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TRANSCRIPT
Hello and welcome to the Signals and Interfacesmodule.
In this first lesson, we will introduce Controller-Hardware-in-the-loop,or C-HIL simulation as a development and testing
strategy.
We will also look at how it can be implementedin the Typhoon HIL toolchain.
C-HIL is a development and testing frameworkwhere a real, physical controller is interfaced
with a high-fidelity plant model that is emulatedin real time.
With this setup, the controller is unawarethat it is interacting with an emulated system,
and it operates in response to plant conditionsprecisely as it would in a real system.
The primary purpose of the C-HIL approachis to reduce development risk and speed up
the development and validation of controllerhardware, firmware, and software by enabling
efficient and safe high-fidelity testing.
These tests can cover a wide range of operatingconditions, including hazardous cases such
as fault conditions in both power and controlsystems.
In short, the C-HIL approach lets you performhigh-fidelity tests of your controller hardware
with increased safety, flexibility, expandability,and a lower maintenance cost.
Additionally, C-HIL lets you benefit fromtest automation and test-driven development
capabilities.
Let s take a closer look at this concept.
The left side of the illustration representsa real controller connected to a real power
plant, while the right side represents theC-HIL environment.
When transitioning from a real system to aC-HIL system, we can see that the controller
remains the same, while the power stage isnow modelled and simulated in real-time using
a HIL device.
On the right side, we can see that there are3 main parts of a C-HIL system: the real controller,
which in this case is the device under test,the real-time simulator, and the interface.
In the first video of the HIL Fundamentalscourse, we have shown what a typical C-HIL
setup looks like.
Let s review this now.
In this example, we have a Texas Instrumentscontroller connected to a HIL device.
The interface used is the HIL TI LaunchpadInterface board.
Analog and Digital IOs of the controller areconnected to the HIL device through DIN connectors.
The USB cable you see is intended to be usedfor communication between the controller and
your PC.
Setting up a C-HIL system is done in threemain steps: the first step involves building
and validating the model of the power stagein real time.
This step includes setting and validatingall model parameters, without connecting the
device under test.
The second step is to use a proper interfaceto physically connect the controller to the
real-time simulator.
In our example, this is done by mounting theTexas Instruments Launchpad to Typhoon HIL
s Launchpad interface board, both of whichare available off-the-shelf.
Let s see an example of how this is done;we will cover this same example in more hands-on
way in the HIL for Power Electronics course.
Before mounting the Launchpad in the interfaceboard, make sure that the connectors of the
Launchpad are well aligned with the pins onthe interface card.
This should be done carefully, as mountingincorrectly can cause the pins on the interface
card to bend.
Once you successfully mount the Launchpadto the interface board, connect the analog
and digital connectors of the interface tothe HIL device.
The easiest way to do that is to start onone side, and then the other, as shown here.
Now that the interface card is successfullyconnected to the HIL device, let's plug the
USB cable into the Launchpad DSP.
Here you can see how the Launchpad isThe third step of the setup is to adjust the
model settings related to the interface, linkingthe variables in the model to their respective
physical connections.
In power electronics applications, this usuallyinvolves linking the gate drive signals provided
as digital inputs of the HIL device to theconverter switches in the model, as well as
setting the HIL device analog outputs accordingto the feedback signals required by the controller.
In the next videos, we will go more in depthabout these settings, and how they can be
configured in the Typhoon HIL toolchain.
