Enhance Quality

If HIL simulation is embedded in a model based design process, it can be used already during the early stages of design. The HIL simulator will grow with the design of the real plant and can be used by control engineers to continuously test their control systems. These test will reveal problems and errors that would otherwise have been detected at the final stages of a design where the control system and plant are integrated.

HIL simulation can be deeply embedded in the design process by test automation. Using scripts numerous tests can be carried out. The process can be fully automated by including it in the build system of the controller design. Every time a change is made to the control system software and the results are stored in SVN, the build system will compile a new version of the control system and use the HIL simulator to automatically test it. The control engineer will see the results as web pages or documents in any form. These test can verify if the control system still meets the specifications and check the response against failure modes. In this way, a control engineer gets an immediate response to the changes made on the control system software and make corrections if needed.

It has been verified in numerous research projects that the early detection of problems and errors and acting correspondingly will lead to a significant increase in the quality of machines and systems.