A Hardware-in-the-Loop Test Platform for Planetary Rovers

Hardware-in-the-loop;planetary rovers;powertrain component modeling;real time simulations;Mechanical Engineering

Yue, Bonnie

University of Waterloo

关键词: Hardware-in-the-loop;    planetary rovers;    powertrain component modeling;    real time simulations;    Mechanical Engineering;   

Others  :  https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/6055/1/Yue_Bonnie.pdf

瑞士|英语

来源: UWSPACE Waterloo Institutional Repository

【 摘 要 】

Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test platform for planetary rovers was designed, fabricated and tested inthe present work. The ability for planetary rover designers and mission planners to estimate the rover’sperformance through software simulation is crucial. HIL testing can further the benefits of softwaresimulations by allowing designers to incorporate hardware components within traditionally pure softwaresimulations. This provides more accurate performance results without having access to all hardwarecomponents, as would be required for a full prototype testing.The test platform is designed with complete modularity such that different types of tests can beperformed for varying types of planetary rovers and in different environments. For demonstrating theoperation of the test platform, however, the power system operation of a solar powered rover wasexamined. The system consists of solar panels, a solar charge controller, a battery, a DC/DC converter, aDC motor and a flywheel. In addition, a lighting system was designed to simulate the solar radiationconditions solar panels would experience throughout a typical day. On the software side, a library ofcomponent models was developed within MapleSim and model parameters were tuned to match thehardware on the test bench. A program was developed for real-time simulations within Labview allowingcommunication between hardware components and software models. This program consists of all thecomponent models, hardware controls and data acquisitioning. The GUI of this program allows users toselect which component is to be tested and which component is to be simulated, change model parametersas well as see real time sensor measurements for each component. A signal scaling technique based onnon-dimensionalization is also presented, which can be used in an HIL application for obtain scalingfactors to ensure dynamic similarity between two systems.A demonstration of power estimation was performed using the pure software model simulations aswell as the pure hardware testing. Hardware components were then added into the software simulationprogressively with results showing better accuracy as hardware is added. The rover’s power flow was alsoestimated under different load conditions and seasonal variation. These simulations clearly demonstratethe effectiveness of an HIL platform for testing a rover’s hardware performance.