HIL simulation of a self-stabilizing monorail vehicle

Currently, numerous single-track railway lines are disused due to economic reasons. However, one way they could be reactivated for a bidirectional on-demand service traffic by small vehicles that use only one rail. MonoCabs are such small cabin-like vehicles, stabilized by a system of control moment gyroscopes and a trim mass. They could make an important contribution to improve the mobility offer especially in rural areas. Regarding the MonoCab, there is currently no reference in comparison with other vehicles and no experimental experience or the like. To ensure the function and safety of the vehicle even before implementation, a model-based design of the system is carried out for development and analysis. In order to test the developed algorithms, this paper presents a Hardware-in-the-loop structure considering a detailed model of the vehicle and real electronic control units to accurately represent the overall system. Two scenarios are investigated and compared to offline simulations showing that the functionality of the system can be ensured in operation.