A Multi-Core PC-based Simulator for the Hardware-In-the-Loop Testing of Modern Train and Ship Traction Systems

Christian Dufour, Guillaume Dumur, Jean-Nicolas Paquin, Jean Blanger

Opal-RT Technologies, 1751 Richardson, suite 2525, Montreal, Canada
Abstract Today, the development and integration of train and ship controllers is a more difficult task than ever. Emergence of high-power switching devices has enabled the development of new solutions with improved controllability and efficiency. It has also increased the necessity for more stringent test and integration capabilities since these new topologies come with less design experience on the part of the system designers. To address this issue, a real-time simulator can be a very useful tool to test, validate and integrate the various subsystems of modern rail vehicle devices. This paper presents such a real-time simulator, based on commercial-off-the-shelf PC technology, suitable for the simulation of train and ship propulsion devices. The requirements for rail/water vehicle test and integration reaches several levels on the control hierarchy from low-level power electronic converters used for propulsion and auxiliary systems to high-level supervisory controls. This paper places great emphasis on the real-time simulation of several high-power drives used for train and ship propulsion, including a multi-induction machine drive, a three-level GTO - PMSM drive and a high-power thyristor-based converter - synchronous machine drive. All models are designed first with the SimPowerSystems blockset and then automatically compiled and run on commercial PCs under RT-LAB. Interfaces to I/O are also made at the Simulink model level without any low-level coding required by the user. Supervisory control integration and testing can also be made using the RT-LAB real-time simulator. The other objective of this paper is to demonstrate that HIL testing of complex drives, such as the those found on trains, can be done using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software and hardware and model-based design techniques that only require high-level system models suitable for system specifications down to controller test and final system integration.

prototypes because of the safety operational limits of real devices. Model-based design is an approach that puts the system model at the center of the design process[7]. With this approach, the specification, controller prototype design, coding and integration tests are based on a set of reference models. At the integration stage, this approach makes extensive use of HIL simulators, with a number of objectives that are directly related to the control hierarchy of the complete train system. The control hierarchy of a train system is given in Figure 1.

Figure 1

Train control hierarchy

I.

INTRODUCTION

The integration, test and verification of modern train and ship systems represent a serious challenge. Currently, because of the risks involved, it is not conceivable to integrate these kinds of systems with direct subsystem interconnection. Modern design approaches mitigate these risks through the extensive use of technologies like Hardware-In-theLoop (HIL) simulation. HIL simulation technologies enable more gradual integration, while diminishing the risk and costs of such projects. Also, more elaborate test coverage can be conducted than is possible using analog

A. Individual Train Actuators and Circuits Controllers Tests: The first stage of HIL controller test is to individually verify the controllers. At this stage, a detailed model of the subsystem is used to which the controller under test is attached, while a simplified model is made of the rest of the system. Two types of tests are then conducted: 1) Open-loop tests: this kind of test is used to verify the functionality of the I/O of the controller by simple excitation/monitoring of the I/Os. It is also used to verify the behavior of the controller in case of short-circuit of the I/Os. In this last case, the controller should detect such conditions and output proper code to the supervisory controller. 2) Closed-loop tests: controller behavior is tested for its control action on the power devices. The controller is connected to the HIL-simulated power devices in the exact same manner as the real device (IGBT gate signals, current sensors, etc.) For example, the acceleration/deceleration behavior of the induction traction units [4] can be tested with a simplified DC-link model.

