Design and implementation of HIL simulators for powertrain control system software development

There is considerable interest in the automotive industry in computer aided engineering tools that support rapid development of quality products. We describe some of the design and implementation issues for such a tool, namely, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator, in the context of powertrain control system software development. This HIL system is used to verify the production powertrain controller module (PCM) performance. Hence, the powertrain and driveline dynamics are simulated on the HIL hardware and the production PCM is the "hardware" in the loop. HIL system requirements from the users' and the system developer's perspectives are described. The paper focuses on important HIL issues related to the real-time powertrain models and the hardware signal interfaces.