Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) driving simulators are increasingly adopted in vehicle development to improve efficiency, flexibility, and repeatability across the product life cycle.

Their implementation, however, remains challenging, as the integration of real vehicle components into simulation environments significantly increases system complexity and requires the coherent interaction of real hardware, actuation subsystems, and numerical models representing non-physical components.

This paper addresses these challenges through the development of a remotely controlled HiL test rig for the braking system, focusing on its integration with a driver’s station in a driving simulator.

The role of braking systems within HiL simulators is first discussed, highlighting their relevance for early development, debugging, and calibration activities.

An exemplary development pipeline is then presented, introducing a modular and scalable software architecture implemented in MATLAB/Simulink to manage remote brake actuation and force feedback.

The performance of the proposed actuation system is experimentally evaluated and discussed, including its integration with a commercial force-feedback device.

The results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed framework, showing concrete benefits in respect of development efficiency and industrial applicability.