ViL testing involves the integration of a physical vehicle or its subsystems with a virtual environment, allowing for the comprehensive testing of electronic control systems, software algorithms, and hardware components.
This methodology is instrumental in assessing the performance and interoperability of these systems in a controlled and repeatable setting.
In the second study, the EPS system of a production vehicle was reverse-engineered and the manufacturer control logic was by-passed without affecting the functionality of the other units.
By doing so, we were able to develop dedicated (proprietary) algorithms and master the dynamic behaviour of the vehicle in transient maneuvers.
A crucial aspect of the entire work consist in the fact that the whole development process has been executed on the real HW unit, but in a virtual environment (Hardware and Human in the Loop steering bench, HiLDyS test bench).
Once the development process was deemed complete, the vehicle has been involved in road tests and demonstrations like in the 2018 VI-grade USERS CONFERENCE and the MASA event.
The effectiveness of the system, in terms of collision avoidance and drift control manoeuvres, has hence been proved on a real environment (proving ground).
It is fundamental to highlight that no further tuning of the system turned out to be necessary, corroborating the extremely high level of accuracy these technologies can assure.
Exploiting vehicle functions with open-access components on a real vehicle
Rapid controls prototyping
Validation at vehicle level of cross-functional interactions
Introduction of real environment effects
Case study: MRP
Modular Research Platform is a flexible and versatile development tool to support research activities involving the need of developing a wide range of technical solutions, to be validated, integrated and provided often under short time to market.
MRP features: freedom in suspensions’ layout
MRP features: Corner Brake Actuator
MRP features: Corner-level Brake-by-Wire Actuator for control development
- Powertrain (inverters, motors, gearboxes…)
- Steering System (EPS, SbW, 4WS)
- Brake-by-Wire System
- Vehicle Control Unit (cooling, ventilation, vehicle dynamics…)
- Battery Management System
- Battery Charging Management
- LV System (single / redundant) and Electronic Power Distribution (EPDU)
- HV System plus safety measures (Interlock, IMD…)
- HMI
- Data Logging System
Case study: autonomous drift control
