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Fidelity Enhancement of Power-Split Hybrid Vehicle HIL (Hardware-in-the-

Loop) Simulation by Integration with High Voltage Traction Battery Subsystem

Conference Paper · April 2018

DOI: 10.4271/2018-01-0008

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Fidelity Enhancement of Power-Split Hybrid
Vehicle HIL (Hardware-in-the-Loop) Simulation
by Integration with High Voltage Traction
Battery Subsystem
Rajagopal Jayaraman, Adit Joshi, Viet To, and Ghamdan Kaid Ford Motor Company
Citation: Jayaraman, R., Joshi, A., To, V., and Kaid, G., “Fidelity Enhancement of Power-Split Hybrid Vehicle HIL (Hardware-in-the-Loop)
Simulation by Integration with High Voltage Traction Battery Subsystem,” SAE Technical Paper 2018-01-0008, 2018,
doi:10.4271/2018-01-0008.
Abstract
D
ue to the increasing concerns on energy and environ-
mental issues, the automotive industry has seen
increased growth and development of electric and
electrified vehicles [1]. The power-split design is one of the
most common drivetrain configurations of a hybrid or electri-
fied vehicle. The propulsion system of a power-split hybrid
vehicle typically comprises of an engine drive system in which
the engine, drivetrain and generator are mechanically coupled
on a planetary gear set driveline while the electric drive system
consists of a high voltage battery and a traction motor [2]. In
recent years, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation has
become an increasingly common approach for controls rapid
prototyping and validation as part of the automotive product
development cycle [2, 3]. Traditionally, HIL simulations of
hybrid vehicle controls and high-voltage battery controls have
been implemented on separate HIL benches which are exclu-
sively targeted for hybrid vehicle controls and battery controls
simulations respectively. This research demonstrates an
Introduction
T
here has been increased growth and development of
electric and electrified vehicles in the automotive
industry due to the increasing concerns on energy and
environmental issues. Therefore, in recent years, there has
been a pronounced shift away from conventional Internal
Combustion Engines (ICE) vehicles and towards alternatives
such as electric and electrified or hybrid vehicles. Electric and
hybrid vehicles offer the benefits of reduced emissions and
less fuel consumption as compared to conventional ICE
vehicles without compromise in performance [4].
The most common drivetrain configurations of a hybrid
or electrified vehicle are series, parallel and series-parallel or
power-split designs. By combining the series and parallel
hybrid drivetrains, series-parallel or power-split hybrid drive-
trains merge the benefits of both the series and parallel drive-
trains in order to compensate for the weaknesses of each
design, thereby leading to improved overall drivetrain effi-
ciency and decreased fuel usage. The propulsion system of a
© 2018 Ford Motor Co Ltd; Ford Motor Company.
2018-01-0008 Published 03 Apr 2018
implementation of enhanced fidelity of a power-split hybrid
vehicle powertrain controls HIL by integrating it with high-
voltage traction battery subsystem HIL by networking the
two aforementioned HIL systems together. The power-split
hybrid vehicle HIL typically use simplified battery plant and
controller models, and therefore, the addition of the high-
voltage battery HIL provides a more detailed simulation of
the high-voltage battery in which each cell is modeled such
that cell voltage varies based on initial State-of-Charge (SOC)
and temperature, capacity, fan speed, self-discharge, and
other chemistry-based parameters. The integration of the
battery HIL also provides the high-voltage interface to the
battery controller hardware. The 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid is
used as the platform for this research. The battery subsystem
performance of the vehicle is used as the baseline for compar-
ison between the battery subsystem performances of the
simplified power-split hybrid vehicle HIL and the networked
HIL setup to understand the increased fidelity and accuracy
of the latter.
power-split hybrid vehicle typically comprises of an engine
drive system in which the engine, drivetrain and generator
are mechanically coupled on a planetary gear set driveline
while the electric drive system consists of a high voltage
battery and a traction motor [2]. In a power-split drivetrain,
the engine can provide mechanical power to drive the wheels
directly as in the parallel drivetrain, as well as be effectively
disconnected, such that the electric motor alone can provide
electric power to the wheels as in the series drivetrain.
In recent years, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation
has become an increasingly common approach for controls
rapid prototyping and validation as part of the automotive
product development cycle [2, 3]. Control software embedded
