As the concepts of energy conservation, emission reduction, and green living gain increasing popularity, new energy power generation systems and new energy electric vehicles are being used more and more widely in daily life. Motor control is a hot and crucial research topic in the electric drive systems of wind power generation systems and new energy electric vehicles. However, for researchers, the motor power in both new energy systems and electric vehicles is relatively high, making it difficult to implement extreme operating conditions and environmental factors in physical systems. Furthermore, traditional development methods for motor drive and control systems suffer from long development cycles, slow iterations, and poor reliability.
Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing (HIL) is an efficient R&D tool that helps researchers better develop prototypes and verify algorithms, effectively shortening the R&D cycle while ensuring product quality, and accelerating the output of results while saving costs.
The concept and value of HIL
Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation (also known as hardware-in-the-loop simulation) is an experimental and research method that has emerged with the development of new technologies such as computer hardware, real-time operating systems, and power system modeling. The basic principle of a HIL simulation device is to simulate the behavior of a physical system using a real-time system running a mathematical model. It connects to the controller through actual I/O interfaces, utilizing the flexibility of software modeling and possessing the ability to replace physical systems. For the development and testing of motor drive systems, HIL simulation allows for testing of the entire control board (control algorithms running on the chips on the board, the board's I/O channels, etc.) under conditions very close to real-world operating conditions. It offers advantages such as ease of testing fault conditions, ease of automation, and ease of reproducing various operating conditions. The system structure diagram of a HIL simulation test is shown below:
ModelingTech utilizes its proprietary StarSimHIL software to provide a high-performance and user-friendly hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform, enabling users to easily download power electronics or power system topology models to real-time simulators. Its FPGA-based small-step simulation technology can accurately and in real-time simulate the characteristics of the controlled object, helping users create a safe and efficient experimental environment during the R&D and testing phases.
StarSimHIL is a configuration-based real-time simulation host computer software that supports loading topology models built in the Simulink/SimPowerSystems environment onto FPGA hardware for execution, eliminating the need for users to perform additional model conversion and low-level development work. Furthermore, thanks to its user-friendly interface, users can easily map the model output to the actual physical signal output with a simple mouse click, enabling one-click download and execution, saving the additional burden of programming and compilation.
An electric drive system is a typical power electronic system, consisting of a motor and an inverter circuit, which requires very high real-time simulation step size. Yuankuan Energy's StarSim small-step simulation technology can stably simulate the entire electric drive system with a step size of 1μs; it also allows users to customize and build models in a familiar modeling environment and quickly download and verify them. This platform helps users quickly demonstrate the control of motors under rated and extreme operating conditions with different power outputs.
The image below shows a real-time simulation system built for the end customer. The lower left is the motor control board under test, and the white chassis in the upper right is the real-time simulator of the motor drive system. The controller and the real-time simulator form a signal closed loop through wiring. The motor and electric drive system simulation runs on the FPGA board, and the motor rotor position signal is output through resolver signals.
The motor drive system of a hybrid electric vehicle is a typical power electronic system, requiring small-step real-time simulation based on FPGAs. ModelingTech, in collaboration with its Japanese partner MacSystems, has developed an FPGA-based hardware-in-the-loop testing system for permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs). ModelingTech's engineers were primarily responsible for modeling the PMSM drive system and implementing the entire model on the FPGA.
The image below shows a real-time simulation system built for the end customer. The PXI system on the left is the real-time simulator for the motor drive system, the PCB board in the middle is the motor control board under test, and the upper computer interface of the simulation test system is on the right. An FPGA board is inserted into the PXI chassis, and the permanent magnet synchronous motor and drive system model run on the FPGA.
