Simcenter Testlab RT

Test and experience physical-virtual systems in real-time in the lab or in the office with powerful real-time hardware and software platforms.

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In today’s fast-paced marketplace, businesses face significant challenges such as rapidly evolving customer demands, increasing product complexity and rising development costs. Traditional physical prototyping is no longer sufficient to keep up, especially as the number of product variants grows, making physical testing impractical or impossible. To address these challenges, many businesses are adopting innovative solutions that combine physical and virtual (physical-virtual) systems to test and validate designs in real-time, ensuring seamless interaction between the two domains.

Simcenter Testlab RT helps you test and experience physical-virtual systems in real-time in the lab or in the office with powerful real-time hardware and software platforms.

Learn how system-in-the-loop testing de-risks subsystem integration and connects the product development stages by fusing the worlds of simulation and testing.

Use the X-in-the-loop (XiL) approach to integrate virtual components with physical components for comprehensive system testing.

Connect physical test specimens to a virtual system that simulate in real-time to replicate real-world scenarios and minimize integration risks. Quickly adapt to various system configurations and complexities.

Shift the focus of performance testing from the full physical system to a physical-virtual systems. XiL enables earlier performance evaluation and provides realistic testing in a controlled environment.

Real-time means that all computations executed by Simcenter Testlab RT are done based on reliable time periods and with microsecond precision. This enables you to accurately combine real-time simulation and real-world physics for systems testing allowing you to virtualize operational environments of the physical system under test (SUT).

Seamlessly interface physical systems and their virtual systems by leveraging analog and digital communication real-time interfaces. You can interface virtual systems to simulators, test bench environments and embedded control units. In addition, gain invaluable insights into system behavior by monitoring, acquiring and analyzing the physical and virtual sensors of the system-under-test in real-time.

Simcenter Testlab RT delivers scalable computational performance, tailored to accommodate the complexity of real-time simulation and control. The real-time environment runs on industrial personal computers (IPCs) via theSiemens SIMATIC® suite, which provide scalable capabilities in terms of central processing unit (CPU) type, memory and disk size and more to best fulfill each application’s needs.

Simplify the process of setting up executable digital twins with an intuitive interface for a plug-and-play experience. With one click, you can upload simulation models, control algorithms, terrains, roads, prerecorded data and more to create a parametrized and real-time executable digital twin. Ensure long-term compatibility with many digital twin formats, such as the Functional Mockup Interface (FMI).

Gain remarkable efficiency and flexibility through the ability to swiftly configure and automate tests via an intuitive web interface and by accessing and operating the system remotely from any device. By eliminating complex programming, you can also simplify XiL applications. This helps you minimize downtime, maximize productivity and empowers you to streamline the testing workflow.

Frequently asked questions

How easy is it to use Simcenter Testlab RT? Who are the typical users? What expertise is required?

Simcenter Testlab RT was ideated and designed as a zero-programming, plug-and-play and open system for real-time testing. It is made by engineers for engineers who need a reliable, intuitive and efficient system for everyday physical-virtual testing. Its help center is a great learning place for newcomers and a source of detailed information for experts.

What kind of simulation models and simulation software are supported by Simcenter Testlab RT?

Simcenter Testlab RT supports simulation models coming from many different providers, and for each one of them multiple software versions are supported. Model type includes, but is not limited to, multi-physics models, multi-body dynamics, reduced finite element models, virtual sensors, tire models, and controllers.

What is the complexity of simulation models that can run in real-time on Simcenter Testlab RT?

The Simcenter Testlab RT system offers hardware with scalable levels of computational performance, from 4 core i7 CPUs for basic simulation models to high performance 12+ core Ceon CPUs for complex co-simulation scenarios. To achieve this performance scalability, Simcenter Testlab RT runs on the SIMATIC IPC hardware family.

Is it possible to integrate Simcenter Testlab RT as a part of the control system of a test bench or a simulator?

Simcenter Testlab RT was designed with capabilities for seamless integration into control systems of test benches and simulators. This includes for example the capability to act as a PROFINET RT device, a UDP node and the availability of a complete API for automation from other systems. In this configuration, Simcenter Testlab RT is an add-on to control systems to connect digital twins in real-time to test benches and simulators.

Can Simcenter Testlab RT be directly interfaced to physical hardware?

For use-cases requiring it, Simcenter Testlab RT can directly be interfaced to real hardware including sensors and actuators. This is done via a large variety of real-time analog and digital I/Os as well as via digital buses and field uses.

What is the link between Simcenter Testlab RT and the other Simcenter Test solutions?

Simcenter Testlab RT integrates with the rest of the Simcenter Physical Testing solutions. Here are a few examples:

• Time data from Simcenter Testlab RT can be acquired in Simcenter Testlab Time Data Acquisition.
• Engineering data analysis and reporting can be done in Simcenter Testlab Process Designer.
• Data management can be done in Simcenter Testlab Data Management.
• Simcenter Testlab RT can be clock synchronised to Simcenter SCADAS and can also receive real-time data conditioned by Simcenter SCADAS.