Hardware-in-the-loop simulation and its application in control education

This paper describes the concept of the "hardware-in-the-loop" design system implemented as an experimental part of a control engineering course. The concept of "hardware-in-the-loop" (HiL) method is to use a simulation model of the plant and the industrial standard target controller. The integrated analysis and simulation environment supports the design system. Hardware and software components of the HiL system are presented in the paper and an example of the laboratory exercise is described to give insight into the approach, which has been adopted.