B. Multi-subsystem Integration Tests: The different subsystems (generation, propulsion, auxiliary) are electrically connected and may therefore interact with each other. Consequently, the next stage of test/integration is to verify the functionality of the controllers with all system interactions. Basic Supervisory control law can be tested at this stage. The scalability of the simulator is very important in this regard[8]. C. Main Supervisory Control Tests: The main supervisory control algorithm is tested at this stage. This includes testing in normal conditions with a human operator command (start and accelerate, stopping the train) and in abnormal conditions (communication bus fault or electric fault). D. User Control Tests: The real-time simulator can be used to verify the overall conductibility of the train by a human operator, in normal and faulty modes, as well as for operator training. At this point, the user graphical interface becomes important because the human operators I/Os are mainly their eyes and hands. II. CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN REAL-TIME SIMULATION OF COMPLEX ELECTRIC DRIVES

equations to solve). The ARTEMIS[5] package provides nice solutions to this problem with distributed parameter line and stublines models that enable the decoupling of the underlying system equations. The stubline model is particularly interesting in electric drives. The stubline is the equivalent of a distributed parameter line with an exact 1-time step propagation delay and a fully tunable inductance value[2]. It can effectively replace inductances and provide decoupling of the system equations. The stubline can be used to model transformer leakage inductance (section IV.A) or current converter chokes (section IV.B) and increases simulation speed by splitting the system equations into 2 parts. III. HIL SIMULATION PLATFORM (RT-LAB). RT-LAB is the real-time simulation software from Opal-RT Technologies. RT-LAB runs almost entirely on commercial-off-the-shelf hardware. The only exception, because of the extreme I/O requirements for electric drives and system applications, is the Opal-RT FPGA-based I/O card. RT-LAB supports distributed simulation through shared memory with 2/4/8/16-CPU (including multi-core CPU technology), AMD- or Intel-based systems, or through PC clusters with InfiniBand or FireWire communication links[8]. The RT-LAB real-time operating system, running on the actual simulation targets, is either QNX from QNX Software System Corp. or RedHawk-Linux from Concurrent Computer Corp. Most commercial I/O cards are supported with RTLAB, including cards from Acromag, DDC, Kontron, Measurement Computing, National Instruments, Quanser, RTD, Sensoray, and Softing. However, Opal-RT FPGA cards are preferred for electrical applications because such applications have unusually high switching frequencies. Opal-RT FPGA I/O cards feature 10-ns digital I/O, 1microsecond D/A converters, and 2-microsecond A/D converters with integrated signal conditioning. XSG support enables users to fully customize I/Os for Opal-RT FPGA cards using the standard Simulink diagram editor. IV.
TRAIN AND SHIP PROPULSION DEVICES

There are several challenges to achieve real-time simulation of large electric drives. The global challenge is to obtain good accuracy using fixed time step solvers and methods. Furthermore, the calculation time of all time steps must always be kept under a prescribed value to enable HIL interface of the simulator with external equipment or controllers. The last challenge consists of finding the right simulation platform. Challenge 1) Keeping the accuracy of simulation with high-frequency power converter. Given that the simulator is a sampled system, the accuracy of simulation of high-frequency PWM inverter may be compromised if the ratio of simulator sampling frequency to the PWM frequency is too low. Interpolation-capable inverter models are the solution to this problem. These inverter models are part of the RTeDRIVE[5] package from Opal-RT Technologies. This challenge notably exists in the Three-Level GTO-Inverter PMSM Drive of section IV.A. Challenge 2) Keeping the calculation time of all time steps almost constant to achieve HIL. The SimPowerSystems default solver takes more time to iterate whenever a switch changes position because it recalculates circuit mode on-line. The ARTEMIS plug-in for SimPowerSystems makes pre-computation of all system state-space matrices in advance to solve this problem Challenge 3) Keeping the calculation time of large systems relatively low. Power systems are typically simulated with a time step objective typically near 25-50 s. This objective may be difficult to reach for large networks or drives (a bigger system implies bigger set of

In this section, we give examples of common train and ship propulsion drive configurations for which low-level power electronic controls are to be tested. The first model is a four-induction machine traction unit that can be driven by either an on-board synchronous generator or AC-single phase catenary system. A high-power three-level GTObased PMSM drive is shown next. The dual-voltage DClink of the drive is made of a 12-pulse rectifier connected to the grid by a three-phase three-winding transformer. The last drive is a very-high power current converter made of back-to-back thyristor converters (12-pulse rectification and 6-pulse inversion). The converter drives a synchronous machine. Except for the catenaries power feeds, all topologies can be studies in the context of either train or train studies. In some cases, the generator model is replaced by a simple 3-phase source. The description of the various systems is given next:

A. High-Power Three-level GTO-Based PMSM Drive Propulsion System This type of system involves a power converter feed from a 20-kV three-phase power system which is transformed to lower voltage by 3-winding transformers. A 12-pulse thyristor rectifier is then used to control the DC-link voltages. From the bipolar DC-bus, a three-level neutral-clamped GTO inverter drives a permanent magnet synchronous machine. The machine is rated at 1 MVA with magnet flux of 2.5 Weber.

Figure 4

DC-link voltage and transformer currents.

Figure 2

Three-level GTO inverter motor drive

Figure 3 shows the PMSM motor terminal voltages, currents, electric torque and speed during the drive startup from zero speed to 4 Hz rotation frequency. Figure 4 shows the DC-link voltage and transformer secondary currents during the start-up. A system engineer might want to investigate a method to reduce the DC-link voltage oscillations during the acceleration phase of the test. Interpolation method requirements of the RTeDRIVE package for the accurate simulation of the PMSM drive can be seen in Figure 5. For the test, the PWM frequency of the drive is 1 kHz, no dead time is applied and the sampling frequency of the model is 40 kHz (Ts=25 s). For the purpose of the test, interpolation is disabled during the simulation. On Figure 5, one can clearly observe the increased distortion in the current and torque values when interpolation is disabled.

Figure 5

Effect of interpolation on the PMSM Drive accuracy

Figure 3

PMSM motor voltages, currents, electric torque and speed

B. Very-High-Power current converter system This type of propulsion system involves a direct ACAC converter based on thyristor switching devices. From an AC primary feed, a step-down transformer feeds a 12pulse thyristor rectifier. The thyristor rectifier is connected to a 6-pulse inverter through a simple smoothing reactor. The inverter drives a synchronous machine used for propulsion. This type of drive can handle more power than its IGBT or GTO counterparts. It is however more difficult to control. For example, special techniques must be used to drive a motor at very low speed because the back-EMF is not sufficient to enable inverter thyristor commutation. A test has been made on this model which consisted of rising the commanded DC-link current from a steady-state value of 0.5 pu to 0.8 pu. For the test, the SM machine works at a fixed speed of 50 Hz and a constant field excitation voltage is applied to the machine. Testing this device in constant speed mode is something rather difficult with real devices (requiring a test bench), but is very easy to achieve in simulation. It enables the verification of torque and current controls. The result of the test is shown in Figure 7. The test shows that the system takes less than 0.1 sec to reach the commanded current.

is physically inside the alternator rotor. The system is protected by several breakers that control the alternator connection to the DC-links. D. Catenary-based power generation systems: For externally powered train from an AC-catenary, this circuit uses two active-front end rectifiers to generate the 2 DC-link voltages. Breakers control the connections of the IGBTs to the catenarys transformer.
Catenary Pento

Catenary-fed power generation system

+V1
= 2~

Figure 6

Thyristor-based current converter SM propulsion system

-V1

+V2
= 2~

-V2

Figure 9

Caterany-based power generation system

Figure 7

Current converter response to a commanded current step

E. Four Induction Motor Traction system This system is composed of 4 induction motors, two on each DC-link, driven by IGBT inverters. Each DC-link also has a chopper to control overvoltages and an additional inverter to feed the auxiliary systems. The challenges of conducting real-time simulation of induction motor drives are described in [2], especially with regards to the correct simulation of high-frequency PWM typically found in these applications. This type of traction system can be connected to either a Diesel-based power generation system or catenary-based power generation systems.
Traction system
+V1
= 1~ = 1~ = 3~ = 3~

