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A practical SIL to HIL testing strategy

Dervo Global team · 21 September 2026 · 1 min read

How to use simulation and real hardware together without doing the same work twice.

How to use simulation and real hardware together without doing the same work twice.

Good practice

Test as early as possible: run the logic in SIL on a PC before hardware exists.
Reuse the same test cases across MIL, SIL and HIL so results can be compared.
Use HIL for what needs real hardware: timing, input and output behavior, diagnostics and fault handling.
Keep plant models as simple as the test goal allows, and version them together with the tests.
Plan fault injection from the start: open circuits, lost messages and out-of-range signals.
Report requirement coverage, not only the number of tests passed.

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