Remote or Virtual Laboratory for HIL (Hardware-In-the-Loop) Testing Education

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the education has to be undertaken virtually on digital platforms in Hungary and many other countries. This presented new challenges to our department at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Our education and primary its laboratory part was very hardware focused. This paper introduces our solution for educating model based embedded system development and HIL (Hardware-In-the-Loop) testing in a remote or virtual laboratory environment. The laboratory uses a racing car simulator as a platform. Using the measurements data gathered from the racing car simulator the students can create their own control algorithms (like speed controller, or automated steering) and modify the behavior of the car. The laboratory can be configured to a virtual setup, where just simulations, and models are used, or it also can be configured to a remote setup, where real hardware-s is used through a VNC interface based virtual desktop access.