C. Diesel-based power generation system

Diesel Power Generation System
Synchronous machine +V1

-V1

Chopper
-V1 Diesel Engine
Actuator Field winding

+Vx1 -V1 -V2 AUX system +Vx2 Chopper

IM 1

IM 2

Breakers

Diode rectifiers +V2

Traction induction motors IM 3 IM 4

-V2

+V2
Exciter armature

1~ = =

1~ =

3~ =

3~

-V2

Figure 10 Induction machine traction system Diesel-based power generation systems

Figure 8

1) Validation against EMTP-RV simulation In this sub-section, we compare the simulation results of SimPowerSystems and RTeDRIVE inverter models against a well-known reference, EMTP-RV. The model under test is a simple induction machine driven by an IGBT-inverter. The machine is driven in open loop from a DC voltage source of 700V and the inverter is modulated

This system is composed of a diesel-engine-driven alternator connected to two 6-pulses diode rectifiers. The diode rectifiers produce 2 DC-link voltages. The alternator field winding is fed with the rectified voltage of an armature voltage induced by an external DC-winding. This approach avoids slip rings as the rectification circuit

at 60 Hz with PWM (Carrier frequency: 4kHz, modulation index: 0.5). In particular, the use of ARTEMIS enables the induction machine equations to be simulated with the Heun 2nd order solver (ode2 Simulink solver).

V.

SUPERVISORY SYSTEM AND HUMAN OPERATOR

Figure 11 Comparison between EMTP and SPS of mechanical speed, electromagnetic torque and stator current (phase A)

The RTeDRIVE interpolation-capable inverter is used in the SimPowerSystems simulation. Tests have been performed at different time-steps, 1 s and 25 s for each package. Open-loop control of the induction machine was preferred only for the sake of simplicity[6]. Figure 11 shows results on the mechanical speed, on the electromagnetic torque and on stator currents for the test respectively. Results are exactly the same between EMTPRV @ 1 s and SimPowerSystems @ 25 s.

The supervisory system test can be conducted by interconnecting various low-level electronic control systems together with a real-time model of the supervisory controller. The modularity of the RT-LAB simulator can be exploited in this manner. Supervisory controls can be implemented on a separate simulator and interfaced, in a asynchronous way, with the real communication protocol used on actual train like TCN[9]. The TCN is a data communication network intended to connect programmable electronic equipment on-board rail vehicles for the support of traction and vehicle control, remote diagnosis and maintenance, and other auxiliary systems. The TCN regroups two types of buses: the Multifunction Vehicle Bus (MVB), which interconnects devices within a vehicle, and the Wire Train Bus (WTB), which interconnects the vehicles in trains of variable composition. It is the equivalent of the CAN bus in automobiles. The TCN consist of two simple serial buses at the physical level. Therefore, implementation on a real-time simulator should not be difficult. The human-machine interface is very important when it comes to including the human factor in controllability tests. At this stage, the real-time simulation of the train system in RT-LAB can greatly benefit from the TestDrive graphical interface from Opal-RT. TestDrive is a LabVIEW-based interface to control and monitor realtime simulations, and only requires the LabVIEW runtime engine. For monitoring real-time simulations, the interface has some advantages over standard Simulink: its interface enables easy, point-and-click dynamic selection of signals to view, synchronous display of data on triggered events (like faults) and has built-in Python-based scripting capability. Figure 12 and Figure 13 show a possible human interface for the testing of train traction devices under fault conditions.

Figure 12 Main user control panel

Figure 13 Fault and test control panel

VI.

