The project, funded under the German aviation research programme LuFo VI‑1, aimed to develop a silicon‑in‑line (SiL) and hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HiL) environment for the systematic investigation of faulty sensor signals in an electric propulsion system. The core technical effort was carried out by CirQua GmbH in close collaboration with the Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEM) at RWTH Aachen University and Engiro GmbH. The work was organised into two main work packages. In the first package, a comprehensive failure‑mode and effects analysis (FMEA) of the electric drive train – comprising a permanent‑magnet synchronous machine and its inverter – was performed. The FMEA identified that approximately 80 % of failure cases in aviation propulsion systems involve sensor faults, underscoring the need for redundant sensing and robust fault detection. The analysis guided the definition of the SiL/HiL system requirements, prioritising the simulation of rotor‑position and current sensor disturbances.

The second work package focused on the design, implementation and validation of the SiL/HiL platform. CirQua developed a modular mainboard based on a Xilinx Kria System‑on‑Module, integrating an FPGA with processor cores and a suite of analog and digital I/O interfaces. The board supports real‑time signal generation and acquisition, enabling the emulation of sensor faults with high fidelity. Analog input and output expansion cards were prototyped; the analog‑output card, featuring a digital‑to‑analog converter and front‑end circuitry, was successfully tested in a dedicated HiL test rig. Real‑time models of the permanent‑magnet synchronous machine were built in MATLAB/Simulink and deployed on the platform, allowing the SiL/HiL system to reproduce the machine’s fundamental waveforms and to evaluate the impact of erroneous sensor data on the drive‑train control loop.

A prototype inverter, constructed according to the specifications derived from the FMEA, was integrated into a cabinet and subjected to the SiL/HiL tests. The inverter’s performance under simulated sensor faults matched the predicted behaviour, confirming the validity of the models and the effectiveness of the fault‑simulation framework. All milestones – including the completion of the FMEA (Milestone 2.3.1), the SiL/HiL system definition (Milestone 2.4.1), the prototype inverter construction (Milestone 2.4.3) and the final system tests (Milestone 2.4.2) – were achieved within the project duration. The results were handed over to the IEM for further use and publication.

Collaboration-wise, CirQua led the SiL/HiL development and model creation, while the IEM provided the test bench, the inverter prototype and the experimental validation. Engiro contributed to the FMEA and the definition of fault scenarios. The project ran over two years, with the first year dedicated to requirement definition and system design, and the second year focused on hardware prototyping, software integration and experimental verification. The successful completion of all planned objectives demonstrates the feasibility of the SiL/HiL approach for fault‑tolerant electric propulsion systems. The findings will be presented jointly with the IEM at the PCIM Europe conference on 9 May 2023, and the modular hardware concept and real‑time models are slated for integration into CirQua’s future measurement and control systems.