in Electronic Control Units (ECUs) can be tested in a safe and
simulated environment that would otherwise be expensive
using in-vehicle testing [2, 5]. For the automotive product
development cycle, HIL simulation is considered to be more
time-efficient and cost-effective thereby streamlining the
development and validation processes. It also allows for
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2 FIDELITY ENHANCEMENT OF POWER-SPLIT HYBRID VEHICLE HIL (HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP) SIMULATION
system integration and critical issues to be resolved during
earlier stages of the product development cycle [3, 6].
Traditionally, HIL simulations of hybrid vehicle controls
and high-voltage battery controls are implemented on separate
HIL benches which are exclusively targeted for hybrid vehicle
controls and battery controls simulations respectively. This
research demonstrates an implementation of enhanced fidelity
of a power-split hybrid vehicle powertrain controls HIL by
integrating it with high-voltage traction battery subsystem
HIL by networking the two aforementioned HIL systems
together. The power-split hybrid vehicle HIL typically uses
simplified battery plant and controller models, and therefore,
the addition of the high-voltage battery HIL provides a more
detailed simulation of the high-voltage battery in which each
cell is modeled such that cell voltage varies based on initial
SOC and temperature, capacity, fan speed, self-discharge, and
other chemistry-based parameters. The integration of the
battery HIL also provides the high-voltage interface to the
battery controller hardware and incorporates actuators such
as the electrical fan and high-voltage contactors into the loop.
The development of this networked HIL setup requires the
development of a multi-processor plant model that can execute
synchronously on both HILs and the integration of the proces-
sors of both HILs.
This paper focuses on combined HIL simulation of the
power-split hybrid vehicle HIL and the high-voltage battery
HIL. 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid is used as the platform for this
research. The power-split hybrid vehicle HIL simulation
includes the powertrain controllers and actuators while a
Simulink representation is used for the simulation of the other
subsystem plants and controllers. The high-voltage battery
HIL simulation includes the battery controller and actuators
with a high-fidelity Simulink representation of the high-
voltage battery. For both HIL benches, dSPACE HIL simula-
tors provide the real-time interface between the hardware and
the model simulations. The objectives of this research are
two-fold. The first objective is to develop a networked power-
split vehicle HIL simulation by integration of a high-voltage
traction battery HIL simulation. The second objective is to
understand the fidelity and accuracy enhancement of this
setup by correlation of the battery subsystem performances
of the vehicle, simplified power-split hybrid vehicle HIL and
the networked HIL setup.
Power-Split Hybrid
Architecture
The power-split hybrid architecture consists of an electric
drive system with a high voltage battery and a traction motor,
and an engine drive system where the engine is connected to
the carrier of a planetary gear set with the ring gear mechani-
cally coupled with the drivetrain and a generator on the sun
gear. Therefore, the engine drive system and the electric drive
system are the two sources of power in the power-split hybrid
architecture [4]. A diagram of the power-split hybrid archi-
tecture showcasing the different aspects of the hybrid
powertrain is shown in Figure 1.
 FIGURE 1   Power-split hybrid architecture
© SAE International
In the engine drive system, the engine and the generator
are connected to the planet carrier and sun gear of a planetary
gear set. The output of the planetary gear set is combined
with a second motor or generator through a torque coupler
to power the vehicle driveline [7]. Because of the different
possible power flows in the power-split powertrain, the engine
operating point can be seen as decoupled from the vehicle
operating point [7].
Similar to how planetary gears are used to connect the
engine to the driven wheels in automatic transmission drive-
trains, the planetary gear set in the engine drive system of
the power-split hybrid drivetrain is used to couple the engine
to the driven wheels. The planetary gear set consists of three
rotating axes which are the sun, carrier and ring gears. In
order to transmit torque in a desired ratio through a plane-
tary gear, a reaction torque must be provided in an appro-
priate axis. In this engine drive system, the reaction torque
is provided by an electric machine such as a generator [3, 4].
The generator allows the sun gear to rotate while providing
the reactive torque required for transmitting the mechanical
power in the form of engine torque to the driven wheels. This
sun gear rotating speed or generator speed and the generator
