Drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are widely used for transportation, recognition, cartography, or inspection. A reliable function of onboard systems and compliance with all relevant drone legislation in your target market are crucial for an autonomous flight and mission success.
The technical complexity of UAVs requires efficient means to transition from desktop simulation to automated hardware testing.
Rapid Control Prototyping enables you to test your Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) at an early design stage without risking a crash and time-consuming repairs of your drone model. Hardware-in-the-Loop testing allows you to perform real-time tests of the flight controller in simulated missions and even help you achieve certification despite the progressively strict regulations.
"The ability to perform HIL testing allows even the most complex satellite mission operations to be verified on real hardware." Tuomas Tikka, Aalto University
"The ability to perform HIL testing allows even the most complex satellite mission operations to be verified on real hardware."
Tuomas Tikka, Aalto University
Develop and enhance your UAV by taking advantage of open standards like Pixhawk, supported by Speedgoat with the Dshot Code Module, to test and tune control algorithms.
⮕ Learn more about Dshot communication
Frequently Used I/O Interfaces
Simulink® Application Resources
Test the battery management system for your propulsion or onboard supply battery system of your drone using Speedgoat battery simulators. You can test single cells, complete battery packs as well as temperature behaviour during fault insertion.
⮕ Learn more about cell emulation
Iterate and validate control strategies for your autonomous UAV for variable degrees of autonomy. You can test your Autopilot directly in Simulink® with real-time LIDAR or GNSS input, or you can test your flight controller using emulated control and sensor inputs to simulate its next mission.
Test and improve the electronic speed controller of your drone to enhance reliability in challenging environmental conditions. Receive input directly from the motors using the back-EMF feedback technology. You can integrate the motor control algorithm in your UAV Simulink® model to save time during the testing of design changes.
Success Stories
HIL-Testing for Proterra’s battery electric bus – Success Story
Scientific Aviation Association - Success Story
Aalto University: Students' mission to get Finland's first satellite into orbit - Success Story
Relevant Resources
Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing of Battery Management Systems - Webinar
Introduction to Simulink®: Quadcopter Simulation and Control - Webinar
Accelerating Drone Research with a Ready-to-Fly Hexacopter and Flight Control Software -Technical Article
Rapidly prototype control designs by applying rapid control prototyping, test embedded controllers withhardware-in-the-loop simulation of digital twins, and leverage Speedgoat systems as embedded controllers.
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