The collaboration between rFpro and Xylon brings new realism to the hardware in environmental simulation

Driving simulation specialist rFpro and embedded electronics specialist Xylon are collaborating to accelerate testing of complex automotive systems by connecting real-world hardware to simulated environments for open-loop and closed-loop testing.

By exchanging software ECU models used in software-in-the-loop (SIL) simulations with real-world physical ECUs that are simulated and monitored from the software simulator, greater authenticity can be achieved, increasing the credibility of simulation results. This validation enables engineers to ensure that the product is brought to market in the fastest and most cost-effective manner. The two companies worked together to create a flexible interface that can be quickly and independently adapted to a variety of third-party ECUs and applications.

The concept was proven by connecting rFpro's driving simulation software to Xylon's 360-degree panoramic park assist ECUs. In the real world, the system stitches together outputs from four cameras around the vehicle — under the front grille, rear bumper, and mirrors of each door — to create a bird's-eye view of the vehicle and its surroundings to aid parking operations.

In the simulation, rFpro's HD scenes were rendered using specific models that precisely matched the characteristics of each parking camera, with fisheye lens distortion. The rFpro output is then converted to four video inputs via Xylon's logiRECORDER interface box, which can be fed into the hardware ECU in the same format as a real camera.

By providing the ECU with data that is indistinguishable from what is generated in the real world, the ECU can be tested in a variety of scenarios using production firmware. With rFpro's industry-leading simulation software, challenging lighting conditions, harsh environments and countless other test scenarios can be simulated and tested immediately, faster and more economically than ever before.

In addition, closed-loop testing is possible, where the ECU's response is fed back to rFpro via Xylon's logiRECORDER interface box, allowing it to respond sequentially and update the simulation based on the ECU's response. This enhances the ability of rFpro software to significantly accelerate a variety of automotive system test programs, often without the need for physical testing in many scenarios.

The data-intensive scenario presented by the Parking ADAS setup perfectly demonstrates the interface's extremely high bandwidth capabilities, making it suitable for a wide range of ECUs and supporting almost all types of serial interfaces.

"For many years, rFpro has been a leader in real-time simulators in HD and high-quality world models, which makes the expansion of hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) injection systems a natural development," said Matt Daley, rFpro's director of operations.

"The ability to interface with third-party hardware vendors like Xylon is a key strength of our flexible approach and ensures that customers are not locked in by either solution," Daley continues. "The collaboration allows us to bring advances in hardware-in-the-loop simulation to our customers."