Design of configurable DC motor power-hardware-in-the-loop emulator for electronic-control-unit testing

Using Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) or extended Power-Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) tools is crucial in rapid prototyping of electronic devices used in automotive or aerospace applications. Flexible tool for Electronic-Control-Units (ECU) testing enables user to test control algorithms during development or ECU quality check in manufacturing process. This paper is concentrated on design of cost-effective PHIL device, which will replace real DC motor component in the ECU testing chain. To obtain high quality substitute of the real DC motor it is necessary to create Real-Time model, which simulates characteristic behaviour of the real DC motor, like a motor/generator mode, friction modelling, current ripple caused by commutator, etc. Function is demonstrated on a fuel pump module where real DC motor is replaced with the PHIL Real-Time simulator.