development environment? Then let’s start a conversation!
