Promoted content: National Instruments helps Subaru save 2,000 man hours

PXI has long been established as the de facto standard for building automated test systems, but its uses stretch beyond solely manufacturing or production test. With the PXI platform’s capability for running real-time operating systems or deploying code to FPGAs, it is also well suited to use earlier in the development process, particularly for complex devices like electronic control units (ECUs) and full authority digital electronics control (FADEC) systems.

Today, automobiles are equipped with an enormous number of ECUs to manage expanded functionality and advanced controls in the vehicle. In a hybrid vehicle, the motor ECU plays an even more complicated role as it manages the interaction between the conventional engine and the electric motor, along with its power systems.

Fuji Heavy Industries, parent company of Subaru, set out to develop its first hybrid vehicle - the Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid. This was their preliminary attempt to deliver a production model hybrid vehicle targeting both domestic Japanese and North American markets.