Modularity of a heater simulator and implementation in a prototype HIL-system

Abstract: The thesis is about a modular low budget prototype hardware-in-the-loop system for testing diesel heaters. A modular plant model of the heater has been developed using model-based development in Simulink. The model has been derived mathematically from tests and empirical investigations. C-code was generated from the plant model and implemented in a microcontroller. The microcontroller simulates the model and sends the data values to different sensor emulators so that the electrical control unit is tricked into thinking it is connected to a real heater.   The modularity is implemented in both software and hardware of the HILsystem. The plant model is modular by using different subsystems for the different parts of the heater. The hardware was also designed to be modular, in the form of ”fake” sensors that can be changed and also in the form of the different loads that represent the actuators, such as fan, in the heater. These loads can be changed is size depending on what is needed.   An important aspect was to have the HIL-rig as low budget as possible. The tests show that the HIL-rig is suffering from bad resolution on the temperature during higher temperatures. This is due to the fact that the digital potentiometer used had a fairly low resolution. This performance could be improved using potentiometers with a higher resolution, but it would increase the price.