Case Study: Penn State University achieves industry-ready hardware-in-the-loop training with MathWorks

Automotive Research Lab at Penn State Gives Students Practical Hardware-in-the-Loop Experience

Penn State University’s Graduate Automotive Technology Education program faced the challenge of teaching advanced vehicle powertrain and hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) methods across a campus‑wide network of batteries, fuel cells, motors, dynamometers and other subsystems. To give students a single, visual environment for modeling, analysis and embedded controller development without forcing platform switches, instructors standardized on MathWorks tools such as MATLAB, Simulink, Simulink Coder, Simulink Real‑Time and Stateflow (with PSAT models based on Simulink).

MathWorks enabled a turnkey solution in which students use Simulink and Simulink Real‑Time to replace simulated components with real hardware, generate code with Simulink Coder, and run HIL experiments (including controlling a 150 kW power‑processing system and a full electric vehicle on a chassis dynamometer). The MathWorks‑based labs are reconfigurable and can be set up in minutes, have integrated research and teaching, and have helped students land internships and industry opportunities as a direct result of their HIL experience.

Penn State University

Joel Anstrom

Director