REAL-TIME PERFORMANCE

CONCLUSION In this paper, we have presented a real-time simulator capable of conducting real-time simulation of complex train and ship propulsion devices. Real-time simulation of an AC-fed three-level neutral-clamped GTO PMSM drive and a high power thyristor current converter-based synchronous machine drive were demonstrated with realtime simulation results. A third model, a diesel-power drive generation system with a four-induction motor drive was validated against EMTP validation. The simulator is also suitable for higher-level control hierarchy. For these controllers, the simulator speed is much less critical but the human interface becomes more important. The TestDrive interface, which is based on the LabView runtime engine, provides a powerful tool for building efficient human interfaces. REFERENCES
[1] I. Boldea, S.A. Nasar, Electric Drives, CRC Press, ISBN: 0-8493-2521-8 H.W. Dommel (Editor), EMTP Theory Book 2nd edition, MicroTran Power Analysis Corporation, May 1992. P. Terwiesch, T. Keller, E. Scheiben, Rail Vehicle Control System Integration Testing Using Digital Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation, IEEE Trans. On Control Systems Technology, Vol. 7, No. 3, May 1999. C. Dufour, S. Abourida, J. Blanger, Real-Time Simulation of Electrical Vehicle Motor Drives on a PC Cluster, Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (EPE-2003), Toulouse, Sept. 2-4, 2003. C. Dufour, S. Abourida, J. Blanger,V. Lapointe, InfiniBandBased Real-Time Simulation of HVDC, STATCOM, and SVC Devices with Commercial-Off-The-Shelf PCs and FPGAs, 32nd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IECON-06), Paris, France, November 7-10, 2006 M. Ouhrouche, R. Beguenane, A., Trzynadlowski, J.S. Thongam and M., Dube-Dallaire, PC-Cluster Based Fully Digital RealTime Simulation of a Field-Oriented Speed Controller for an Induction Motor, International Journal of Modelling and Simulation, Vol.26, No.3, 2006, pp. 219-228. S. Abourida, C. Dufour, J. Blanger, Real-Time and HardwareIn-The-Loop Simulation of Electric Drives and Power Electronics: Process, problems and solutions, Proceedings of the International Power Electronics Conference (IPEC-Niigata 2005), Niigata, Japan, 2005 L.-F. Pak, O. Faruque, X. Nie, V. Dinavahi, A Versatile ClusterBased Real-Time Digital Simulator for Power Engineering Research, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 455-465, May 2006. Juan Carlos Moreno, Eduardo Jess Laloya and Jess Navarro, Line Redundancy in MVB-TCN Devices: A Control Unit Design, IEEE MELECON 2006, May 16-19, Benalmdena (Mlaga), Spain, pp. 789-794

The various models presented in this paper where simulated on various RT-LAB real-time simulator configurations. The results are shown in TABLE 1.
TABLE I. REAL-TIME PERFORMANCE ON 2.3 GHZ MULTI-CORE PCS. Model Sample time in s Configuration 2 PC (4 core each) w/ FireWire connection I/Os: 64 TSDI, 64 TSDO, 32 AO 6 cores used. 2 cores used. IOs: 12 TSDI, 12TSDO, 16 AI, 16 AO 2 cores used. IOs: none

Diesel-based power generation system + Four Induction Motor Traction system

55

High Power Three-level GTO-Based PMSM Drive Propulsion System Very-High-Power current converter propulsion system

26 15

All the timing given represents the minimum time step achievable without overruns. An overrun means that the actual time taken to compute one (1) iteration is larger than the simulator time step. In all cases, the model controllers are simulated with the electric apparatus. When the simulator is connected in HIL mode with an external controller, the internal controllers are no longer required and therefore the simulation speed can be increased in this case. For testing purposes, it is very convenient to have simulated controllers. With the internal controllers running, it is possible to test the I/O by implementing loopback tests, where the IGBT gate signals (for example) are sent to Digital Output then immediately read back by Digital Inputs and fed to the model. Configurations with I/Os make use of this approach. The TSDI acronym is for Time Stamped Digital Input, meaning that the digital input value is measured with a high accuracy clock (100 MHz) by the FPGA-based I/O. The resulting Time Stamp[3] is used by the RTeDRIVE inverter model for interpolation purposes.

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