Internet-based control of FCU hardware-in-the-loop simulators

Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) is an efficient technique for component testing in dynamical systems. In this technique, a system is divided into two connected components: numerical part and physical part, which is the tested component. Sometimes, to implement HIL technique, an extra actuator is required to link these separate parts, in a real-time manner. Therefore, in order to have a stabilized test rig, the actuator delay must be compensated through a controller, which may be allocated at a different place. For this purpose, the global Internet can be used as a communication platform, leading to some time-varying delays and packet losses. This paper presents a methodology for control of Internet-based HIL simulators, based on the packet-based control methodology. A sufficient condition for closed-loop stability is discussed. Implementation of the Internet-based HIL simulation on the fuel control unit (FCU) of a gas turbine engine demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.