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The application of a communication infrastructure for hybrid test systems is currently a topic in the aerospace industry, as also in other industries. One main reason is flexibility. Future laboratory tests means (LTMs) need to be easier to exchange and reuse than they are today. They may originate from different suppliers and parts of them may need to fulfill special requirements and thus be based on dedicated technologies. The desired exchangeability needs to be achieved although suppliers employ different technologies with regard to specific needs. To achieve interoperability, a standardized transport mechanism between test systems is required. Designing such a mechanism poses a challenge as there are several different types of data that have to be exchanged. Simulation data is a prominent example. It has to be handled differently than control data, for example. No one technique or technology fits perfectly for all types of data.

This paper presents an overview of a project called “Modelling and Simulation Tools for Systems Integration on Aircraft (MISSION)”. This is a collaborative project being developed under the European Union Clean Sky 2 Program, a public-private partnership bringing together aeronautics industrial leaders and public research organizations based in Europe. The provision of integrated modeling, simulation, and optimization tools to effectively support all stages of aircraft design remains a critical challenge in the Aerospace industry. In particular the high level of system integration that is characteristic of new aircraft designs is dramatically increasing the complexity of both design and verification. Simultaneously, the multi-physics interactions between structural, electrical, thermal, and hydraulic components have become more significant as the systems become increasingly interconnected.

Increasing productivity along the development and verification process of safety-related projects is an important aspect in today’s technological developments, which need to be ever more efficient. The increase of productivity can be achieved by improving the usability of software tools and decreasing the effort of qualifying the software tool for a safety-related project. For safety-critical systems, the output of software tools has to be verified in order to ensure the tools’ suitability for safety-relevant applications. Verification is particularly important for test automation tools that are used to run hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) tests of safety-related software automatically 24/7. This qualification of software tools requires advanced knowledge and effort. This problem can be solved if a tool is suitable for developing safety-related software. This paper explains how this can be achieved for a COTS test automation tool.

To make the development of complex aircraft systems manageable and economical, tests must be performed as early as possible in the development process. The test goals are already set in advance before the first hardware for the ECUs exists, to be able to make statements about the system functions or possible malfunctions. This paper describes the requirements on and solutions for test systems for ECUs that arise from these goals. It especially focuses on how a seamless workflow and consistent use of test systems and necessary software tools can be achieved, from the virtual test of ECUs, which exist only as models, up to the test of real hardware. This will be shown in connection with a scalable, fully software-configurable hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) technology. The paper also covers the seamless use of software tools that are required for HIL testing throughout the different test phases, enabling the reuse of work products throughout the test phases.