I have my own ideas that i would like to put into practice but since where i live materials are very scarce and expensive id like to know of computer software for simulations to be able to see if any of my ideas can be taken seriously enought to get into the effor of building prototypes .
Please post here about this software.
Many thanks
Search for Orcad PSpice, student or evaluation version. Version 9 at least.
Has limits, but still quite useful.
Will do, Many thanks!
There is another free and fully functional software (a general Spice), LTspice/SwitcherCAD III here:
http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/index.jsp Registration to download is optional.
And a yahoo group dedicated to LTSpice with lots of component models and problem solving here:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/LTspice/
I have one comment for you: if you receive unusual response/results from your simulated circuit ideas, try to actually build the circuit to check it! Softwares can play tricks with you due to incomplete models, unknown bugs etc.
rgds, Gyula
Hi there:
Here in lies the problem with sims. For the record, I did a sim once and it gave me results that were misleading. The device worked very well and had a power factor rating making it worth the build. So I spent over $300 haveing it made. Guess you know the rest. Salvage was around $100. Be careful and make sure you go over the program many times.After its all and done, its still just a sim. Tuned LC's are a good example of what I mean. Happy simming. ^_^
thaelin
Hi everyone,
Thanks for your replies leading me to this sims, but i'm still unsure that this is what i'm looking for.
I've checked both programs you told me here to take a look at and both seem only to simulate circuitry, what I need is something more "mechanical". I.E "i found a piece of software called newton that seemed to be what i'm looking for but it is not free and i'm not planning to fork out any money until i'm sure its useful, it does have a trial but almost everything is disabled."
The thing is that since i'm not knowledgable in the subject i might have explained myself wrong, if you do get what i try to mean by looking to this software maybe you can tell me of a free or opensource alternative.
Many thanks
You may want to look at FEMM as well. It will help if you are a bit more detailed on what you wish to sim. Stephan here on the board uses it and may be of some help.
thaelin
Quote from: Thaelin on September 11, 2007, 07:20:00 AM
Hi there:
Here in lies the problem with sims. For the record, I did a sim once and it gave me results that were misleading. The device worked very well and had a power factor rating making it worth the build. So I spent over $300 haveing it made. Guess you know the rest. Salvage was around $100. Be careful and make sure you go over the program many times.After its all and done, its still just a sim. Tuned LC's are a good example of what I mean. Happy simming. ^_^
thaelin
This is a blanket generalized statement and should be qualified.
Sim engines and models have their quirks and limitations true, but for electronics, 99% of the time the sim will be accurate.
I do not want to get into a debate about sims as I've been through enough of that already here, but "problems" in my experience (running sims since 1991), are mainly with the inductor model.
Unfortunately, FE research involves a lot of work with coils, so therein lies the problem.
It comes down to experience and knowledge in working with the simulator, and
in particular the inductor model. If one does not take into account, and adjust for the missing elements in the inductor model, one should never expect realistic simulation results.
The sim engine is a computer, so if you put in garbage, guess what comes out?