hardware-in-loop-reference

Overview

Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) is, per en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware-in-the-loop_simulation, "a technique that is used in the development and testing of complex real-time embedded systems" that "provides an effective testing platform by adding the complexity of the process-actuator system, known as a plant, to the test platform". In practice it means: the production ECU runs production firmware against a real-time simulator that emulates the rest of the vehicle / aircraft / machine in closed loop, with the same electrical interfaces the ECU sees in the field.