reactive torque will result in non-zero generator electrical
power. Due to the sun gear or generator rotation, the engine
speed can be decoupled from the driven wheel speeds and
the engine output power is split between the ring gear
through a mechanical path and the sun gear through an
electrical path [4]. The power-split hybrid drivetrain derives
its name from its operation in which the power delivered to
the driven wheels is split between a mechanical path and an
electric path.
The power-split hybrid drivetrain can have independent
propulsion from the motor alone drawing electric power from
the high-voltage battery or through the engine-generator
coupling in which the engine can be turned on depending on
the driver’s accelerator pedal demand. However, in high speed
situations such as at highway cruising speeds, instead of using
the generator, a brake or clutch will be used to lock the sun
gear to provide reactive torque to the engine output. This will
result in engine direct drive system.
Due to the use of a planetary gear set and the absence of
a conventional transmission, there are no mechanical Reverse,
Neutral, Drive gears except Park. The mechanical Reverse
gear is not required because the motor provides reverse
motion. The mechanical Neutral gear is not present since the
© 2018 Ford Motor Co Ltd; Ford Motor Company.
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FIDELITY ENHANCEMENT OF POWER-SPLIT HYBRID VEHICLE HIL (HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP) SIMULATION 3
 FIGURE 2   Subsystems of power-split hybrid powertrain [4]
© SAE International
 FIGURE 3   2017 Ford Fusion power-split hybrid drivetrain
© SAE International
engine-generator coupling and motor are connected to the
driven wheels at all times.
In general, the power-split hybrid powertrain system
consists of four subsystems. These are the engine subsystem,
the transaxle subsystem, the brakes subsystem, and the high-
voltage battery subsystem [4]. The subsystems of the power-
split hybrid powertrain system are shown in Figure 2.
The engine subsystem consists of a down-sized engine
which can operate at a high thermal efficiency due to the use
of the Atkinson combustion cycle instead of the Otto combus-
tion cycle typically employed in conventional ICE vehicles.
Both electric machines, the motor and the generator, are
housed as part of the transaxle subsystem to provide electrical
functionality and are used for different purposes, depending
on the driving conditions [4]. The brakes subsystem consists
of an electrohydraulic brakes system providing friction brakes
and regenerative braking functionalities [4]. The battery
management system of the high-voltage subsystem is respon-
sible for optimizing the performance of the high-voltage
battery by monitoring its condition and controlling its
operation [8]. The power-split hybrid drivetrain of the 2017
Ford Fusion is shown in Figure 3.
Power-Split Hybrid
Vehicle HIL
A powertrain subsystem bench of the 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid
is used for the power-split vehicle HIL. This HIL includes
production components of the 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid
© 2018 Ford Motor Co Ltd; Ford Motor Company.
powertrain subsystem. The Engine Control Module (ECM)
and the Hybrid Control Unit (HCU), which are responsible
for powertrain and hybrid controls respectively, form the basis
of the HIL hardware. The ECM’s main function is that of
engine controls by aiding in the translation of the driver inputs
such as accelerator pedal into wheel torque requests [2]. The
HCU consists of two separate controllers, the Hybrid
Powertrain Control Module (HPCM) and the Motor Generator
Controls Unit (MGCU). The former is responsible for the
vehicle supervisory control in a power-split hybrid vehicle,
while the latter is responsible for motor and generator controls
by translating their respective wheel torque requests to power
electronic controls for their electrical torque realization [2].
The supervisory control is responsible for maintaining the
vehicle at its most efficient operating point at a particular set
of driver powertrain requests and vehicle operation conditions
by managing the power among the various components of the
vehicle and coordinating the operating states of the engine,
generator, motor, and battery [4]. Spark plugs/coils and a
throttle body are also included in the setup and they act as
actuators. Additionally, a shift-by-wire subsystem comprising
the Gear Shift Module (GSM) and the Transmission Range
Control Module (TRCM) is used as part of the extended
powertrain hardware. The GSM is a motorized rotary dial that
takes the driver gear position request based on vehicle opera-
tion conditions and allows for selecting Park, Reverse, Neutral,
Drive, and Low ranges [2]. The TRCM consists of an actuator
which actuates the transmission into the desired gear
requested from the GSM in a conventional drivetrain.
However, in a hybrid drivetrain, the TRCM is primarily used
