Multi-domain real-time simulation of a hybrid bus

The use of real-time simulation for integration-testing of multiple controllers for complex mechatronic systems has become standard practice. Complex mechatronic systems are comprised of several subsystems that require multi-domain modeling, for example, mechanical, hydraulic and electrical subsystems interacting with each other. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing is commonly used to ensure that the controllers for these subsystems perform reliably and optimally. However, different modeling tools may be used to develop HIL simulation models for each domain. In this paper, multi-domain real-time simulation on an OPAL-RT platform using two well-known modeling software packages, namely AMESim and Simulink, is described, using a hybrid-bus as a case-study.