Model-Based Design provides a framework for developing controls and electrical equipment from conception to testing and verification. Develop and test microgrid controls, distributed renewable energy resources (DERs), and even onboard power systems. Simulink® and Simscape Electrical™ provide reference models to get started with a desktop simulation of controls, and later transition to test and verification of controllers and electrical components.
Rapid control prototyping (RCP) can accelerate the development of power system controls and reduce risks during equipment commissioning. Design controllers and signal processing algorithms in Simulink and deploy them to Speedgoat real-time target computers. Accelerate the development of controllers and grid components such as phasor measurement units (PMU), power management systems (PMS), protection relays, and onboard electrical subsystems. Easily connect with your actual power grid, power equipment, or electrical vehicle (EV) chargers via I/O interfaces or communication protocols like CAN bus, Modbus TCP, and DNP3.
Use hardware-in-the-loop simulations to thoroughly test your embedded controllers or your power equipment to ensure normal operation, test fault conditions, and cybersecurity threats. Partition large multi-physics models among several Speedgoat multicore CPUs and FPGAs using shared memory and multi-gigabit transceivers. The seamless integration of Speedgoat target machines with Simscape Electrical™ enables real-time simulation of operating scenarios in reproducible manner. Design, simulate, and test systems like wind turbine generators, battery storage, protection relays, and solar inverters.
"The Speedgoat HIL test rig provides a versatile platform to include different levels of model fidelity to assess the DC grid stability of control strategies on different operating conditions." Eneko Unamuno, Mondragon University
"The Speedgoat HIL test rig provides a versatile platform to include different levels of model fidelity to assess the DC grid stability of control strategies on different operating conditions."
Eneko Unamuno, Mondragon University
Access full-fletched reference examples in Simulink and Simscape Electrical to get you started on microgrids control and testing renewable energy source integration.
Deploy controls created in Simulink and its toolboxes, include switching mechanisms like pulse-width modulation (PWM) or space vector modulation (SVM), and interface to your equipment via communication protocols like DNP3 and IEC 61850.
Visualize, log and tune parameters in real-time from Simulink. Furthermore, you can even perform PID autotuning with your hardware.
Extend your plant model with ready-to-use I/O driver blocks. For example, capture high-frequency signals such as PWM from your controller, generate feedback signals such as quadrature encoder or resolver, and communicate over protocols such as SPI, I2C, EtherCAT, or CAN.
Execute Simulink and Simscape Electrical™ models on multicore CPUs and Simulink-programmable FPGAs. Include the electrical, hydraulic, or mechanical dynamics from renewable energy sources like wind turbines, tidal generators, solar panels, or combined heat and power (CHP).
Interface with supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and monitor signals in real-time (on the CPU or FPGA).
Simulate microgrids when grid-connected or disconnected (islanded mode), including renewable distributed energy resources (DER) and utility-scale energy storage systems. Design and validate energy management system (EMS) supervisory logic for all operating conditions.
Add multicore real-time target machines, I/O modules, and FPGAs as your project grows. Interface multiple Simulink-programmable FPGAs with Aurora protocol via multi-gigabit transceivers.
Test and verify controls for AC or DC microgrids using Simulink, Simscape Electrical, and Speedgoat hardware. From rapid control prototyping of supervisory microgrid PLC controllers to power systems real-time simulation. Explore operating conditions and fault scenarios at different levels of fidelity: combine phasor, electromagnetic transient (EMT), and even detailed power electronics switching, with interconnected multicore CPUs and FPGAs. Thoroughly test microgrid controllers using real-time simulations.
Frequently Used I/O Interfaces
Simulink Application Resources
Design and test DC power networks, microgrids, and the associated power converters using Simulink, Simscape Electrical, and Speedgoat real-time target computers. Verify power flow and the impact of transportation electrification, energy storage, and renewables on power stability. Use Power HIL to test equipment against virtual power sources, energy storage, and DC load conditions. For example, evaluate topologies for regulating bus voltage with various renewable energy sources, balance the state of charge of energy storage systems or assess grid impact and fault handling of high-speed DC battery chargers for electric vehicles.
Test renewable energy sources, inverters, and their protection systems against a virtual power grid or microgrid using Simscape Electrical and Speedgoat hardware. Reference examples are available to get you started modeling solar inverters, wind generators, fuel cells, grid-tied inverters, grid-forming inverters, or energy management systems. Choose from a wide range of protocols, including Modbus, PROFINET, DNP3, and IEC 61850. Test controllers using hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and include electrical power transfer via power amplifiers with Power HIL.
Design and test onboard power systems using a digital twin of your complete vehicle, from electric cars to more electric aircraft (MEA) and all-electric ships. Using Simulink and Speedgoat hardware, you can perform HIL tests with the same models you used for the desktop simulation. This enables you to verify your power system at an early design stage, in both the model and the physical domains.
Use a Speedgoat real-time system combined with a power amplifier to test electrical components against virtual microgrids with actual electrical power transfer. Validate renewable energy sources and their grid interactions. Advanced power hardware-in-the-loop (Power HIL) enables testing of electric vehicle (EV) chargers, relays, converters, and renewable energy sources (both AC or DC). From a few watts to hundreds of kilowatts.
Success Stories
Relevant Resources
From Desktop to Real-Time Simulation for Electrical Grids – Webinar
E-mobility - Regenerative Braking - Fault Handling – Reference Application
Power Conversion for Wind Energy – Webinar
Electric Aircraft Modeling and Simulation - Webinar
More-Electric-Aircraft-in-Simscape - Simulink models
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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