HiL Simulation for Off-Road Heavy-Duty Applications

ECUs software Verification and Validation (V&V) activities are becoming everyday more complex and time consuming as vehicles complexity increase. HiL techniques coupled with fully physical models can dramatically reduce time and cost of ECU Development, moving V&V activities much earlier in the Vcycle without the need of prototype builds and expensive experimental testing.

In this context, we are thrilled to announce that PWT and Diesel Emission Control Ltd. have now completed a joint project to bring HiL verification and validation techniques to off-road heavy duty retrofit ECUs.

Exploiting the physical based GT-SUITE modelling platform, an engine model (plant) was developed to fully reproduce all the thermo-fluid-mechanics phenomena taking place in a Diesel engine. The model was then coupled with a Simulink interface taking care of I/O signals routing and engine management (ECU was designed to control aftertreatment and EGR).

PWT and DEC setup a HiL application running on the state-of-the-art PWT HiL rig (dSPACE SCALEXIO based) emulating both analog, digital and CAN-BUS signals. The system is fully representative of a virtual test rig DEC can use to develop, verify and validate, and even pre-calibrate their new software, shortening time to market and cutting development costs.