www.opal-rt.com

Next-Generation HIL Design Tools for Next-Generation Vehicles

June 2005

Jean Bélanger , CEO

Opal-RT Technologies Inc

Montréal, Québec, Canada

www.opal-rt.com

ELECTRONIC PLATFORMS AND ON-BOARD SYSTEMS ON SMART VEHICLES: DEALING WITH INFORMATION IN "REAL TIME"

www.opal-rt.com

Opal-RT in Brief

• Established in 1997• RT-LAB: Real-Time Simulation Platform for

Simulink™ and SystemBuild™– Hardware in the Loop for Demanding Simulations– Distributed, Parallel Processing using Off-the-Shelf

Technologies – PC, FireWire, QNX, NI, FPGA etc– Scalable Power for the most complex dynamic models– Comprehensive API for on-line tools for visualization and

interaction, eg LabVIEW™

• 50 Employees• Over 200 Customers Worldwide…

www.opal-rt.com

Core Markets & Main Customers

Automotive• GM, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Peugeot, Audi/VW• Tier 1: Delphi Delco, Bosch, Visteon, Allison

Transmission

Electrical & Power Electronic Systems• GE, ABB, Hydro-Quebec, Mitsubishi Electric etc

Academic Research and Education• US: MIT, Berkeley, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas (UT

and A&M) etc etc.• Canada: Windsor, Waterloo, Alberta, UQ (AM, TR, AC),

Ecole Polytechnique, ETS, McGill etc etc.

www.opal-rt.com

• Technology Convergence in the Automotive Industry

• Modularization of Electro/Hydraulic/Mechanical Systems

• The Challenges arising from increased in-vehicle

electronics

• Simulation, Testing and Validation Process and the Tool

Chain to support it

• Challenges and Opportunities for the Canadian

Automotive Industry

Outline

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“Electronics represent more than 20% of an average vehicle's value. Since the majority of new automotive technologies being developed are electronic, this percentage is projected to double by the year 2010.”

Delphi Electronics, 2003

“Electronics represent more than 20% of an average vehicle's value. Since the majority of new automotive technologies being developed are electronic, this percentage is projected to double by the year 2010.”

Delphi Electronics, 2003

Technology and Market Convergence

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Technology and Market Convergence

www.opal-rt.com

“The global automotive semiconductor market will grow from a value of $12.3 billion in 2002, to just over $17 billion by 2007. The largest target application for automotive silicon is body and chassis control, which includes electronic traction, suspension and stability control systems. This segment commands approximately 26% of the automotive semiconductor market and will be worth $4.4 billion in 2007.”

ABI Research, 2002

“The global automotive semiconductor market will grow from a value of $12.3 billion in 2002, to just over $17 billion by 2007. The largest target application for automotive silicon is body and chassis control, which includes electronic traction, suspension and stability control systems. This segment commands approximately 26% of the automotive semiconductor market and will be worth $4.4 billion in 2007.”

ABI Research, 2002

Technology and Market Convergence

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2002 Total: $12.3 billion 2007 Total: $17 billion

50% = $8.5bn50% = $8.5bn

Technology and Market Convergence

www.opal-rt.com

Automotive System Modularization

System Modularization drives the need for standard dynamic components and control systems across vehicle platforms. Software determines system behavior and how the components interact with each other

Motorola (paraphrased from AEI Magazine)

•Engine Control•Transmission Control•Active Suspension•Active Camber•Traction Control•Stability Control•Power Steering•ABS

•“X-by-Wire”

•Electric Drives•Energy Generation•Energy Storage

www.opal-rt.com

Example: Electric Power Steering

www.opal-rt.com

CONTROLLER.exe has caused a fatal error. If the problem continues, please contact your vendor.

Press Ctrl, Alt, Del to restart

Power Steering Error

More Electronics = More Software!

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System complexity will dramatically increase with

– The number of interconnected controllers

– software functionality

– Number of engineering teams

Complexity will increase even more with the introduction of fuel-cell and hybrid-

electric vehicles

Safety margin will decrease

The total cost of failure will increase dramatically

User tolerance to failure will decrease

System will need to be designed for testability

Challenges

“Our ability to design

complex systems currently

exceeds our ability to test

these systems…”

Opal-RT Customer, GM

“Our ability to design

complex systems currently

exceeds our ability to test

these systems…”

Opal-RT Customer, GM

How do we develop testing strategies to assess the reliability and

safety of complex electro/mechanical/hydraulic systems while

maintaining, or even reducing, costs?

www.opal-rt.com

“Virtual” Prototyping through simulation will play an increasingly key role in system design, commissioning and test. Automotive and electrical system manufacturers will increase the use of simulation

to reduce time-to-market and R&D cost

and to increase end-user functionality, quality, safety and reliability

Connection to real components through Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Testing is critical to this strategy

Validation of controller before integrating into the prototype vehicle reduces errors and costs

Validation of model against the real thing improves the whole process, dramatically reducing development cycles and time-to-market

Solutions

This process is now well

defined and widely adopted…

This process is now well

defined and widely adopted…

www.opal-rt.com

Valid

atio

n and In

tegra

tion

Design and Development

THE ‘V’ DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

MaintenancePlant commissioning

Deploy (Production)

Test track in-vehiclecalibration(commissioning)

