A model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method

Abstract

The present application belongs to the field of aviation simulation test, and particularly relates to a model-based virtual-reality combination simulation test method. It includes: step one, building an aircraft system model on a simulation platform, obtaining a multi-heterogeneous model set, and performing distributed integration of the multi-heterogeneous models; step two, designing a test architecture according to the aircraft system model, building a virtual-reality combination test verification environment, and forming an overall test architecture by adapting the simulation bus, the ground semi-physical test airborne bus, and the radio frequency bus; step three, building an automated test system, obtaining test cases based on the virtual-reality combination test verification environment and the overall test architecture, and conducting automated testing. The model-based virtual-reality combination simulation test method of the present application can realize test identification by combining digital models with airborne equipment during the ground test of unmanned aerial vehicles, solving the problem that the scale of airborne equipment cannot meet the conditions for multi-machine or cluster test verification.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of aviation simulation testing, and in particular to a model-based virtual-reality combined simulation testing method. Background Art

[0002] The main limitation of traditional UAV ground semi-physical testing is that the test conditions are dominated by airborne equipment, with digital / semi-physical simulation test equipment as auxiliary test conditions. The scale of the airborne equipment determines the verification conditions and verification scope. When the scale of the airborne equipment required for the test project is larger than the scale of the existing airborne equipment, the test cannot be carried out normally.

[0003] Therefore, it is desired to have a technical solution to overcome or at least alleviate at least one of the above-mentioned deficiencies of the prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this application is to provide a model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method to solve at least one problem existing in the prior art.

[0005] The technical solution of this application is:

[0006] A model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method, comprising:

[0007] Step 1: Build an aircraft system model on the simulation platform to obtain a multi-heterogeneous model set, and perform distributed integration of the multi-heterogeneous models;

[0008] Step 2: Design the test architecture based on the aircraft system model, build a virtual-physical test verification environment, and form the overall test architecture by adapting the simulation bus, the ground semi-physical test airborne bus, and the radio frequency bus;

[0009] Step 3: Build an automated testing system, obtain test cases based on the virtual-reality test verification environment and the overall test architecture, and conduct automated testing.

[0010] In at least one embodiment of the present application, in step 1, building an aircraft system model on a simulation platform to obtain a multi-heterogeneous model set and performing distributed integration of the multi-heterogeneous models includes:

[0011] Build an aircraft system model on the simulation platform to obtain a multi-dimensional heterogeneous model set;

[0012] DDS network middleware is used to implement a data-centric publish-subscribe mechanism. Through the data-centric publish-subscribe communication mechanism, the sending and receiving ends of the technical exchange of large-scale simulation systems are decoupled. Each simulation platform publishes data to the outside world by integrating DDS network middleware, and subscribes to the data it needs at the same time, binding the data with the input and output interfaces of the aircraft system model to realize the distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models.

[0013] In at least one embodiment of the present application, for a simulation platform that does not support DDS communication library file calls, the following method is used to implement distributed integration of multi-heterogeneous models:

[0014] If the simulation platform supports source code export, the source code of the aircraft system model can be called through secondary development, and distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models can be achieved through DDS network middleware;

[0015] If the simulation platform encapsulates the aircraft system model into a model format that can be parsed and called by other simulation platforms, the aircraft system model can be encapsulated with or without a solver according to different usage requirements to achieve distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models;

[0016] If the simulation platform cannot export source code and cannot perform universal standard packaging of the model, a communication module should be developed on the external platform for the model format supported by the simulation platform. The DDS communication protocol should be encapsulated in the communication module, and the model should be imported into the communication module and connected to the aircraft system model running in the simulation platform to realize data transmission and reception, and achieve distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models.

[0017] In at least one embodiment of the present application, in step 2, designing a test architecture based on the aircraft system model, building a virtual-physical test verification environment, and adapting the simulation bus, the ground semi-physical test airborne bus, and the radio frequency bus to form an overall test architecture include:

[0018] Connect a single aircraft system model to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the first test architecture;

[0019] Connect the multi-heterogeneous model set to the simulation bus to form a virtual-physical test verification environment, and connect the virtual-physical test verification environment as a whole to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the second test architecture;

[0020] The aircraft system model and the virtual-reality test verification environment are combined to achieve inter-machine chain communication through the radio frequency bus, and the first communication architecture is obtained;

[0021] Building a second communication architecture to enable communication between the aircraft system model and the ground station;

[0022] An overall test architecture is constructed based on the first test architecture, the second test architecture, the first communication architecture, and the second communication architecture.

