Processor-in-the-loop simulation, real-time hardware-in-the-loop testing, and hardware validation of a digitally-controlled, fuel-cell powered battery-charging station

The fuel-cell powered battery-charging station provides an appealing solution to charging many batteries in remote missions. Final construction of such a complex system may be costly while traditional simulation is often insufficient to exactly capture the control dynamics. One way to bridge the gap between simulation and final system construction are processor-in-the-loop (PIL) and real-time hardware-in-the-loop (RT-HIL) simulations. This solution increases the realism of the simulation and provides access to hardware features that are currently not available in the software-only simulation. This work presents approaches and results of PIL and realtime HIL simulations as well as hardware validation of embedded control implementation of the fuel-cell powered battery-charging station. The control algorithm is described and the embedded control implementation is proposed. The control algorithm implemented on a dedicated microcontroller is first tested together with the plant model built in the VTB environment through PIL simulation, then tested using the same plant model on an RT-HIL simulation (RTVTB), and finally validated on the actual hardware. Results of PIL, RT-HIL, and hardware validation are given.