Lab TestingTest cellsWith actual controller

DesignStructural (CAD)Dynamics

ValidateFEAOff-line Simulation

Virtual PrototypeHIL, Real-Time SimulationVisualization

Highly iterative process

Control Prototype Physical ComponentsRT Simulation+ HIL

ImplementationProduction CodePrototype Component

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THE ‘V’ DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Engine

Transmission

Braking

Power Steering

Complete Vehicle

Multiple Concurrent Development Teams

Multiple Concurrent Development Teams

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RT-LAB Engineering Simulator

Control System Design Tool Chain

Design Specification & Requirements Definition

Plant Simulation “Virtual Prototype”

Controller Prototyping

Hand-Coding or Automatic Code Generation… Production

Code

Production & QualityControl

Controller Integration, Tuning, Calibration

Controller Unit (ECU)Test

PC/1043rd-Party I/OFPGA I/OSignal Conditioning Specialized Interfaces (CAN, Flexwire, MOST etc)

Hardware

in the

Loop

ECU Memory Interface

RT-LAB Simulation Server

RT-LAB Rapid Prototyping Controllers

Des

ign

& D

evel

op

men

t

Val

idat

ion

& I

nte

gra

tio

n

HILBOX:

RT-LAB MULTI-ECU SIMULATION CLUSTER

RT-LAB MULTI-ECU SIMULATION CLUSTER

mSTACK In-vehicle processor

RT-LAB TestDrive

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RT-LAB™ Engineering Simulators

From subsystem simulation…Each engineer with his/her own simulator

Engine

Transmission

Vehicle Dynamics Body Electronics

Hardware in the Loop

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RT-LAB™ Engineering Simulators

Engine

Transmission

Vehicle Dynamics Body Electronics

Hardware in the Loop

…to virtual system integration Subsystem simulations come together into one simulator

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Challenge for Canada

Can we afford to be left out of this market?

Can we afford to be left out of this market?

• Strategists must not lose sight of the growing trend towards the use of in-vehicle electronics, particularly for vehicle control – a $8.5bn US market by 2007

• It will be critical to develop an automotive industry strategy that includes the ability to design and test advanced embedded car electronics for this market

• If Canada doesn’t act now, emerging countries like India and China will soon compete through their low-cost, highly educated workforce, and rapidly developing R&D capability

www.opal-rt.com

Recommendation

1) collaborating with major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers on new product development and testing

2) attracting major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to carry out some of their R&D in world-class Canadian facilities

3) developing our own expertise through special projects, funded by Canadian partners, independently of OEMs, if necessary

Increase our expertise in all aspects of automotive software development, testing and implementation by

For Example…For Example…

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Facility allows manufacturers to “road-test” new or modified vehicle components without a specialized test vehicle.

Dramatically reduces costs (at least $500k per test vehicle eliminated)

Automated, repeatable tests

Climatic extremes without driving to the Arctic or Arizona

Example: Virtual Vehicle Test Cell Facility

Photos courtesy Southwest Research Institute

The World’s First Virtual Vehicle Test Cell opened in September 2002 at SwRI, San Antonio, Texas

It is now fully booked for the next three years and work has begun on a second facility

Other automotive research organizations are now planning their own facilities around our technologies

www.opal-rt.com

Virtual Vehicle Test Cell Facility: How it Works

Using a Model-based approach means that component models that were developed at the design stage by different groups or suppliers can now be incorporated into an RT-LAB Engineering Simulator in the Test Cell

Virtual components

Real components

RoadLoad

(Test Track)

Driveline(Tires, suspension,

driveshaft)

Trans-mission

Engine ECU

Driver/Road Course

Photos courtesy Southwest Research Institute

www.opal-rt.com

Dyna-mometer

ElectricMotor

As the test component becomes available from the manufacturer, it can be readily connected to the simulator via low-inertia dynamometers, bypassing the virtual component. This provides extremely high-fidelity simulation of the engine and test-track loads on the component, and allows the test program to commence with minimal delay

Transmission

Virtual components

Real components

RoadLoad

(Test Track)

Driveline(Tires, suspension,

driveshaft)

Trans-mission

Engine ECU

Driver/Road Course

Photos courtesy Southwest Research Institute

Virtual Vehicle Test Cell Facility: How it Works

www.opal-rt.com

Virtual components

Real components

RoadLoad

(Test Track)

Driveline(Tires, suspension,

driveshaft)

Trans-mission

Engine ECU

Driver/Road Course

Dyna-mometer

ElectricMotor

Transmission

As the test component becomes available from the manufacturer, it can be readily connected to the simulator via low-inertia dynamometers, bypassing the virtual component. This provides extremely high-fidelity simulation of the engine and test-track loads on the component, and allows the test program to commence with minimal delay

Photos courtesy Southwest Research Institute

Virtual Vehicle Test Cell Facility: How it Works

www.opal-rt.com

Summary

• Vehicular electronics is a rapidly growing market, particularly in Body & Chassis, and Powertrain Control

• Demand for active electro/mechanical/hydraulic systems will drive the demand for more research into control development and integration

• An $8.5bn market cannot be ignored and we need to plan for success in this market now

• As an industrial region with all the right skills, Canada is well placed to become a leader in research in this area

www.opal-rt.com

Final Message

• Professional-grade tools for ECU development and testing are already available and are being used by the major automotive players

• Canada has a ready supplier of the right tools to facilitate the development process and help build the required R&D facilities to service this market

Don’t build the hammer, build the house!

Don’t build the hammer, build the house!

Thank you