EleMA: A reference simulation model architecture and interface standard for modeling and testing of electric vehicles

Abstract

Abstract In automotive development, simulation models are gaining significance, in particular in the early phases of verification and validation. According to the current state-of-the-art, there is no standardized simulation framework to achieve a seamless transition in the conception, implementation and integration of complex system simulations. In this paper, a reference simulation model architecture for electric vehicles is presented, which is proposed as a standard for real-time and non-real-time closed-loop simulations. The proposed Electric Modeling Architecture (EleMA) is intended as an extension of standardized model exchange formats by defining standardized, functional and signal-based interfaces of electric vehicle simulation models. It is designed independently of the utilized tool chain or exchange format of the simulation model components and enables their functional compatibility and exchangeability. Initially, an overview of standardized model exchange formats as well as the main design ideas of the proposed reference architecture are presented, followed by a short description of the applied specification methodology. EleMA provides all users a reference model including the contained components, a formalized description in the form of use case diagrams and a definition of the variant-independent component interfaces for each individual component. The implementation of simulation model components according to EleMA guarantees from an architectural point of view a functional compatibility of the elements on system level and thus improves reusability and exchangeability of simulation components. The last section demonstrates use cases to highlight the advantages of the reference architecture and quantifies the average effort reduction exemplary for one use case.