FPGA-in-the-Loop for Control Emulation of Distributed MEMS Simulation Using VHDL-AMS

In this work, we investigate in a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) approach to solve the problems and opportunities created by the control of large numbers (hundreds to thousands) of MEMS sensors and actuators. Using HiL simulation, one or several devices of the system are used instead of their simulated models. HiL simulation is supposed to achieve a highly realistic simulation of equipment in an operational virtual environment. In this paper, we study the capacity of a FPGA component to compute a decentralized control strategy of a contact less micromanipulateur based on distributed pneumatique MEMS. We couple a VHDL-AMS behavioral model of the DMASM device with a FPGA-based real hardware element. To validate our approach, we are able to run the FPGA-based control algorithm by emulation from a simulated model of 5 × 5 cells. Simulation and hardware results are presented using a graphic interface with digital input and output nodes to perform the control emulation.