Development of hardware-in-the-loop simulation system for testing multiple ABS and TCS modules

Abstract

Vehicle tests for evaluating performance of vehicle control devices are often time consuming, expensive, and not reproducible. The hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) is promising on this matter since it provides time- and cost-effective ways of vehicle testing with repeatability. In this research, a HILS system has been developed to test commercial ABS and TCS units. The system has been designed to accommodate multiple ABS/TCS modules simultaneously in order to facilitate performance comparison between different ABS/TCS modules. To enhance the validity of the HILS results, CarSim has been used to generate a reliable vehicle model. The cockpit of the HILS system has been designed to be similar to that of an actual vehicle to provide a realistic environment for the operator. The HILS system has been tested with two ABS modules and one TCS module. For the same test conditions, actual vehicle tests have been performed to validate reliability of the HILS system.