Leveraging Configurable Dyno Software to Improve Lab Throughput and Operator Efficiency

Facing capacity bottlenecks and aging infrastructure, a leading automotive test lab modernized its facility to keep pace with rapid EV drivetrain development. By upgrading to ACS’ Acselerant® dyno software platform alongside advanced NI™ hardware, the lab eliminated operational bottlenecks and standardized its cross-cell interface. The resulting multi-axis system drastically improves data acquisition speeds and flexibility, enabling engineers to seamlessly validate a wide range of complex drivetrain components on a single, future-proof platform.

The Challenge

Eaton Corporation develops and tests the drivetrain components that power today’s vehicles, including Electric Vehicles (EVs). Their test lab was getting squeezed between growing customer demands and aging infrastructure.

Existing test cells were dedicated to specific configurations and limited in speed and torque, while customers wanted more advanced differential and EV drivetrain testing. Their test cells were increasingly booked solid, especially the electric dynamometer. Aging PLC-based systems were slow and cumbersome, pulling engineers into routine troubleshooting. Compounding the problem, retirements and turnover meant operators were navigating multiple mismatched dyno software platforms, creating training burdens and costly downtime.

Eaton’s project goals were to address five challenges:

• Flexibility: Run more test types and future e-mobility drivetrain components in a single cell.
• Capability: Achieve higher speeds and torques to meet new test requests.
• Throughput: Reduce downtime and operator dependency to meet lab demand without bottlenecks.
• Data quality: Move from slower, noisier acquisition to higher-rate, cleaner data that supports better decisions.
• Operational efficiency: Standardize on a more intuitive dyno software platform so operators can move across cells with minimal retraining and less downtime.

With a long history of successful projects between Eaton and ACS, including test cells already powered by the Acselerant platform, Eaton partnered with ACS to modernize this differential dynamometer and modernize its lab to a consistent, cross-cell operator experience.

The Solution

ACS engineered a differential dynamometer test cell built on its Acselerant dyno software platform, running on an NI PXI real-time controller and integrated with distributed NI C-Series I/O modules connected over EtherCAT.

Flexibility: The cell was configured to support one to three motor axes depending on the unit under test, accommodating both traditional differential assemblies and single-axis EV drivetrain components. Each motor can operate independently in either speed or torque control mode, enabling operators to run the full range of differential test profiles, while replicating in-vehicle conditions more accurately than Eaton’s existing hydraulic dynos allowed.

Capability: The Acselerant system delivers coordinated control for up to three axes, including handling manual hardware changeovers to manage independent maximum boundaries of either 3,500 Nm or 1,500 RPM on the high-torque setup, or 1,400 Nm or 4,800 RPM on the high-speed configuration.

Throughput: ACS engineers programmed automated fault monitoring across torque, speed, and vibration parameters, with shutdown triggers designed to protect both the unit under test and the test equipment before a failure could cascade into cell downtime, allowing tests to run without continuous operator oversight.

Data Quality: EtherCAT I/O chassis were distributed throughout the cell and positioned close to sensors, minimizing analog signal path length. Signals are digitized at the source and transmitted numerically over a single EtherCAT cable. Custom FPGA code delivers directional speed and position values to the controller, improving on the level of encoder insight available in the previous system.

Operational Efficiency: With Acselerant’s configurable UI, Eaton’s engineers designed the operator screens, deciding which controls and indicators appear, where they sit, and how they’re labeled. Built-in tip strips provide control-level, on-screen guidance, reducing dependence on separate documentation. Eaton engineers can modify test sequences and adjust parameters through the Acselerant HMI.

The Outcome

The upgraded cell gives Eaton testing capabilities that their existing infrastructure couldn’t support: higher speeds and torques sized for emerging EV drivetrain requirements, directional encoder data, and data acquisition rates at least an order of magnitude faster than many of their PLC-based systems.

Tests that previously had to be routed to an already busy electric dynamometer can now run in this hydraulic cell. Eaton’s engineers can modify test sequences and participate directly in control-loop tuning through the Acselerant environment, reducing their reliance on ACS for routine adjustments and refinements.

With the next cell modernization project already under contract, Eaton is moving toward a standardized, Acselerant-based lab platform designed to keep pace with EV-focused testing for advanced automotive drivetrain components.

Key Features

• Differential dynamometer cell controlled by Acselerant on an NI PXI real-time controller
• Distributed NI 9145 EtherCAT I/O at the HPU, axle box, and main rack to shorten analog runs and digitize signals near the sensors
• Custom FPGA logic (80 MHz) to measure frequency and process encoder A/B/Z pulses into directional speed and position values
• Data acquisition up to 1 kHz, versus legacy systems in the 10 -100 Hz range
• Three-axis hydraulic configuration (input + two outputs), each axis operable in speed or torque mode
• Swappable input motor accommodates high-torque (up to 3,500 Nm / 1,500 RPM) and high-speed (up to 1,400 Nm / 4,800 RPM) configurations

ACS Services

• Test cell design and engineering
• Systems integration (Acselerant, NI PXI, EtherCAT I/O)
• Commissioning and system validation
• Operator and engineer training