Hardware-in-the-Loop approach to controller design and testing of motion control systems using xPC Target

Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) has been a proven technique, widely used in the development and testing of real-time embedded systems, especially in the automotive industry. This paper describes the development of a HiL simulation platform for motion control systems, demonstrated with an example of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) control system development and testing. The platform uses industry graded hardware, i.e. Mitsubishi IGBT driver, high performance SEM PMSM motor, etc. as well as various measurement sensors and associated electronics. Here, the platform main computational core is implemented using xPC Target platform which enables rapid validation, prototyping and deployment of tested control modules via Matlab and Simulink.