dSPACE GmbH (''digital signal processing and control engineering''), located in

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

, Germany (

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

), is one of the world's leading providers of tools for developing

electronic control unit An electronic control unit (ECU), also known as an electronic control module (ECM), is an embedded system in automotive electronics that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a car or other motor vehicle. Modern vehic ...

s. dSPACE GmbH has Project Centers in Pfaffenhofen (near

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

), Böblingen (near Stuttgart), and

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's he ...

, and cooperates with the autonomous local dSPACE companies situated in the US, UK, France, Japan, China, Korea and Croatia. Various distributors represent dSPACE in other overseas markets.

Application fields

dSPACE provides tools for developing, testing and calibrating

s (ECUs) in the automotive, aerospace and medical engineering industries, as well as in industrial automation and

mechatronics Mechatronics engineering also called mechatronics, is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that focuses on the integration of mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering systems, and also includes a combination of robotics, electronics, ...

. In most cases, the process of developing and testing ECUs is based on the five phases of the V-cycle. dSPACE's hardware and software cover four of these five phases, but not the first phase, control design.

Control design

The '' control design'' phase involves developing the control algorithms that will run on an ECU, usually by modeling them graphically. This process can be performed with Simulink, modeling software from MathWorks, and is outside dSPACE's application fields.

Rapid control prototyping (''RCP'')

In rapid control prototyping, control algorithms are taken from a mathematical model and implemented as a real-time application so that the control strategies can be tested with the actual controlled system, such as a car or a robot. Simulink is used as the input and simulation tool, and Simulink Coder, also from MathWorks, is used as the code generator. dSPACE provides the necessary hardware platform consisting of a

processor Processor may refer to: Computing Hardware * Processor (computing) **Central processing unit (CPU), the hardware within a computer that executes a program *** Microprocessor, a central processing unit contained on a single integrated circuit (I ...

and interfaces for sensors and actuators, plus the Simulink blocks needed to integrate the interfaces into the Simulink model (Real-Time Interface, RTI).

Production code generation / ECU autocoding

In a development process based on mathematical models, the models are designed with graphical software, and then automatic production code generators are used to translate the models directly into code for ECUs/controllers. When a model's behavior has been validated, the code generator has to reliably transfer it to the target processor, whose resources are usually designed for the greatest possible cost-efficiency. In other words, the final production ECU generally has less memory and processing power than the RCP system on which the algorithm was developed and tested. As a result, the C code (production code) generated for the target processor has to meet stringent requirements regarding execution time and efficiency. Since 1999, dSPACE markets its production code generator TargetLink, which is integrated into Simulink, the environment for model-based development. In addition to performing the actual autocoding, including code generation for AUTOSAR software components, TargetLink also makes it possible for developers to compare the behavior of the generated code with that of the original Simulink model (by means of software-in-the-loop (SIL) and processor-in-the-loop (PIL) simulation).

Hardware-in-the-Loop (''HIL'')-Simulation

In HIL simulation, a simulator mimics the environment in which an ECU will function: a car, an airplane, a robot, etc. First the ECU's inputs and outputs are connected to the simulator's inputs and outputs. In the next step, the simulator executes a real-time model of the ECU's working environment, which can consist of Automotive Simulation Models (ASMs) from dSPACE or of models from other vendors. This method provides a way to test new functions reproducibly in a safe environment, before a prototype of the product has even been produced. As with rapid control prototyping, Simulink models are the foundation. The advantage of HIL simulation in comparison with ECU tests in real prototype vehicles is that the tests on the control unit can be performed already during the development process. Errors are detected and eliminated very early and cost-efficiently.

Calibration / parameterization

Optimizing the control functions so that they fit specific applications is an integral part of ECU and controller development. To achieve this, the parameters of the ECUs are adjusted during ECU calibration. dSPACE offers software and hardware for this task.

Company history

* 1988: dSPACE is founded by Herbert Hanselmann and three other research associates at the Institute of Mechatronics at the

University of Paderborn Paderborn University (german: Universität Paderborn) is one of the fourteen public research universities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It was founded in 1972 and 20,308 students were enrolled at the university in the winter ...

, Germany. * 1991: First local dSPACE company outside Germany opens (dSPACE Inc.) Initially outside

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USA in

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its southern border with Detroit. The city was original ...

, relocated to Wixom in 2007. * 2001: Local dSPACE companies are opened in France (dSPACE SARL,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) and the UK (dSPACE Ltd.,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

); and a second Project Center is opened (near Stuttgart) * 2006: The local dSPACE company in Japan is opened (dSPACE K.K.). Initially in Yokohama, relocated to Tokyo in 2007. * 2008: The company's 20th anniversary. The local dSPACE company in China (dSPACE Mechatronic Control Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.) is founded, and Herbert Hanselmann receives the "Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008" award * 2010: dSPACE GmbH relocates to the new campus in Paderborn, Germany. *2018: The local dSPACE company in Croatia is opened (dSPACE Engineering d.o.o.) in Zagreb. *2021: The local dSPACE company in South Korea is opened (dSPACE Korea Co. Ltd.) in Seoul.

History of dSPACE products

* 1988: First real-time development system for control technology/mechatronics, based on a digital signal processor * 1989: First hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator is shipped * 1990: First real-time development system with a floating-point processor is shipped * 1992: RTI, first real-time system connected to MATLAB/Simulink * 1994: First multiprocessor hardware for real-time development systems * 1995: First turnkey (HIL) simulator for an ABS/

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

test bench * 1999: MicroAutoBox, a complete prototyping system for in-vehicle use * 1999: TargetLink, the first production code generator for ECUs based on MATLAB/Simulink * 2003: CalDesk, a component of the dSPACE calibration system * 2005: RapidPro, a modular system for signal conditioning and power stages * 2005: Automotive Simulation Models (ASMs), real-time automotive simulation models based on MATLAB/Simulink * 2007: SystemDesk, tool for developing complex ECU software architectures based on the AUTOSAR concept * 2010: MicroAutoBox II, second generation of the vehicle-capable prototyping systems * 2011: SCALEXIO, the new hardware-in-the-loop system, including new ConfigurationDesk configuration software * 2012: VEOS, PC-based simulation platform for early validation of ECU software * 2015: MicroLabBox: Compact prototyping unit for the laboratoryMicroLabBox
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External links

References

{{Reflist * Software companies of Germany Electronics companies of Germany Paderborn