to provide sensor position feedback to the ECM using internal
sensors to validate actual gear position. Finally, the Gateway
Module (GWM) is also included as a component of the HIL
whose main function is to allow for communication and data
transfer between the various ECUs located on different CAN
buses forming the vehicle network system [2, 8]. The ECUs
are connected to the dSPACE HIL simulator, which provides
the hardware interfaces for the ECUs. A diagram of the
hardware setup for the power-split hybrid vehicle HIL is
shown in Figure 4.
The simulation of non-hardware subsystem plants and
controllers is achieved by using a real-time Simulink simula-
tion environment representative of the 2017 Ford Fusion
Hybrid. A high fidelity plant model of the power-split
powertrain system consisting of the 2.0 liter 4 cylinder inline
engine, permanent magnet AC synchronous motor-generator,
300 V Lithium-ion high-voltage battery, and planetary gear
set driveline is defined in Simulink for the vehicle level plant
model simulation. This Simulink representation of the plant
model also includes brakes, steering, high voltage battery,
vehicle dynamics, environment and auxiliary subsystem
models. However, the high-voltage battery subsystem repre-
sentation is simplistic in nature and lacks realistic high-voltage
battery emulation. The battery plant model is a simple one cell
model where voltage, current, and power are mathematically
calculated. The battery control model outputs the remaining
power needed based on driver power demand, motor torque
request, generator torque request, and other battery capability
parameters. The block diagram of the power-split hybrid
vehicle model is shown in Figure 5.
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4 FIDELITY ENHANCEMENT OF POWER-SPLIT HYBRID VEHICLE HIL (HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP) SIMULATION
 FIGURE 4   Power-split hybrid vehicle HIL hardware setup
© SAE International
 FIGURE 5   Power-split hybrid vehicle model [4]
© SAE International
 FIGURE 6   Vehicle system level HIL plant model [8]
© SAE International
A diagram of the vehicle system level HIL plant model
with respect to the controls hardware is shown in Figure 6.
High-Voltage Battery HIL
The high-voltage battery of a hybrid or electric vehicle is a
highly nonlinear system with a continually changing state [8].
The high-voltage battery contains an array of sensors to
monitor its operation and the battery controller interfaces
with these sensors to measure voltage, current, temperature
and other battery related parameters.
The battery pack typically consists of a 300 V Lithium-ion
high-voltage battery. In battery packs, cells are organized into
rows. The battery pack of the 2017 Ford Fusion consists of 76
cells wired in series with each cell rated at 1.4kWh. The cell
monitoring circuit monitors the voltage and temperature of
each row of cells. This circuit also monitors battery current,
ambient air temperature, balancer temperature and other
environmental conditions such as air flow. The high-voltage
battery pack compartment and its corresponding components
are shown in Figure 7 [9].
A high-voltage battery subsystem HIL bench of the 2017
Ford Fusion Hybrid is used. A dSPACE HIL simulator is used
as the real-time simulation platform. This HIL includes the
Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) corresponding to
the 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Based on its estimation of the
battery condition, the BECM controls the battery to protect
against over-charge, over-discharge, over-current, short
circuits, over-heating, ground faults and other potential
issues to maintain the battery in a state in which it can
function properly. The BECM specifically monitors the
conditions of individual cells which form the high-voltage
battery and is also responsible for the dynamic and charge
balancing of the cells. An electrical fan and contactors are
included as actuators for the high-voltage battery HIL. The
electrical fan is part of the thermal management system for
a high-voltage battery. The contactors provide the physical
loads for the BECM and the BECM controls the opening/
closing of the contactors based on the operation conditions.
The high-voltage battery is simulated in Simulink. The high-
voltage battery plant model includes Simulink representa-
tions of each of the 76 cells of the battery pack. Based on the
battery power demand from powertrain, these individual
cell plant models generate cell temperatures and cell voltages.
 FIGURE 7   High-voltage battery pack compartment
consists of (1) battery temperature sensor, (2) junction box, (3)
battery energy controller, (4) DC-DC converter controller [9]
© SAE International
© 2018 Ford Motor Co Ltd; Ford Motor Company.
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FIDELITY ENHANCEMENT OF POWER-SPLIT HYBRID VEHICLE HIL (HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP) SIMULATION 5

