Development and model-based transparency analysis of an Internet-distributed hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform

• Published in: Mechatronics (Oxford) Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 22 - 29
• Main Authors: Ersal, Tulga, Brudnak, Mark, Salvi, Ashwin, Stein, Jeffrey L., Filipi, Zoran, Fathy, Hosam K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Automotive components; Computer aided design; Computer science; control theory; systems; Computer simulation; Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface; Control theory. Systems; Delay; Dispersion; Exact sciences and technology; Hardware; Hardware-in-the-loop simulation; Internet; Internet-distributed simulation; Mechanical engineering. Machine design; Modelling and identification; Platforms; Real-time hardware-in-the-loop simulation; Software; Transparency; Transparency; Real-time hardware-in-the-loop simulation; Internet-distributed simulation; Fidelity; Motor car; Engine test; Distributed computing; Delay; Vehicle driver; Systems engineering; Concurrency; Observer; System identification; Computer aided design; Computer simulation; Hardware in the loop simulation; Neural network; Distributed system; Experimental study; Real time; Real time system; Engineering design; Integrated design; Concurrent engineering; Internet; Infeasibility
• ISSN: 0957-4158; 1873-4006
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2010.08.002

► The development an observer-free ID-HILS framework for a powertrain application. ► Experimental implementation of the framework, integrating a driver-in-the-loop setup in Warren, MI, with an engine-in-the-loop setup in Ann Arbor, MI, over the Internet. ► Model-based analysis of transparency of the setup. ► Establishing that different output signals can experience transparency to different degrees. This paper summarizes efforts to integrate, for the first time, two geographically dispersed hardware-in-the-loop simulation setups over the Internet in an observer-free way for an automotive application. The two setups are the engine-in-the-loop simulation setup at the University of Michigan (UM) in Ann Arbor, MI, USA, and the driver-in-the-loop ride motion simulator at the US Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren, MI, USA. The goal of such integration is to increase the fidelity of experiments and to enable concurrent geographically dispersed systems engineering. First, experiments with the actual hardware are presented. The concept of transparency is discussed, and the infeasibility of performing a baseline experiment with ideally integrated hardware is presented as a challenge to characterize the transparency of the experimental setup. This motivates the second half of the paper, in which a model-based approach is taken to analyze the transparency of the system. The conclusion is that an observer-free solution is feasible for integrating the two pieces of hardware over the Internet in a transparent manner, even if the nominal delay is increased by four times. It is also found that different signals in the system can exhibit different levels of transparency.