Chroma introduces its latest innovation in Battery Management System (BMS) testing. This BMS Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) testbed is designed to simulate a range of BMS component characteristics, including cell simulation, battery module voltage/current simulation, and temperature signal simulation. Various hardware options are available for seamless integration, such as a DC power supply, a digital meter, and an insulation tester.

Chroma 8630 BMS Power HIL Testbed is designed specifically for BMS research and development. Combining a real-time system with an open software architecture, the testbed provides users with a flexible and powerful dynamic test system capable of performing test items such as charge/discharge testing, dynamic voltage and current measurement and calibration, battery balance testing, CAN signal measurement and control, fault injection, insulation measurement, and EVSE charging simulation.

The versatile testbed allows for a wide range of customizable setups to simulate and verify the most critical and high-risk composite scenarios in the EV's environment (such as communication and physical signaling failures during cyclic discharge). In-depth testing of the BMS without the need for a real vehicle or battery pack significantly increases development efficiency.

Chroma 8630 simulates the communication and operation of the entire system. It can simulate the high-speed dynamic charging/discharging current of the battery pack, different cell conditions, temperature signals, system insulation resistance, as well as the various BMS protection functions. The testbed comes equipped with a high-precision programmable power supply, which can be used to conduct a more comprehensive dynamic test of the complete system based on any manually set or recorded real-world conditions.

Chroma 8630 can simulate the dynamic loading and recharging behavior of the powertrain, including cell balance current, high battery voltage and high current. It also supports importing vehicle models and various Simulink Model-based real-time mathematical models to realize driving cycles compliant with international standards such as NEDC, WLTP, and FTP-75. In addition, users can freely combine various test functions such as signal measurement and control, fault injection, insulation measurement, and simulated EVSE charging to achieve complex working conditions and to subject the device under test (DUT) to more rigorous inspection.

Chroma BMS PHIL Testbed 8630 not only facilitates the basic functions and signal control tests, but also simulates actual power behavior such as cell balance current, as well as high battery voltage and current. Compared with traditional signal-level HIL solutions, the system covers a more complete testing range of high-power EV and energy storage system components. Our solution allows users to conduct more extensive verification work for BMS components at the right side of the standard V-model development process, including system-level functions and various kinds of complex working conditions tests. In this way, problems can be detected and corrected at an early stage before entering whole-vehicle testing, which effectively reduces development costs and improves testing efficiency.

In order to cover the complex real-life behavior of vehicles, the automotive industry has been actively promoting the ISO 26262 functional safety specification for road vehicles as a standard for car manufacturers and their suppliers to follow in product development. ISO 26262 focuses on safety requirements from the product system down to hardware and software: functional safety requirements → technical safety requirements → hardware safety requirements → software safety requirements. The standard also stipulates that hardware-in-the-loop and fault injection tests are required at any automotive safety integrity level (ASIL) to ensure the validity of the safety mechanisms at the whole-vehicle level as well as the effectiveness of their failure coverage.

Chroma 8630 integrates a Fault Injection Unit to test various control and communication signals of the system under test, and can combine it with dynamic discharge, insulation resistance change and static charging behavior simulation. The testbed can simulate the most important, complex, and risky operating conditions for validating the BMS, and conducts in-depth tests. Without the need for actual battery modules, the testbed not only improves product design but also complies with the fault injection test sections of the ISO 26262 and facilitates the acquisition of ASIL safety level certification.

The user interface (UI) is a crucial component of any test system as it directly impacts the convenience and efficiency of R&D test personnel. The Chroma 8630 testbed comes equipped with various integrated instruments that create an optimal environment for flexible control and test program development. Users can freely write and modify test programs, as well as edit and customize UI screens, allowing them to continuously optimize test items and processes.

Display for Equipment and DUT Parameters

Using numbers, meters and graphs, the battery charge/discharge status, voltage, current, power, battery capacity, protection alarm, insulation level, etc. are displayed and updated in real time.

Control Parameters for Test Project Setup

Includes battery charge/discharge start and stop, charge/discharge voltage, current, insulation measurement start, fault injection signal selection, test condition selection, and more. Values can be changed digitally as well as by dragging and switching.