 FIGURE 8   High-voltage battery HIL hardware setup  FIGURE 9   Gigalink cable and DS911 module

© SAE International
© SAE International

 FIGURE 10   Multiprocessor plant model for combined HIL

These cell voltages are fed into the dSPACE 1077 EV DAC
high-voltage battery HIL emulator hardware, which is
connected to the BECM, forming the high-voltage bus of the
high-voltage battery HIL [10]. The 15 cell temperature sensors
are also included in the plant model forming the low-voltage
bus of the high-voltage battery HIL. The cell voltages from
the plant model are converted into cell currents, cell tempera-
tures, and cell temperatures above normal operations using
the high-voltage battery HIL emulator. However, there is no
vehicle or powertrain model integrated in the high-voltage
battery HIL plant model. Instead, the plant model uses pre-
defined lookup tables of vehicle speed, engine speed, total
electric power demand, and driver key position as functions
of time for several standard EPA drive cycles. A diagram of
the hardware setup of the high-voltage battery HIL is shown
in Figure 8.
© SAE International

Combined Power-Split
Propulsion HIL
The combination of the two HIL systems together involves
combination of the hardware setups and combination of the
plant models of the two HILs. Each HIL system consisted of
4 processors which are internally connected. The processors
of both HILs are integrated with each other through the use
of dSPACE DS911 Gigalink modules via a Gigalink optical
high-speed communications cable. The Gigalink optical high-
speed communications cable and the DS911 Gigalink module
are shown in Figure 9.
One processor of power-split hybrid vehicle HIL is
connected to two processors of high-voltage battery HIL as
shown in Figure 10.
A dSPACE DS830/4 multilink panel box is used to connect
both HILs to one host PC. The HS1 CAN buses of both HILs
are integrated together as well. In this combined setup, the
BECM CAN messages are no longer simulated, and are
© 2018 Ford Motor Co Ltd; Ford Motor Company.
directly transmitted directly by the BECM physical hardware.
Therefore, combining the HILs results in more overall HIL
inputs/outputs and thereby providing the ability to accom-
modate an extra ECU in the form of the BECM. A diagram
of the hardware setup for the combined HIL is shown in
Figure 11.
The combination of the HILs also involved the develop-
ment of a multi-processor plant model that would execute
synchronously on both HILs at a sample rate of 1 ms. This
includes replacement of the simplified electrical plant model
of power-split hybrid vehicle HIL with the high-fidelity elec-
trical plant model of high-voltage battery HIL. In the latter
plant model, 76 battery cells are modeled in Simulink such
that cell voltage varies based on initial SOC initial tempera-
ture, capacity, fan speed, and self-discharge. Pre-defined
profiles in the form of lookup tables of vehicle speed, engine
speed, total electrical power demand, and driver key position
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6 FIDELITY ENHANCEMENT OF POWER-SPLIT HYBRID VEHICLE HIL (HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP) SIMULATION

