Technical Articles

Third-Party Products - Rapid Prototyping and Hardware-in-the-Loop Systems


Third-party solutions integrate Simulink® models with real-time systems for design and verification. Rapid prototyping systems help engineers optimize designs by connecting models to actual devices or prototypes and running them in real time. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) systems help them validate controllers by simulating the system without using physical prototypes. Some third-party solutions provide real-time hardware for xPC Target™ for use across a range of industries. Others address the specific demands of automotive and aerospace applications.

Speedgoat real-time target machines

Speedgoat specializes in real-time testing solutions optimized for Simulink and xPC Target. Products include hardware for xPC Target Turnkey, a complete real-time testing solution that combines xPC Target with high-performance real-time target machines and I/O modules. Speedgoat target machines and I/O modules meet a wide range of performance, I/O connectivity, form factor, and environmental requirements and support a broad spectrum of applications and industries.


ETAS® LABCAR

The LABCAR HIL system provides a virtual test environment for automotive ECUs, enabling developers to test their designs under realistic operating and fault conditions and under improbable or dangerous states. LABCAR is an open, PC-based platform with integrated, modular hardware options and extensible Simulink models for vehicle dynamics and subsystems, including diesel and gasoline engines, electric motors, transmissions, and brakes. Integrated software components, including an operator-centric view and calibration tools, expand these capabilities.


dSPACE® Simulator

dSPACE Simulator is a modular HIL system that lets engineers test automotive electronic control units (ECUs) and software in a virtual environment without using actual vehicles or prototypes. Engineers can run their Simulink or SimDriveline™ models on the HIL system by generating code using Simulink Coder™ . dSPACE also offers integrated Automotive Simulation Models, specialized Simulink models for diesel engines, gasoline engines, vehicle dynamics, and other automotive applications. dSPACE offers a variety of modular hardware systems for HIL, such as the dSPACE Full-Size and SCALEXIO systems, as well as many I/O options.


Concurrent Computer SIMulation Workbench

SIMulation Workbench (SimWB) is a framework for developing and executing complex HIL simulations. SimWB lets developers interactively configure, control, log, and play back simulation runs. Simulink models and generated code can be imported directly into SimWB. Model parameters can be extracted from the code and updated in real time. SimWB runs on Concurrent iHawk™ COTS multicore platforms running RedHawk™ Linux®. SimWB supports a wide range of COTS I/O boards for popular industry protocols, such as ARINC 429, MIL-STD-1553, Flexray, and CANbus.

Published 2011