Combustion Engine Starter Simulation in Real Time on Hybrid Powertrain Test Beds

In the development process for hybrid powertrains, a lot of time and money can be saved by using simulation models instead of real vehicle components. The same model can be used to test basic functionalities in the lab and the behavior and impact to the unit under test on real components on engine or powertrain test beds.

MATLAB^® and Simulink^® enable such simulation models to be designed efficiently and support the code generation to a real-time target system.
This session presents engine starter simulation in hybrid powertrains. A starter simulation model has been developed with MATLAB and Simulink to test the start behavior of the hybrid engine.

In the model development process, AVL ARTE.Lab™ is used. Based on MATLAB, Simulink, and Real-Time Workshop^®, AVL ARTE.Lab generates the real-time application. This real-time application is executed on the AVL test bed automation and control system. A generic Model Parameter Editor (MPE) allowing the smooth management of the model parameters at run time is provided. This is achieved by modifying MAT-files created in conjunction with the simulation model. In this way, parameter variations of the starter simulation model can be easily applied. A parameter updater has been created with MATLAB Compiler™ for automated parameter migration and preprocessing; updates of the starter simulation model are automatically considered in the parameters.

The results show the realistic start behavior by using the starter simulation model on a hybrid powertrain test bed. By using MATLAB and Simulink, different starter simulation models can be quickly exchanged, which leads to a shorter time to market.