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Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) test facilities offer the highest degree of system
functional verification and performance evaluation outside of the actual operational
environment. The design and analysis of HWIL simulators involves the coordinated
efforts of numerous engineering fields, whose professionals possess the technical
expertise, analytical skills, and insight regarding cross-discipline collaborative
relationships which foster successful simulation development. As system complexity
continues to increase, and as programmatic requirements allow for shorter simulation
development schedules, the existing knowledge base associated with legacy HWIL
simulation development will play a key role in the preparation, readiness, and efficiency
of future HWIL engineering professionals. As a result, it is crucial that basic HWIL
methods and concepts be specified in a formal, academic sense, and that realistic test
facilities are made available to allow potential HWIL engineering students the
opportunity to become acclimated to basic HWIL components and design considerations.
To address this need, the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command
(SMDC), in coordination with the Auburn University Department of Aerospace
Engineering, has funded an initiative to perform initial development of a graduate-level
HWIL simulation option, including the provision of a functioning HWIL simulation
facility located at the university. This facility, modeled after a conceptual ballistic
missile interceptor, will possess the major elements of a HWIL simulation including a
Six-Degree-of-Freedom (6-DOF) simulation of the missile dynamics, an electro-optical
(EO) sensor implementation, a flight motion simulator (FMS), a scene generation system,
and an in-band image projection system. Architectural implementations and distributed
simulation elements will be modeled after existing U.S. Army missile simulation
concepts. In concert with this activity, an academic emphasis on HWIL simulation and
student participation across all engineering disciplines will be developed at Auburn
University, with HWIL facility development and subject matter expert (SME) interaction
provided by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and
Engineering Center (AMRDEC). This paper describes the incremental approach being used in the development of the HWIL facility, and the academic objectives associated
with student-centered simulation development and analysis.
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