HIL Simulation

Our digital twins are simulation models that mimic real machines. We apply physics and use measurement data from other machines to make our simulation models behave exactly as the real machine. And we are experts in letting these models run in real-time. This allows us to couple our digital twins to external control software. This is called Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation.

With HIL simulation only the physical part of a digital twin is used. The inputs (actuator setpoints) and outputs (sensor data) are coupled to a PLC running the control software. This allows you to test the control software without the need of a real machine.

VSE - HIL Simulation

What is HIL testing?

Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation is a technique that is used for testing control systems. Carrying out a HIL simulation to test a control system is called HIL testing.

The machine or physical part of the system (which we call the plant) is normally connected with the control system, through actuators and sensors. With HIL testing the plant is replaced by a simulation of the plant (which we call the HIL simulator). If the HIL simulator is designed well, it will accurately mimic the plant, and can be used to test the control system. Some HIL simulators are equipped with 3D visualization and represent the plant so well that they can be used for training. These HIL simulators are called training simulators.

PLCs for HIL Simulation

Windows is a not a real-time operating system. With special care it can be used for general purpose HIL simulators. In some cases this is not good enough:

  • The control system runs at high speeds ( > 100 Hz).
  • The plant model only runs well at high simulation speeds.
  • Too much jitter (time delay between control system and plantmodel) will make the system unstable.

Controllab can provide a HIL simulator based on a PC with Real-Time Linux, which allows communication with a fieldbus at high speeds (> 5 kHz) and has low jitter (< 0.1 ms).

The Bachmann M1 PLC supports the running of ANSI C-code. Users of this PLC have the option to run the plant model as C-code directly on the controller. The plant model can be connected with the control system by sharing SVI variables. This allows direct testing of the control system without additional hardware.

 

  • Siemens S7
  • Siemens S7-150
  • Beckhoff
  • Raspberry PI
Controllab - Digital Twin
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