[0023] In at least one embodiment of the present application, connecting the single aircraft system model to the ground-based semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the first test architecture includes:

[0024] The aircraft system model prints and unpacks interface data in ICD format, drives the bus communication board, and connects to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the first test architecture.

[0025] In at least one embodiment of the present application, connecting the multi-model heterogeneous set to a simulation bus to form a virtual-physical test verification environment, and connecting the virtual-physical test verification environment as a whole to a ground-based semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain a second test architecture includes:

[0026] The interface data of the multi-heterogeneous model set is read through the simulation bus to form a virtual-real test verification environment. The interface data of the virtual-real test verification environment is uniformly extracted, packaged and unpacked, and the bus communication board is driven to connect to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the second test architecture.

[0027] In at least one embodiment of the present application, the step of implementing inter-machine chain communication between the aircraft system model and the virtual-reality combined test verification environment via a radio frequency bus to obtain a first communication architecture includes:

[0028] The aircraft system model is combined with the RF simulator, and the RF simulator is used to convert digital signals into RF signals according to the ICD format, simulate inter-machine chain information, establish an RF switching network, and realize RF signal distribution through the RF circulator to obtain the first communication architecture.

[0029] In at least one embodiment of the present application, constructing a second communication architecture for implementing communication between the aircraft system model and the ground station includes:

[0030] Develop a ground-to-air communication adaptation system, calculate real-time timestamp information and CRC check information according to the ground-to-air protocol, print and unpack the simulated aircraft uplink and downlink data in real time, and connect to the access equipment of the ground station through Ethernet to obtain the second communication architecture.

[0031] The invention has at least the following beneficial technical effects:

[0032] The model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method of the present application can realize test and identification by combining digital models with airborne equipment during the ground test of UAVs, solving the problem that the scale of airborne equipment cannot meet the conditions for multi-machine or cluster test verification. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 This is a flow chart of a model-based virtual-real combination simulation test method according to one embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a first test architecture of an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a second test architecture according to one embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the first communication architecture of an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the implementation of this application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be described in more detail below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. In the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements with the same or similar functions. The described embodiments are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are exemplary and are intended to be used to explain this application, and should not be understood as limitations on this application. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application. The embodiments of this application are described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings.

[0038] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating the orientation or position relationship, are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, it should not be understood as limiting the scope of protection of this application.

[0039] The following is combined with Figures 1 to 4 This application is described in further detail.

[0040] The present application provides a model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method, which mainly includes distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models, virtual-reality combined interface adaptation and automated testing.

[0041] Specifically, this application relies on the "design-simulation-test-evaluation" process of model development to support rapid iterative system design. It targets the entire model design cycle and conducts research from model-based aircraft system design to a model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test system. The following steps are included:

[0042] Step 1: Build an aircraft system model on the simulation platform to obtain a multi-heterogeneous model set, and perform distributed integration of the multi-heterogeneous models;

[0043] Step 2: Design the test architecture based on the aircraft system model, build a virtual-physical test verification environment, and form the overall test architecture by adapting the simulation bus, the ground semi-physical test airborne bus, and the radio frequency bus;

[0044] Step 3: Build an automated testing system, obtain test cases based on the virtual-reality test verification environment and the overall test architecture, and conduct automated testing.

[0045] The model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method of this application first builds an aircraft system model based on modeling tools such as Rhapsody, Scade, AMEsim, and Dymola to form a multi-heterogeneous model set, conducts research on multi-heterogeneous model interface adaptation technology and distributed model integration methods based on soft buses, and integrates distributed aircraft system models. Then, based on the aircraft system model generated during the model development process, the test architecture is designed, and a virtual-reality combined test verification environment is built. By conducting adaptation research on the simulation soft bus, test bus, and radio frequency bus, a flexible and parallel test overall architecture is formed, which realizes the ability to replace any device or system in the test environment with a simulation model to complete the full system test. Finally, research on test case design methods and the construction of an automated test system are carried out for the virtual-reality combined test verification environment and the overall architecture to improve the efficiency of ground semi-physical tests.

