Aircraft electrification represents the most challenging and disruptive change the aerospace industry has seen in the past decades. The increasing electrification of aircraft systems and the introduction of all-electric or hybrid propulsion require an efficient approach to the design and testing of electric motors, power electronics, embedded controllers, and fuel cell or battery systems. Power HIL closes this gap by offering a highly flexible test environment which is capable of validating these devices on power level in an early stage of the development process.
The example (see figure) shows the test setup of a quadcopter design with batteries supplying four inverters. These inverters power four machines which drive the four propellers of the quadcopter. The torque of the propellers is calculated by a flight simulation and represented by load machines on mechanical level. However, the battery’s output voltage and the machines’ parameters are fixed in this setup.
An alternative setup is the power HIL test without any rotating parts. The battery and the machines are replaced by emulations with the full flexibility to change machine parameters or the battery voltage in the real-time model during runtime. The electrical interface on signal and power level between the device under test (DUT) and the environment stays the same.
Flexibility Through State-of-the-art Technology
The dSPACE power HIL systems can be used for emulating almost all types of components, such as motors, batteries, or power grids. Precise and open machine models based on processor and FPGA technology, real-time hardware with all required signal interfaces, and highly dynamic HV load modules over 1,000V represent a seamless toolchain for a turn-key power HIL solution.
IABG complements this offering with its expertise in departmental planning, interface management, and general contractor operations. As a result, the overall test bench consisting of the power HIL as well as third-party components such as climate chambers and media conditioning can be integrated in an existing laboratory. Setup of new laboratories or test-centers from one single source is possible, too.
