Real World Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulator in Automotive

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What is hardware-in-the-loop and how does it work?

As new software features for embedded hardware are developed, they must be tested together with all the other functions to make sure that nothing has been damaged during the process.

In the Automotive Industry, where the updates are very frequent, regression tests often mean high costs and a lot of time.

When the new software for an ECU must be released, it can be tested by using a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) device.

Hardware-in-the-loop Testing

Real World Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulator is a tool which has the capability to trick your system into ‘believing’ that it is receiving real-world inputs in real-time.

By connecting the DUT (device under test) to the HIL device, testers are able to provide a wide range of realistic signals (simulating different scenarios) as inputs, resulting in:

Cost savings: the inputs are fed quickly, and the outputs are readily registered. The same HIL hardware can be re-configured for re-use for other projects as well.
Higher accuracy: the signals are produced by a real hardware simulating real-life scenarios, providing accurate and valuable information about the performance of the embedded system.
Easier error tracking (error isolation): the output of the DUT can easily be matched with the related input signal for an insightful analysis of results: HIL testing allows to create an environment where the ECU is the only variable
Continuous and fully automated test.