 FIGURE 11   Combined HIL hardware setup

Simulations and Test
Results
In order to understand the increased fidelity and accuracy of
the combined HIL setup, the battery subsystem performances
of the simplified power-split hybrid vehicle HIL and the
networked HIL setup are correlated with that of the vehicle.
The battery subsystem performance of the vehicle is used as
the baseline for comparison. For the correlation analysis,
vehicle data is collected for the powers-split hybrid powertrain
controllers namely, the ECM, the HCU and the BECM for a
given initial SOC value. Specifically the vehicle speed profile

© SAE International
from the data is replayed on the power-split hybrid vehicle
HIL in order to observe the performance of the simulated
BECM and simplified battery plant model. This vehicle speed
profile is also replayed on the combined HIL to observe the
performance of the integration of the high-voltage battery
HIL with the high-fidelity high-voltage battery plant model.
 FIGURE 12   Combined HIL plant model The vehicle speed profile is dynamic and varied as per the
vehicle being driven on city roads, highways, and surface
parking lots. The correlation test results of the vehicle speed
profile are shown in Figure 13.
The correlation test results of the powertrain perfor-
mances for engine, motor and generator speeds respectively
are shown in Figure 13.
As shown in Figure 14, the powertrain performances of
the power-split vehicle HIL, combined HIL and vehicle are
comparable. This is due to the engine speed, motor speed and
generator speed being a function of the vehicle speed profile
which is the same across all three platforms as shown in
© SAE International

Figure 13.
The correlation test results of the high-voltage battery
performances for battery temperature, current, and voltage
respectively are shown in Figure 15.
From the results shown in Figure 15, the high-voltage
battery performances for battery temperature, voltage and
in high-voltage battery HIL are replaced with their corre- current are comparable across the power-split vehicle HIL,
sponding dynamics signals from power-split hybrid HIL. combined HIL and vehicle. There is no remarkable variation
Vehicle speed, engine speed, and total electric power demand
are passed directly from vehicle dynamics, engine, and power-
split dynamics models respectively of the power-split hybrid  FIGURE 13   Vehicle speed correlation test results
vehicle HIL.
Simplified battery pack and cell parameters such as
battery cell voltages, battery cell currents, battery capacity,
battery actual power, battery pack temperature and battery
cell temperature in hybrid powertrain controls HIL are
replaced with their corresponding dynamics signals from the
high-fidelity high-voltage battery HIL plant model. Moreover,
the electrical fan speed physical signal is passed to the power-
split hybrid vehicle HIL from the high-voltage battery HIL.
Overall, the simplified battery controller plant model is
replaced with the actual BECM ECU with the corresponding
HIL inputs/outputs and CAN communication interface,
thereby resulting in increased HIL inputs/outputs of the
© SAE International

overall combined HIL system. A diagram of the combined

HIL plant model with respect to the controls hardware show-
casing the signal flow between the two HILs is shown in
Figure 12.

© 2018 Ford Motor Co Ltd; Ford Motor Company.

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FIDELITY ENHANCEMENT OF POWER-SPLIT HYBRID VEHICLE HIL (HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP) SIMULATION 7

 FIGURE 14   Powertrain correlation test results for engine,  FIGURE 15   High-voltage battery correlation test results for
motor and generator speeds battery temperature, voltage and current

© SAE International
© SAE International

in magnitude observed for battery voltage and current.
However, for battery pack temperature, it can be observed that
the response for the combined HIL is closer in magnitude the
response of the vehicle data as compared to that of the power-
split hybrid vehicle HIL.
The correlation test results of the high-voltage battery
performances for SOC are shown in Figure 16.
As shown in Figure 16, all three SOC profiles start from
approximately the same initial SOC value of approximately
51%. The SOC profile of the combined HIL is observed to be

© 2018 Ford Motor Co Ltd; Ford Motor Company.

