Hardware-in-the-loop automated test system for vehicle instrument ECU

"It's very effective to use NI hardware and software to build HIL test systems for automotive industry products."

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Develop an automated test system for the on-board instrument electronic control unit (ECU) using NI LabVIEW software and PXI hardware.

The system can test multiple functions in the ECU.  

Automotive computerization is rapidly evolving and has become an integral part of improving automotive safety technology and carbon dioxide and NOx emission control technologies. The ECU with the microcontroller is the basis for computerization of the car, and its development determines the performance and driving comfort of the car.

  The development of in-vehicle control networks has followed this evolution. With the electric control mechanism called "X-by-Wire" gradually replacing the mechanical transmission mechanism, communication technologies such as LIN bus, CAN bus and FlexRay are causing Wide attention.  

At CalsonicKansei (Co., Ltd.), we established a testing, research and development center in Zhahang County, Japan, and extended our experimental equipment to the Sano Group in Japan. When we started to develop an automated test system for the on-board indicator (hereinafter referred to as the meter) ECU, we also worked with Peritec, which has strong capabilities in ECU testing.  

Five major challenges in developing on-board instrument ECUs  

Detach from the "operator in the ring test"

Because the error is more likely to occur in tests that are dominated by the operator and judged by visual observation (operator in the loop test), an automated test system is required. However, the meter is just a display unit and usually does not provide feedback during the test.  

Support a variety of instrument types

In the reliability assessment section, different types of meters must be tested. The position and presence of pointers, indicators and LCDs in each meter are different. In order to make our equipment versatile, we have to change the location of the image for each product. Overcoming this problem is the biggest challenge.  

High resolution image processing

In order to test the angle of the meter indicator and the display of the LCD, we must use a high frame rate and high resolution camera to capture the image before processing the image.  

Indicator test and buzzer test

We need to test the display of the indicator in the meter and the sound mode of the buzzer.  

Driving plan

We created a set of driving and user operations and performed actual vehicle driving simulations.

  Solve the challenges of our development

  Component hardware in the ring system

We use the NI PXI-7833R multifunction intelligent data acquisition card, PXI-4070 digital multimeter (DMM), PXI-5402 arbitrary function generator, PXI-8464 CAN interface, PXI-2569 universal switch module and PXI-6251 industrial digital I/ The O module was developed as a basic hardware to develop a PXI system. To replace the visual observation test (operator-in-the-loop test), we built a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) automotive test system with image acquisition (camera) capabilities and image processing and testing capabilities developed using NI LabVIEW.

  Support a variety of instrument types

To overcome the variability of different types of meters, we re-tested after installing a gantry that could move the camera position, conducted learning and preliminary testing before the test began, and created a test configuration file.

  High resolution image processing

To test the angle of the meter indicator and the display of the LCD, we moved the gantry to adjust the camera position so that the high resolution camera could capture the detail image. We use LabVIEW's image processing capabilities to capture and process images.  

Instrument test and buzzer test

For instrument testing, we used a black box with a meter. For the buzzer test, we installed a microphone and a speaker in the camera, recorded the sound through the DMM digitizer function, and tested the frequency and mode of the sound.  

Driving plan

In the driving and user operation scheme, we prepared the HIL standard function created by LabVIEW for each module by developing the NI TestStand test sequence file.  

Results of using the HIL test system

We solved this problem with the concept of " XY Workbench Control - Mobile Camera" that supports a variety of instrument types . In addition, we built a system that can perform all tests by providing a camera and a microphone for indicator testing. NI products include several measurement modules and customizable LabVIEW and NI TestStand software, which are the basic architecture necessary to implement our tests. Compared to manual testing, we can reduce the time and cost by at least half to complete this system.   

  It is very effective to use NI hardware and software to build HIL test systems for automotive industry products . We are using automated test systems to develop instruments that are installed on cars made by major Japanese automakers, all of which are our business partners.

  With the development of the reliability management team, we have boldly improved the automation of testing to cope with the rapid computerization of cars. This includes HIL standard functions for ECU testing , such as battery voltage testing and dark current testing, as well as other ECU tests. In addition, we are considering the development of air conditioning ECUs or airbag ECUs . And we look forward to providing measurement solutions that are consistent with the automotive industry.

 

Vehicle instrument ECU test system

File creation panel

Driving plan

System Configuration

Operator comparison between ring system and hardware-in-the-loop system