Opal-RT Introduces TestDrive OP6000 Engine ECU Testing System

Enables test and control engineers to exercise ECU design in a complete virtual environment, including extreme conditions, by replicating loading and sensory feedback of an actual vehicle; drastically lowering prototyping costs while reducing 'time to market'.

Opal-RT technologies Inc., the leading provider of distributed real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing systems, today unveiled the latest version of TestDrive™ OP6000 Engine ECU Testing System.

Based upon Opal-RT’s flagship technology, RT-LAB™, TestDrive OP6000 is a powerful system for improving Electronic Control Unit (ECU) quality throughout the entire production process with real-time open- or closed-loop simulation. It enables test and control engineers to exercise ECU design in a complete virtual environment, including extreme conditions, by replicating all the loading and sensory feedback of an actual vehicle under realistic conditions.

RT-LAB is the real-time technology that has revolutionized the way model-based design is performed. RT-LAB’s flexibility and scalability allow it to be used in virtually any simulation or control system application, and to add computing-power where and when it is needed.

TestDrive OP6000 is specifically designed to meet all ECU vendors’ stringent specifications in terms of performance, flexibility, scalability, test automation capability and unit cost, and has already been deployed in multiple ECU test plants worldwide. In addition, a number of major OEMs and tier-one suppliers are currently evaluating the TestDrive OP6000 system.

"Rapid prototyping and software-in-the-loop testing have become critical components of the automotive engine ECU design process," says Jean Bélanger, President, Opal-RT Technologies Inc. “To best take advantage of what rapid prototyping has to offer, engineers must be able to replicate both the power systems of the vehicles being designed and the conditions under which those vehicles will operate. With TestDrive OP6000, such testing is now possible, enabling engineers to develop safer and more reliable vehicle control systems in less time and at a more affordable cost.”

TestDrive OP6000 easily accommodates up to 10 I/O modules and hundreds of IO channels that can be reconfigured directly from the software interface to test even the most complex powertrain ECUs. TestDrive OP6000 can also be easily and economically configured to test ECU applications with smaller I/O counts. It is user friendly with software managed voltage protection that provides instant updates on I/O status without interrupting workflow.

The graphical TestDrive interface facilitates the design and test of ECU software or production-ready ECUs in a complete virtual environment. The system easily handles automated regression tests to fully validate ECU software reliability. In addition to its performance as a standalone test lab, multiple TestDrive OP6000 systems can be networked together, enabling extreme, real-time testing of multiple vehicle systems.

TestDrive OP6000 is debuting as part of Opal-RT’s demonstrations at this week’s Automotive Testing Expo 2007 – China, taking placing in Shanghai from September 12th to 14th. In addition, Opal-RT and AEETEK, the company’s distribution partner in China, will also demonstrate eDRIVEsim™.

Launched earlier this month by Opal-RT, eDRIVEsim combines Opal-RT’s RT-LAB real-time technology with affordable, high performance multi-core X86 processors and FPGA I/O products, making it the ideal real-time platform for designing advanced control systems and performing HIL testing of controllers used in high-speed electric motors, power converters, and hybrid drives. eDRIVEsim also includes support for RTLAB.JMAG™, which combines Opal-RT’s RT-LAB real-time simulation technology with JMAG-RT®, part of JRI Solutions’ Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tool suite. This means that all tests can be performed in real-time, using the highest precision finite element models.