dSPACE, a leading supplier of hardware-in-the-loop simulators for testing electronic control units (ECUs), has announced it is widening the scope of its HIL simulation business. Starting in the third quarter of 2005, the company will offer complete solutions for automotive applications, combining its well-known simulator hardware with its new simulation models. The Automotive Simulation Models (ASM) developed by dSPACE include models for vehicle dynamics, diesel engines, and gasoline engines.
“Our aim is to offer our customers better integration and greater speed in setting up and modifying simulators,” explains CEO Dr. Herbert Hanselmann.
Customers have used dSPACE’s model service to integrate, commission, and parameterise their own or third-party models into dSPACE simulators for years, and an increasing number are doing so. It was the obvious next step for the company to use its accumulated know-how for further optimisation of customer solutions. On the subject of dSPACE’s future strategy regarding simulators and models, Herbert Hanselmann states, “Our simulators will continue to run with our customers’ models and with models from suppliers and we will still be working together to support these companies. Customers can choose the model they want to use on our simulators. Our new models are an additional option.”
The Automotive Simulation Models (ASM) from dSPACE are open Simulink models. Users can view the structure of the models and modify them independently if required. Special software called ModelDesk has been developed for users to parameterise the vehicle dynamics model. The essential vehicle parameters, road profiles, driver behaviour, and driving manoeuvres can be defined via the graphical user interface. The engine models are mean-value models. It is easy to extend an existing simulator – for example, to create a virtual car – using the ASM libraries.
More details on the features of the Automotive Simulation Models and their future role in dSPACE’s product portfolio are available on the dSPACE Web site at www.dSPACE.de/goto?ASM_Intro.
About HIL Simulators HIL simulators are used for comprehensive testing of real ECUs in a virtual environment. HIL simulation is a major process step in ECU production release.
A HIL simulator consists of a fast computing unit and various interfaces for connecting ECUs and external accessories. The signals that the ECUs would receive and transmit in the real environment are exchanged via these interfaces. The simulator and the model installed on it represent the real environment.
Simulators not only simulate individual aggregates such as engines or whole powertrains. They can also be networked to simulate an entire vehicle for simultaneous testing of all the vehicle’s control systems. Deep and extensive tests on complex systems can be run efficiently by means of fully automated test runs.
About Models
Models are a simulator’s intelligence. They represent, as precisely as possible, the behaviour of the system that a real ECU is to be used with. Together, model and simulator form an identical, functional representation of a real object, for example, an engine or the vehicle’s chassis. Suitably parameterised and configured, the model can simulate any of the states that the represented object may have. Outside of HIL simulation, models are also used during the design phase for control algorithms, to test the algorithms by simulation (model-in-the-loop).
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