Application Areas
- Developing and verifying control strategies and distributed ECU functions for powertrain systems
- In-vehicle and laboratory systems for fast and convenient verification
Key Points
- Flexible solutions tailored to various electric motors
- Dedicated FPGA-based I/O interfaces with convenient Simulink® blocksets for electric drive applications
- User-programmable FPGA with ready-to-use libraries even for the fastest control loops
- Support of dedicated converter protocols like TWINsync and EtherCAT
- Support of all major automotive bus systems for easy integration in the ECU network
Processor-Based Control Using Industrial Converters
For applications that use a converter from KEBA (formerly LTi Motion GmbH), such as the KEBA ServoOne, dSPACE provides two solutions:
- The first solution is based on the SCALEXIO TWINsync Solution, which is set up in ConfigurationDesk. This solution lets you connect a SCALEXIO platform (SCALEXIO LabBox or SCALEXIO AutoBox) that includes a DS6001 Processor Board with a range of converters via TWINsync.
- The second solution consists of an FPGA-based hardware called Programmable Generic Interface (PGI) and a Simulink blockset for convenient configuration. This lets you connect the RCP platform (MicroAutoBox II) with a range of converters via TWINsync. The MicroAutoBox can be used either in the laboratory or installed in a car.
To give you maximum flexibility in your prototyping setup, dSPACE products let you synchronously control more than one converter. Instead of a KEBA converter, you can also use additional third-party converters. For this, dSPACE products support communication via CAN, Ethernet, and EtherCAT using the SCALEXIO Fieldbus Solution.
Function Bypassing on Existing ECUs
If an ECU is available in your test setup, you can use the RCP platform (MicroAutoBox II or SCALEXIO AutoBox) to extend the ECU by means of bypassing. Unlike fullpass approaches where the RCP system completely replaces the ECU, bypassing is used to develop only specific parts of the ECU software from scratch, e.g., the electric motor control function. In this case, the new functionality is calculated on the RCP system, which is connected to the ECU via a low-latency ECU interface (e.g., DCI-GSI2) or an automotive bus system, such as CAN, FlexRay, or Ethernet. The power stages implemented on the ECU and the cable harness to the electric motor can be reused for this method.
For convenient measurement and calibration, ControlDesk has access to all variables at run time. You can also log data to a USB device at run time for postprocessing purposes.
Advanced Control Using Third-Party Power Amplifiers
For test setups requiring advanced control of electric drives, dSPACE offers interfaces that let you connect third-party power amplifiers on the gate driver level, interfaces for current and voltage measurement, and dedicated interfaces for encoder processing.
For control loops longer than 20µs, you can use different RCP platforms equipped with dedicated I/O boards to execute the control algorithms, e.g., the DS6001 Processor Board combined with the DS6121 Multi-I/O Board or the dSPACE MicroAutoBox III AC Motor Control Solution.
For test setups requiring very fast sample times shorter than 20 µs, RCP platforms including a user-programmable FPGA are the right choice. They include:
- The MicroAutoBox, which is available in variants with a user-programmable FPGA module
- The SCALEXIO LabBox or the SCALEXIO AutoBox with a DS6001, which lets you add an FPGA base board and additional FPGA I/O modules
For convenient FPGA programming, an entirely model-based tool chain is available. The FPGA controller model can be developed in MATLAB®/Simulink® with the RTI FPGA Programming Blockset and the Xilinx® System Generator for DSP. To reduce the development effort, dSPACE also offers the XSG AC Motor Control Library, which provides preconfigured function blocks for all major electric motor features, such as PWM generation, Hall, encoder, resolver, EnDat and SSI sensor processing, and angular computation.
FPGA Programmable per Application
dSPACE offers FPGA-extensions for SCALEXIO, MicroAutoBox, and MicroLabBox. The dSPACE FPGA platforms (DS6602, DS6601, and DS2655 FPGA Base Board for SCALEXIO, DS1514 FPGA Board for MicroAutoBox) can be adapted to various tasks, which means you can react flexibly to stricter timing requirements, such as signal pre-processing, or accelerating the execution of model parts. I/O modules for these platforms provide additional analog, digital, and specialized channels. FPGAs are especially useful for relieving the processor board of tasks such as signal preprocessing during ECU development. Running at 80 or 125 MHz (depending on the platform), the dSPACE FPGA platforms are ideal for application fields such as fast current control loops and customized signal generation.
