Powering the Next Generation: Real-Time HIL Simulation for Teaching and Research

The Company

The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) was established in 2005 through the merger of Cape Technikon and Peninsula Technikon. As the only university of technology in South Africa’s Western Cape and the largest in the region, CPUT has over 30,000 students and more than 70 programs. Its Centre for Distributed Power Electronic Systems (CDPES) focuses on energy efficiency, renewable energy, distributed energy systems, predictive control of power converters and electrical drives, and MEMS energy sensor technology.

The Challenges

• Teaching & Research Laboratory Setup: Establishing a real-time simulation laboratory for teaching and academic research to allow students to work with OPAL-RT real-time simulators and learn how Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) accelerate control development and testing.
• Curriculum & Exercise Development: Providing microgrids and power electronics model examples to create practical exercises for students.
• Control Scheme Advancement: Developing and improving control schemes for power converters and electrical drives.
• Project Verification: Providing a simulation system capable of performing verifications throughout the project lifecycle.

The OPAL-RT Solution

• Hardware solution: OPAL-RT provided three OP4200 and three OP4510 real-time simulators. Each real-time simulator includes: Processor with CPU cores; FPGA board; Input and output boards: 16 AI, 16 AO, 32 DI and 32 DO.
• Power Electronics FPGA Solvers（eFPGASIM）: A typical time step of 200 ns for high-speed power electronics simulation without requiring FPGA programming expertise. Fully compatible with SimScape Power Systems, PLECS, and PSIM models, featuring integrated visualisations and fault analysis.
• Power Systems CPU Solvers (eMEGASIM): A typical time step of 50 µs for power systems and smart grid applications. Fully compatible with MATLAB/Simulink and SimScape Power Systems models, with integrated visualisations and fault analysis.

The Results

• Enhanced Student Learning: Enabled multiple students to work on power electronics and power systems teaching modules using real-time MATLAB/Simulink models instead of physical hardware devices.
• Accelerated Control Testing: Facilitated the development and improvement of control schemes for power converters and drives using RCP and HIL methods.
• Continuous Project Verification: Provided a reliable platform to perform verifications throughout various academic and research projects.

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