- Home
- Products
- Our Solutions For ...
- Electric Drive Technology
Developing and testing electronic control units
Application Areas of Electric MotorsIn automotive applications, electric drives are increasingly being incorporated into several complex, basic, and safety-relevant vehicle functions. Some examples of automotive applications are
- Electric steering systems
- Powertrain actuators
- Starter-generator systems
- Electric vehicle
- Mild/full-hybrid systems
- Electric brake system
- Electric window lifter
- Auxiliary aggregates: Oil pump, water pump, etc.
Other applications include:
- Wind energy converter
- Electric trains
- Printing machine
- Roller mill for cold and warm roll forming
- Zinc coating plant (headway and drive control)
- Artificial respirator
- Magnetic resonance tomography
- Bipedal walking robot
Developing with Rapid Prototyping
The dSPACE MicroAutoBox or the AutoBox substitute any ECU and its connections to the vehicle during the development process.
The Right Solution for All Applications
The application areas of electrical drives are many and varied. Their ECU functions are just as complex and versatile. Whether you are developing ECU functions for the engine, gear, vehicle dynamics, airbags, comfort systems, or any other applications, you will find just the prototyping system you need in dSPACE’s comprehensive range of hardware and software products. dSPACE prototyping systems provide flexible, model-based development environments. They consist of a dSPACE MicroAutoBox or a dSPACE AutoBox, and if required, dSPACE RapidPro. Due to their compact size they can be installed in the vehicle for really realistic tests. You can optimize your function designs on the test bench or in the actual vehicle, until they meet the requirements – all without having to do any programming. Design faults are found immediately and can be corrected on-the-spot.
Implementation
New functions for an ECU are typically developed in MATLAB®/Simulink®/Stateflow®. Real-Time Interface (RTI) is the link between this development software and the dSPACE hardware. It automatically implements the MATLAB/Simulink/Stateflow model on the dSPACE MicroAutoBox or the modular hardware. If function modifications are necessary during the tests, you can simply correct a function in Simulink and flash it to the hardware again.
Access to Sensors and Actuators
dSPACE RapidPro acts as an extension to the dSPACE prototyping system for accessing an ECU’s various sensors and actuators. The following types are available:
- RapidPro SC Unit (signal conditioning unit)
- RapidPro Power Unit (power stage unit)
- RapidPro Control Unit ( with MPC565 as an intelligent I/O subsystem)
Solutions for Electrical Drives Applications
The RapidPro hardware acts as an extension to a dSPACE prototyping system. For applications with electrical drives and valves, there are half-bridge and full-bridge modules which can deliver peak currents of up to 60 A. The RapidPro module for the universal control of brushless electric motors1) provides special support, for example, for electrifying auxiliary aggregates.
1) As of March 2009, the new module will be launched in 2009. For information about the release date, please see releases
In-Vehicle Prototyping
You can modify parameters online, read look-up tables, and capture data during test drives. CalDesk is an experiment environment for function prototyping, calibration, and more. It is optimized for use in a vehicle, and you can perform various tasks such as function prototyping, calibration, measurement and data analysis in a single tool.
Fullpassing and Bypassing
If you want to develop a whole new ECU, the prototyping system ideally completely replaces the ECU. This method is called "fullpassing". However, new functions for electrical motors often have to be integrated into existing ECUs. Then only the new functions run on the prototyping system, while unchanged algorithms stay on the ECU. This method is called "bypassing".
Fullpassing: Using a Prototyping System as a Flexible Experimental ECU
If a new ECU or a new set of control functions has to be developed from scratch, quick trials have to be run at an early stage to verify the correctness of the control strategy. Producing an application-specific prototype ECU would be expensive, time-consuming and inflexible. Instead, developers can use a powerful off-the-shelf dSPACE prototyping system as an experimental ECU. dSPACE prototyping systems offer plenty of computing power and memory, and maximum flexibility.
Bypassing: New Functions for Existing Controllers
dSPACE prototyping systems are ideal for developing new functions for existing ECUs or for previous or prototype versions of ECUs. The functions are implemented on the dSPACE prototyping system, while the ECU executes the existing code and takes care of input/output. Complex ECUs and short development cycles often do not allow all the software functions for new ECU generations to be developed from scratch. In these cases, existing code can simply be adapted and extended by this method, which is known as “bypassing”. The communication between the ECU and the prototyping system runs via dedicated ECU interfaces, and task execution on the two systems is synchronized. Sensors and actuators are interfaced via the existing harness of the ECU, and only the I/O which is additionally required needs to be connected to the prototyping system. The bypass technology of the dSPACE prototyping systems can be used on almost any ECU processor.
Testing with Hardware-
in-the-Loop Simulation
in-the-Loop Simulation
Advantages of HIL SimulationAfter the ECU functions have been developed and implemented on the production ECU, they have to be tested thor-oughly. With hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation, you can easily cover all the different motor varieties and their ECUs. The ECU’s environment, for example, interacting components or the whole system, is simulated. This has several advantages:
- Function tests are possible at an early development stage, even before all parts are available in reality.
- Laboratory tests reduce time and cost and take place under controlled conditions.
- Failures, and the ECU’s behavior in what are normally dangerous situations, can be tested with no risk for the driver.
- The tests are reproducible and can be automated.
Electrical motors in automotive applications have been getting more and more powerful. The conventional brushed direct current (BDC) motors were replaced by brushless direct current (BLDC) motors. The ECUs controlling the electric motors provide the actuation power directly. This is unlike other applications, where thermodynamic or hydraulic power is controlled by means of low auxiliary power coming from the ECU. Like every other ECU in the vehicle, the ECUs for controlling electric motors have to be tested through and through. They are often incorporated into complex and distributed vehicle functions, so it is essential to test their interaction with other ECUs. Special solutions are needed for interfacing the ECU.
- High power level
- High dynamics
- Special I/O, for example for encoders and resolvers
An ECU or other system for controlling electrical motors can be accessed by the HIL simulator at different levels. Which interface to use depends on the testing purpose and project conditions.
- Signal level: Simulation of the power electronics, the electrical motor, and the mechanical environment
- Very scalable, as the parameters can be set up flexibly regardless of the power level
- Full access to the model
- Opened ECU is needed
- Electric power level: Simulation of the electric motor and the mechanical vehicle environment
- Production ECU can be used
- Full access to the model
- Motor parameters can be set flexibly within a certain power range
- Mechanical level: Simulation of the mechanical vehicle environment
- Testing of mechanical parts