Design and Implementation of Integrated Virtual Sensor Simulator Unit for Hardware in the Loop Laboratory of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Evaluating performance of the integrated system and its subsystems of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), such as sensors and actuators, requires the maybe expensive hardware in the loop laboratory (HIL). Modeling can be a cost-effective tool for validating hardware and software performance, performing missions, and thus reducing potential errors in marine missions which can be achieved through a relatively accurate dynamic simulation and modeling of equipment and environmental conditions inside the HIL. The purpose of this paper is to manufacturing a real-time virtual simulator unit of sensors used in AUV for to equip HIL. The suggested integrated simulator, simulates the output of the sensors used in the AUV such as pressure, GPS, inertial, magnetic and speed according to the technical characteristics and communication protocols of each sensor and sends to on-board computer. The proposed integrated virtual sensor unit with user-friendly features can be easily added to the HIL, leading to a significant reduction in costs. Evaluation result of the virtual sensor simulator unit in the HIL was performed in real-time that the results indicate the appropriate performance of simulation and its comparability with real tests at sea.