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8 FIDELITY ENHANCEMENT OF POWER-SPLIT HYBRID VEHICLE HIL (HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP) SIMULATION
 FIGURE 16   High-voltage battery correlation test results
for SOC
© SAE International
 FIGURE 17   Simulated IPC and driver controls
© SAE International
closer in magnitude to the SOC profile of the vehicle data as
compared to that of the power-split hybrid vehicle HIL. This
showcases the improved fidelity of the combined HIL due to
the addition of the high-voltage battery HIL with the high-
fidelity high-voltage battery plant model.
Visual feedback of the simulations is provided by the
simulated instrument panel cluster (IPC) and driver controls
panel in dSPACE ControlDesk as shown in Figure 17. The
driver controls panel provides an interface to the simulated
accelerator pedal, brake pedal, gear position and key position.
The simulated IPC provides monitoring capability of vehicle
states such as engine speed and vehicle speed. The ControlDesk
layout also provides an interface for setting the initial SOC of
the simulation along with capability for monitoring other
important states such as ECU on/off statuses, contactor status
and engine running status.
Conclusions
This paper discusses the development of a complete power-split
propulsion system vehicle HIL simulation through the integra-
tion of a high-voltage traction battery HIL simulation with a
power-split hybrid vehicle HIL. This involves the integration of
the hardware setups of both HILs and the development of a
multiprocessor plant model that would run synchronously on
both HILs. The goal of achieving increased fidelity and improved
accuracy is attained through the correlation of the real-time
performances of the high-voltage battery system of the power-
split hybrid vehicle HIL, combined HIL and vehicle. It is demon-
strated by the simulation results that the response of combined
HIL setup correlated more closely with that of the vehicle thereby
providing increased confidence in HIL simulation methods for
controls development and validation. This may enable the devel-
opment higher fidelity plant models for testing [9]. The combined
HIL setup may also provide a simulation platform for enabling
future system level testing of the whole power-split hybrid archi-
tecture including powertrain and high-voltage battery subsystems.
Future work will involve addition of high-voltage power
distribution components such as a DC-DC converter such
that the high-voltage battery system is more representative of
the vehicle. This will allow the DC-DC boost converter loss
to be taken into account in the HIL simulation. Reduced-order
electrochemical battery models may also be integrated with
the high-voltage battery HIL plant model due to better compu-
tational and prediction accuracy [10]. This would also aid in
overcoming some of the inherent limitations of the equivalent
cell models in the high-voltage battery HIL plant model [10].
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FIDELITY ENHANCEMENT OF POWER-SPLIT HYBRID VEHICLE HIL (HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP) SIMULATION 9

[7] Borhan, H., Vahidi, A., Phillips, A., Kuang, M. et al., “MPC-
Based Energy Management of a Power-Split Hybrid Electric
Abbreviations
Vehicle,” IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology
HIL - Hardware-in-the-Loop
20(3):593-603, 2012, doi:10.1109/TCST.2011.2134852.
ICE - Internal Combustion Engines
[8] Joshi, A., “Real-Time Implementation and Validation for
Automated Path Following Lateral Control Using Hardware- ECU - Electronic Control Unit
in-the-Loop (HIL) Simulation,” SAE Technical Paper ECM - Engine Control Module
2017-01-1683, 2017, doi:10.4271/2017-01-1683.
HCU - Hybrid Control Unit
[9] Weissler, P., “Electronics Diverge in Engineering Ford’s
HPCM - Hybrid Powertrain Control Module
Hybrid C-Max and Plug-In Energi,” http://articles.sae.
org/11705/, accessed on Jan. 2013. MGCU - Motor Generator Controls Unit
[10] Lee, T., Kaid, G., Blankenship, J., and Anderson, D., GSM - Gear Shift Module
“Development of Battery Hardware-in-the-Loop System TRCM - Transmission Range Control Module
Implemented with Reduced-Order Electrochemistry Li-Ion
GWM - Gateway Module
Battery Models,” SAE Technical Paper 2014-01-1858, 2014,
doi:10.4271/2014-01-1858. CAN - Controller Area Network
BECM - Battery Energy Control Module
SOC - State-of-Charge
Contact Information
EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
Adit Joshi IPC - Instrument Panel Cluster
Ford Motor Company DC - Direct Current
Dearborn, MI, USA
ajoshi23@ford.com

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