[0046] The model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method of the present application, in step 1, builds an aircraft system model on a simulation platform to obtain a multi-heterogeneous model set, and performs distributed integration of the multi-heterogeneous models, including:

[0047] Build an aircraft system model on the simulation platform to obtain a multi-dimensional heterogeneous model set;

[0048] DDS network middleware is used to implement a data-centric publish-subscribe mechanism. Through the data-centric publish-subscribe communication mechanism, the sending and receiving ends of the technical exchange of large-scale simulation systems are decoupled. Each simulation platform publishes data to the outside world by integrating DDS network middleware, and subscribes to the data it needs at the same time, binding the data with the input and output interfaces of the aircraft system model to realize the distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models.

[0049] In addition, for simulation platforms that do not support DDS communication library file calls, the following methods are used to implement distributed integration of multi-heterogeneous models:

[0050] If the simulation platform supports source code export, the source code of the aircraft system model can be called through secondary development, and distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models can be achieved through DDS network middleware;

[0051] If the simulation platform encapsulates the aircraft system model into a model format that can be parsed and called by other simulation platforms, the aircraft system model can be encapsulated with or without a solver according to different usage requirements to achieve distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models;

[0052] If the simulation platform cannot export source code and cannot perform universal standard packaging of the model, a communication module should be developed on the external platform for the model format supported by the simulation platform. The DDS communication protocol should be encapsulated in the communication module, and the model should be imported into the communication module and connected to the aircraft system model running in the simulation platform to realize data transmission and reception, and achieve distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models.

[0053] The model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method of the present application, in the distributed integration process of multiple heterogeneous models, performs distributed simulation integration verification on simulation models across simulation platforms. It is necessary to first solve the communication problem of each simulation node, and adopt DDS (data subscription and publishing system) network middleware to implement a data-centric publish-subscribe mechanism. It is built on the communication protocol on Ethernet, and implements a data-centric publish-subscribe communication mechanism, realizing the decoupling of the sending and receiving ends of the technical exchange of large-scale simulation systems. The quality service it provides can fully guarantee the communication quality. Each simulation platform can integrate DDS network middleware to publish data to the outside world, and subscribe to the data it needs at the same time. Binding the data to the input and output interfaces of the model can realize the distributed integration verification of the simulation platform. Advantageously, in this embodiment, for simulation platforms that do not support DDS communication library file calls, three other ways to achieve model integration are also given:

[0054] (1) Model source code export

[0055] If the simulation tool supports source code export, secondary development can be performed through C / C++ to call the model source code, and the model can be integrated through DDS network middleware.

[0056] (2) Package model

[0057] If the simulation tool can encapsulate the model into a model format that can be parsed and called by other simulation platforms, the model can be packaged with or without a solver according to different usage requirements. Common packaging standards include the FMI standard universal simulation interface. Currently, mainstream simulation software such as Simulink, AMESim, Dymola, Modelica, Silver, etc. support the export of FMI standard FMU models.

[0058] (3) Development of communication modules

[0059] If the simulation tool cannot export code or perform universal standard packaging of the model, you can develop a communication module on an external platform for the model format supported by the tool. The DDS communication protocol can be encapsulated in the module, and then the communication module can be imported into the model and connected to the model running on the platform to realize data transmission and reception.

[0060] In the model-based virtual-physical combined simulation test method of this application, in step 2, a test architecture is designed based on the aircraft system model, a virtual-physical combined test verification environment is built, and the simulation bus, the ground semi-physical test airborne bus, and the radio frequency bus are adapted to form the overall test architecture, including:

[0061] Connect a single aircraft system model to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the first test architecture;

[0062] Connect the multi-heterogeneous model set to the simulation bus to form a virtual-physical test verification environment, and connect the virtual-physical test verification environment as a whole to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the second test architecture;

[0063] The aircraft system model and the virtual-reality test verification environment are combined to achieve inter-machine chain communication through the radio frequency bus, and the first communication architecture is obtained;

[0064] Building a second communication architecture to enable communication between the aircraft system model and the ground station;

[0065] An overall test architecture is constructed based on the first test architecture, the second test architecture, the first communication architecture, and the second communication architecture.

