Power Electronics
HIL Testing Solutions

Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing is a method where a real physical controller is connected to a real-time simulation of the power stage it would normally operate. Instead of testing the controller against actual high-voltage hardware, the power electronics circuit (inverters, motors, converters) is simulated with high fidelity on dedicated HIL device. The controller receives realistic sensor signals and responds with real switching commands, just as it would in the field. This allows engineers to validate control software exhaustively in a safe, repeatable environment before any physical hardware is involved.

Power electronics converters switch at very high frequencies, leaving only a handful of simulation timesteps per switching cycle. Without sufficient resolution, switching events are missed or misrepresented, directly corrupting simulation results. This is especially critical for topologies like the Dual Active Bridge, where power transfer itself happens at switching frequency, meaning any timing error immediately affects power flow accuracy, not just a negligible high-frequency ripple. Nanosecond-resolution simulation ensures the virtual environment is accurate enough for the real controller to behave identically to how it would on physical hardware.

Traditional bench testing requires physical hardware operating at full voltage and current levels, which introduces safety risks, high setup costs, and significant time investment. Historically it was the primary validation method, but relying on it exclusively means discovering software issues late in the development process, where fixes are expensive and delays are costly. C-HIL testing has fundamentally changed this workflow. By replacing the physical power stage with a real-time simulation, engineers can exhaustively validate control software across hundreds of operating conditions, including faults and edge cases, long before any high-power hardware is involved. By the time the product reaches full-power bench testing, the control software has already been thoroughly verified. Full-power testing becomes a final confirmation step rather than a primary discovery process, making it shorter, safer, and significantly less stressful for the engineering team. 

Getting started with Typhoon HIL is designed to be straightforward, even for teams new to HIL simulation. The Typhoon HIL software is available for free download, allowing engineers to start building and exploring models immediately without any hardware commitment. Combined with HIL Academy, a free online learning platform covering everything from fundamentals to advanced applications, teams can get up to speed at their own pace before any purchasing decision is made. 

When the time comes to work with hardware, rent and lease options are available for teams that want to evaluate the platform in their own environment before committing to a purchase. For those ready to move forward, Typhoon HIL offers the “HIL in a Day” service, where a Typhoon engineer works directly with your team to build the model, set up the testbed hardware, and run the first batch of test scenarios within a single day. The service includes off-the-shelf controller interfaces, a pre-built component library, and a follow-up remote training session to make sure the team is fully comfortable with the platform going forward.

Throughout the entire process, the Typhoon HIL engineering and sales teams are available to guide you, from selecting the right hardware configuration to answering questions as your testing workflows mature.