  Model-based fault injection methods are widely used for the evaluation of
fault tolerance in safety-critical control systems. In this paper, we introduce
a new model-based fault injection method implemented as a highlycustomizable
Simulink block called FIBlock. It supports the injection of typical faults of
essential heterogeneous components of Cyber-Physical Systems, such as sensors,
computing hardware, and network. The FIBlock GUI allows the user to select a
fault type and configure multiple parameters to tune error magnitude, fault
activation time, and fault exposure duration. Additional trigger inputs and
outputs of the block enable the modeling of conditional faults. Furthermore,
two or more FIBlocks connected with these trigger signals can model chained
errors. The proposed fault injection method is demonstrated with a lower-limb
EXO-LEGS exoskeleton, an assistive device for the elderly in everyday life. The
EXO-LEGS model-based dynamic control is realized in the Simulink environment
and allows easy integration of the aforementioned FIBlocks. Exoskeletons, in
general, being a complex CPS with multiple sensors and actuators, are prone to
hardware and software faults. In the case study, three types of faults were
investigated: 1) sensor freeze, 2) stuck-at-0, 3) bit-flip. The fault injection
experiments helped to determine faults that have the most significant effects
on the overall system reliability and identify the fine line for the critical
fault duration after that the controller could no longer mitigate faults.