[0066] In one embodiment of the present application, a single device simulation model is connected to the onboard bus, and the resulting system architecture is as follows: Figure 2 As shown, the simulation model prints and unpacks the interface data in ICD format, drives the bus communication board, and connects to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus. This allows the minimum simulation system to be connected to the airborne bus through interface adaptation. This has the characteristics of keeping the overall structure and composition of the test environment unchanged and having strong synchronization of information transmission. In this embodiment, the simulation environment is connected to the airborne bus as a whole, and the resulting system architecture is as follows: Figure 3 As shown, the interface data of the simulation model is read through the simulation bus, the simulation system interface data is uniformly extracted, the data is packaged and unpacked, the bus communication board is driven, and the ground semi-physical test aircraft bus is connected. This realizes the unified access of the large system simulation environment to the ground semi-physical test environment, with the characteristics of communication between simulation models without going through the board, the simulation system as a whole is connected to the test network, strong portability, distributed operation of the model, and flexible model access. In this embodiment, the digital aircraft model communicates with the test environment machine chain, and the resulting system architecture is as follows Figure 4 As shown, a digital aircraft is combined with an RF simulator. The RF simulator converts digital signals into RF signals according to the airborne ICD format, simulates inter-machine link information, establishes an RF switching network, and distributes RF signals through an RF circulator, resulting in a first communication architecture. In this embodiment, the digital aircraft communicates with a ground station. A ground-to-air communication adaptation system is designed and developed. According to the ground-to-air protocol, real-time timestamp information and CRC checksum information are calculated, and the simulated aircraft uplink and downlink data are printed and unpacked in real time. The system then connects to the ground station's access equipment via Ethernet, resulting in a second communication architecture. This allows the ground station seat to simultaneously display downlink information from both the digital aircraft and the semi-physical aircraft.

[0067] The model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method of the present application, by designing a system test environment parallel system with a test bus network configuration switching function, realizes the rapid switching of all nodes of the test network under program control, and then realizes the arbitrary switching of the airborne digital model and the test piece, improves the efficiency of the test environment resource utilization and thus speeds up the test progress. The test environment parallel system includes a bus switching device and switching control management software; the switching control management software runs on a workstation and communicates with the bus switching device via Ethernet; the bus switching device and the test piece device are connected via a matching cable; the bus switching device can select whether the test piece or the airborne digital model is connected to the ring network through switching control, and the switching device supports bus signal switching of real equipment on the main ring network and branch lines.

[0068] The model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method of this application requires that the design of the automated test system consider the degree of automation and intelligence in terms of resource coordination, environmental configuration, process control, organizational management, etc. of the comprehensive test, and preliminarily realize the automatic execution of test cases for subsystem tests and full-machine comprehensive tests, so that most subsystem tests and full-machine comprehensive tests have automatic or semi-automatic verification capabilities, thereby improving the efficiency of the test work, improving the collaboration mode and working conditions of the test personnel, and reducing the interference of manual operation positions and human factors on the test. The automated test system is oriented towards the comprehensive verification requirements of the entire aircraft. It needs to support the requirements of subsystem automated testing and comprehensive automated testing of the entire aircraft, covering many subsystems such as the flight control system, mission system, electromechanical system, weapon system, etc. There are many test devices, a large amount of test signals, high test complexity, and strong diversity of test requirements. Therefore, the developed automated test system needs to have the following functions: (1) Provide a unified and standardized control interface definition for the physical equipment, simulation equipment and its stimulus equipment in the environment, and describe and manage the specific topological environment required for the test; (2) On the basis of global test resource management, support the definition and management of test cases for subsystem tests and comprehensive tests of the entire aircraft, and support the reuse, packaging and combination of test cases and other processing requirements. (3) Support test verification process management, be able to carry out test case automation execution, alarm, tracking and other functions, and realize the automated management of test equipment resources; (4) Combined with the actual verification requirements of model design, support multiple test requirements such as simultaneous separate tests of multiple subsystems and mixed tests of subsystems and complete machines, and have management requirements such as test environment resource allocation and occupancy detection; (5) The automated test system can be deployed in a distributed manner, providing real-time data monitoring, remote control and visual display for the test verification of each subsystem and the complete machine.

[0069] The model-based virtual-reality combined simulation test method of the present application adopts virtual-reality combined technology for architecture design, constructs a test environment consisting of airborne equipment, virtual airborne systems, and digital aircraft, and builds model-based virtual-reality combined test verification capabilities. It realizes the implementation of one-station control of multiple aircraft and multi-aircraft joint dispatch test verification based on the combination of real ground test environment and aircraft system simulation model, laying the foundation for the organization, planning, implementation and management of large-scale simulation test verification in related fields within the industry.

