Faster hardware-in-the-loop testing!

ETAS K.K. and Maplesoft has announced the successful connection between LABCAR, the hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing system from ETAS, and MapleSim, the advanced system level modeling tool from Maplesoft. Initial projects have shown that using MapleSim models resulted in more than 15 times faster implementation compared to other similar products.

LABCAR is an HIL testing system for automotive electronic control units (ECUs). With its open and modular system architecture for simulation models, software, hardware, and test automation, and its time-synchronous ECU access, LABCAR is easily scalable and well suited for integration with third-party hardware, software, or simulation models. MapleSim offers a modern approach to physical modeling and simulation, dramatically reducing model development and analysis time while producing fast, high-fidelity simulations.

MapleSim includes the ability to export models to a variety of formats, including the Functional Mockup Interface (FMI). FMI is an industry standard for model definition, designed to facilitate the sharing of models across different tool sets for co-simulation and model exchange. Since LABCAR supports the FMI standard, engineers can incorporate their MapleSim models directly into their LABCAR testing environment. Engineers also have the ability to export MapleSim models as Simulink® S-functions, and incorporate them in the LABCAR testing environment. In these ways, LABCAR users can take advantage of the extremely fast, high fidelity simulation code produced by MapleSim when testing their electronic control units.

The seamless integration of MapleSim models into the LABCAR HIL environment significantly increases productivity for LABCAR customers. Typically, models developed early in the design phase must be modified, by hand, before they can be used in the HIL test and validation phase, in order to make them fast enough for use in a real time testing environment. However, MapleSim’s unique technology produces extremely fast simulation code, without sacrificing model fidelity. As a result, engineers can use the same models in both phases of the project, saving them time and giving them highly accurate simulation results.

“Everyone benefits when companies like ETAS and Maplesoft support the FMI standard for model exchange and co-simulation,” says Dr. Laurent Bernardin, Executive Vice-President and Chief Scientist at Maplesoft. “The seamless integration of MapleSim models in LABCAR makes it easy for engineers to leverage the strengths of both tools, without having to spend time trying to manually make the tools connect.”

“Our goal is to give engineers a flexible, effective testing environment, and MapleSim with FMI connectivity helps us do that,” says Dr. Tobias Kreuizinger, Senior Manager for Test & Validation Solutions. “The combination of the high performance LABCAR environment with extremely fast, high-fidelity MapleSim models means engineers can perform even better testing of their control and diagnostic functions in less time than ever before.”