Opal-RT Sets the Standard for Rapid Prototyping of Power Electronic Controllers & Motor Drive Simulators

Opal-RT Sets the Standard for Rapid Prototyping of Power Electronic Controllers & Motor Drive Simulators

		RT-LAB MX Station -- Opal-RT Technologies Inc.'s compact, robust, and ruggedized platform for rapid prototyping of power electronic controllers and hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation of motor drives used in electrical hybrid vehicles and industrial applications. (PRNewsFoto/Opal-RT Technologies Inc.) DETROIT, MI UNITED STATES

Opal-RT introduces RT-LAB MX Station - Combines industry leading RT-LAB software with high performance COTS PC and XILINX FPGA technologies in a compact, ruggedized solution that the engineer can use anywhere Opal-RT Technologies Booth #1910 SAE 2006 World Congress April 3-6, 2006 Cobo Center, Detroit MI DETROIT, April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Opal-RT Technologies Inc. (http://www.opal-rt.com ), the world leader in distributed simulation on PC- based platforms, today announced RT-LAB MX Station -- the company's compact, robust, and ruggedized platform for rapid prototyping of power electronic controllers and hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation of motor drives used in electrical hybrid vehicles and industrial applications. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060403/DEM034 ) With support for Pentium M(TM) and Pentium 4 HT(TM) single- and dual-core processors, RT-LAB MX Station offers all the processing power, Hardware-in- the-Loop, and FPGA development capabilities of the company's flagship RT-LAB Engineering Simulator. However, RT-LAB MX Station's compact, ruggedized footprint means the engineer can easily take it out of the lab and on the road to handle on-site service, in-vehicle testing and other functions. "Traditionally, engineers collaborating to conduct rapid prototyping of power electronic controllers have been limited to the lab, or forced to utilize custom DSP-based simulation technologies interfaced with non flexible and costly physical prototypes of their power electronic systems," said Jean Belanger, Opal-RT's Chief Technology Officer. "The launch of RT-LAB MX Station sets a new standard for rapid prototyping of power electronic controllers. By combining Opal-RT's industry leading RT-LAB technology with FPGA and COTS technologies in a compact and portable footprint, the engineer is now free to conduct rapid prototyping anywhere, at a lower cost, and without sacrificing accuracy, flexibility and scalability." Furthermore, RT-LAB MX Station can be configured to simulate IGBT converters, motors and their mechanical loads in real-time. The product does so with the level of accuracy required to develop, test and optimize fast power electronic controllers under real-world operating conditions (i.e. 10- nanosecond timer resolution). Already, leading electrical hybrid vehicles OEMs such as Toyota, and power electronic manufacturers such as Mitsubishi and Hitachi, are now using this model-based method. Modular Design RT-LAB MX Station is comprised of compact ruggedized PC and I/O components, measuring 15" x 12" x 5", that incorporate off-the-shelf technologies, are scalable, and can be configured to meet the engineer's specific needs. Like desktop-based RT-LAB Engineering Simulators, RT-LAB MX Station is fully integrated with Simulink(TM), Real-Time Workshop(TM) and the SimPowerSystem Blockset(TM). The product is based on unique parallel processing technologies that allow the engineer to distribute complex models over several computation targets, running either the QNX or RedHawk(TM) Linux RTOS, while transparently handling all synchronization, inter-processor data communication and signal I/O. This means that RT-LAB MX Station is readily scalable, allowing increased computation power by simply adding more PC modules to the cluster. RT-LAB MX Station can also be interconnected with large-scale RT-LAB Super computer real-time clusters to simulate and test complex multi-drive applications found in all-electrical warships and distributed energy generation and distribution systems such as wind turbine engines. The PC component supports dual-core Pentium M or Pentium 4 HT processors. An Opal-RT OP5110(1) XILINX VIRTEX IIPro FPGA board handles I/O management, while an Ethernet 10/100 4-port Hub is an available option. Additional OP5130(2) XILINX FPGA boards with I/O modules can be added for use in complex applications. Deployment of RT-LAB MX Station's I/O component is not limited to the lab. It can be deployed remotely -- anywhere the engineer needs it, making it ideal for a variety of applications. I/O components can be added, individually or in numbers, to existing RT-LAB environments through a FireWire(TM) or SignalWire(3) 1.25 Gbits/s interface. In addition, I/O components can be connected remotely to PC targets via optical fiber, minimizing cable length, noise, and costs. This also allows engineers who are working on disparate electronic controller models to connect to each other as needed to conduct larger scale testing. RT-LAB MX Station's I/O component can accommodate four I/O carriers that allow for a variety of I/O configurations using 16-channel high-speed I/O components. These include: * Up to 128 channels of Opto-isolated DIO * Up to 128 channels of DAC (5ma) or ADC * 16-channel independent A/D modules with 16-bit 2-us total sampling time * 16-channel D/A modules with 16-bit, 1-us update time. * Optional OP5130(2) FPGA boards for fast model execution and FPGA-based control prototyping. RT-LAB MX Station also integrates Xilinx System Generator(TM) (XSG), allowing the engineer to program FPGA processors without the need to learn VHDL code. Engineer can then easily configure I/Os, and even map parts of a model to both PENTIUM CPUs and FPGAs simultaneously, providing for improved performance, flexibility and more efficient use of system resources. About Opal-RT Technologies Inc. Opal-RT Technologies provides software, hardware, and related solutions for real-time simulation applications, with the aim of enabling real-time parallel processing through flexible and affordable technologies. The company offers a full range of engineering simulation products -- from enabling technologies to turnkey engineering simulators -- and consulting services that include systems integration, software development, simulation and modeling, problem-solving, and training. Opal-RT's core expertise is in distributed hard-real-time simulation, with experienced engineers designing real-time simulators for automotive, electrical power, aerospace, robotics, and other industries where fidelity and fault tolerance requirements push rapid prototyping and hardware-in-the-loop testing to their limits. Opal-RT's unique approach integrates parallel, distributed computing with commercial- off-the-shelf technologies. The resulting RT-LAB product range enables customers to develop simulations quickly, easily, affordably, and competitively. Opal-RT's customers include AISIN, DaimlerChrysler, DENSO, Ford, GM, Toyota, and other companies and universities leading the development of hybrid powertrain and vehicles. For more information about Opal-RT's range of Engineering Simulators and Distributed Processing Tools, see http://www.opal-rt.com . About RT-LAB RT-LAB is the real-time technology that revolutionizes the way model-based design is performed within the engineering organization. Through its openness, RT-LAB has the flexibility to be applied to any simulation and control problem, with scalability providing a low-risk entry point for any application, allowing the developer to add computational power where and when needed -- whether to dramatically speed up simulations or for real-time hardware-in-the-loop applications. References (1) OP5110 FPGA Board http://www.opal-rt.com/productsservices/hardwarecomponents/op5000/op5110/ (2) OP5130 FPGA Board http://www.opal-rt.com/productsservices/hardwarecomponents/op5000/op5130/ (3) SignalWire http://www.opal-rt.com/newsevents/pressroom/2004/pr_march8_2004_2.html