[0070] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A model-based virtual-real combination simulation test method, characterized in that: include: Step 1: Build an aircraft system model on the simulation platform to obtain a multi-heterogeneous model set, and perform distributed integration of the multi-heterogeneous models; Step 2: Design the test architecture based on the aircraft system model, build a virtual-physical test verification environment, and adapt the simulation bus, ground semi-physical test airborne bus, and radio frequency bus to form the overall test architecture, including: Connect a single aircraft system model to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the first test architecture; Connect the multi-heterogeneous model set to the simulation bus to form a virtual-physical test verification environment, and connect the virtual-physical test verification environment as a whole to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the second test architecture; The aircraft system model and the virtual-reality test verification environment are combined to achieve inter-machine chain communication through the radio frequency bus, and the first communication architecture is obtained; Building a second communication architecture to enable communication between the aircraft system model and the ground station; Building an overall test architecture based on the first test architecture, the second test architecture, the first communication architecture, and the second communication architecture; Step 3: Build an automated testing system, obtain test cases based on the virtual-reality test verification environment and the overall test architecture, and conduct automated testing.

2. The model-based virtual-real combination simulation test method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 1, the aircraft system model is built on the simulation platform to obtain a multi-heterogeneous model set, and the distributed integration of the multi-heterogeneous models is performed, including: Build an aircraft system model on the simulation platform to obtain a multi-dimensional heterogeneous model set; DDS network middleware is used to implement a data-centric publish-subscribe mechanism. Through the data-centric publish-subscribe communication mechanism, the sending and receiving ends of the technical exchange of large-scale simulation systems are decoupled. Each simulation platform publishes data to the outside world by integrating DDS network middleware, and subscribes to the data it needs at the same time, binding the data with the input and output interfaces of the aircraft system model to realize the distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models.

3. The model-based virtual-real combination simulation test method according to claim 2, characterized in that: For simulation platforms that do not support DDS communication library file calls, the following methods are used to implement distributed integration of multi-heterogeneous models: If the simulation platform supports source code export, the source code of the aircraft system model can be called through secondary development, and distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models can be achieved through DDS network middleware; If the simulation platform encapsulates the aircraft system model into a model format that can be parsed and called by other simulation platforms, the aircraft system model can be encapsulated with or without a solver according to different usage requirements to achieve distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models; If the simulation platform cannot export source code and cannot perform universal standard packaging of the model, a communication module should be developed on the external platform for the model format supported by the simulation platform. The DDS communication protocol should be encapsulated in the communication module, and the model should be imported into the communication module and connected to the aircraft system model running in the simulation platform to realize data transmission and reception, and achieve distributed integration of multiple heterogeneous models.

4. The model-based virtual-real combination simulation test method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Connecting a single aircraft system model to a ground-based semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain a first test architecture includes: The aircraft system model prints and unpacks interface data in ICD format, drives the bus communication board, and connects to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the first test architecture.

5. The model-based virtual-real combination simulation test method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second test architecture is obtained by connecting the multi-heterogeneous model set to the simulation bus to form a virtual-physical test verification environment, and connecting the virtual-physical test verification environment as a whole to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus. The interface data of the multi-heterogeneous model set is read through the simulation bus to form a virtual-real test verification environment. The interface data of the virtual-real test verification environment is uniformly extracted, packaged and unpacked, and the bus communication board is driven to connect to the ground semi-physical test airborne bus to obtain the second test architecture.

6. The model-based virtual-real combination simulation test method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The aircraft system model and the virtual-reality combined test verification environment are used to realize inter-machine chain communication through a radio frequency bus to obtain a first communication architecture, including: The aircraft system model is combined with the RF simulator, and the RF simulator is used to convert digital signals into RF signals according to the ICD format, simulate inter-machine chain information, establish an RF switching network, and realize RF signal distribution through the RF circulator to obtain the first communication architecture.

7. The model-based virtual-real combination simulation test method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The second communication architecture for implementing communication between the aircraft system model and the ground station includes: Develop a ground-to-air communication adaptation system, calculate real-time timestamp information and CRC check information according to the ground-to-air protocol, print and unpack the simulated aircraft uplink and downlink data in real time, and connect to the access equipment of the ground station through Ethernet to obtain the second communication architecture.

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