Cost-effective microcontroller-based hardware-in-the-loop test equipment for testing vehicle instrument panel

In this paper, a cost-effective design is introduced due to high expenditure of purchasing the Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL). A Vehicle Instrument Panel (VIP) will be assigned as the Device-Under-Test (DUT) for this project. The HIL will simulate the assigned input signals controllable via designed Graphical User Interface (GUI). The resulting display is shown on the DUT and the speedometer gauge measurement is within the tolerance of the pre-determined specification of the DUT. It is also shown that only a very minimal cost is incurred to realize this project.