Hardware-in-the-loop controller testing and visualization of an industrial gantry
In factory automation applications, the embedded control system components are often available as off-the-shelf products, while the mechanical components and environment in which they will work are still under development. Thus, the need arises to test control systems without the final assembly. Thi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmech.2024.1451042/full |
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| author | M. Leao Moreira R. Singh A. Gomez-Badillo B. Albakri V. Venugopal Y. Park S. Cetin |
| author_facet | M. Leao Moreira R. Singh A. Gomez-Badillo B. Albakri V. Venugopal Y. Park S. Cetin |
| author_sort | M. Leao Moreira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In factory automation applications, the embedded control system components are often available as off-the-shelf products, while the mechanical components and environment in which they will work are still under development. Thus, the need arises to test control systems without the final assembly. This paper introduces a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) virtual environment for control system testing, design planning, and operator training. Controller hardware and software are configured as in the actual application, whereas electro-mechanical components are virtually constructed using Unreal Engine 5 and Matlab Simulink. Motion data from the model can be used to optimize the actuator controller, make physical design assessments, and predict possible failure scenarios such as software/hardware malfunctions. The environment is used to validate an industrial gantry robot’s control systems and structural design. The testing is successful in using real-time controller inputs to generate visual display and physical assessments of the robot’s design. Similar techniques can be applied to simulate different robot configurations using Codesys and Unreal Engine 5 or similar programs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8c876ef01d294eeb9b4c0d2f83c3c8e5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2297-3079 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-8c876ef01d294eeb9b4c0d2f83c3c8e52025-02-03T06:33:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering2297-30792025-02-011010.3389/fmech.2024.14510421451042Hardware-in-the-loop controller testing and visualization of an industrial gantryM. Leao Moreira0R. Singh1A. Gomez-Badillo2B. Albakri3V. Venugopal4Y. Park5S. Cetin6Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United StatesDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United StatesDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United StatesDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United StatesRemote Systems Group, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, United StatesRobotic and Remote Systems, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, United StatesDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United StatesIn factory automation applications, the embedded control system components are often available as off-the-shelf products, while the mechanical components and environment in which they will work are still under development. Thus, the need arises to test control systems without the final assembly. This paper introduces a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) virtual environment for control system testing, design planning, and operator training. Controller hardware and software are configured as in the actual application, whereas electro-mechanical components are virtually constructed using Unreal Engine 5 and Matlab Simulink. Motion data from the model can be used to optimize the actuator controller, make physical design assessments, and predict possible failure scenarios such as software/hardware malfunctions. The environment is used to validate an industrial gantry robot’s control systems and structural design. The testing is successful in using real-time controller inputs to generate visual display and physical assessments of the robot’s design. Similar techniques can be applied to simulate different robot configurations using Codesys and Unreal Engine 5 or similar programs.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmech.2024.1451042/fullroboticsdigital-twinembedded controllerCoDeSysMATLABsimulink |
| spellingShingle | M. Leao Moreira R. Singh A. Gomez-Badillo B. Albakri V. Venugopal Y. Park S. Cetin Hardware-in-the-loop controller testing and visualization of an industrial gantry Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering robotics digital-twin embedded controller CoDeSys MATLAB simulink |
| title | Hardware-in-the-loop controller testing and visualization of an industrial gantry |
| title_full | Hardware-in-the-loop controller testing and visualization of an industrial gantry |
| title_fullStr | Hardware-in-the-loop controller testing and visualization of an industrial gantry |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hardware-in-the-loop controller testing and visualization of an industrial gantry |
| title_short | Hardware-in-the-loop controller testing and visualization of an industrial gantry |
| title_sort | hardware in the loop controller testing and visualization of an industrial gantry |
| topic | robotics digital-twin embedded controller CoDeSys MATLAB simulink |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmech.2024.1451042/full |
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