On the Use of Hardware-in-the-Loop for Teaching Automation Engineering

Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) has been used in the industry for many years. This paper investigates some of the advantages of adopting HIL methodology in teaching and training of students in engineering education. HIL can play an important role in teaching since it contributes to fill the holes in engineering students' knowledge and understanding of software, simulators and actual hardware. The paper describes the HIL methodology, some common industrial applications, benefits from HIL in an industrial setting, how HIL can be used in education of engineering students, why this will benefit the students, and how I have applied HIL in my teaching. As an example of HIL in teaching, I present a HIL system for simulating the operation of a classical on/off valve with two position feedback paths. Hence, the students will make programs (function blocks) that interface the HIL system, which will act as if the students where controlling an actual valve. The HIL system for valve simulation has been developed to a fidelity that in addition to simulating the open and closed feedbacks allows for selection of delay before valve movement and selection of valve travel time. The HIL valve simulator also support simulation of various common fault modes such as unexpected (uncommanded) move. In this way the HIL system is able to give a very accurate representation of a real valve. The HIL system also has a local display for configuration of delay and transit times in addition to displaying percentage open/closed while simulating the movement of the valve. The HIL system as a simulator gave students a better understanding of the industrial challenge and students found it motivating to use the HIL valve simulator because it helped bridge the gap between academic theory and real world challenges.