VisSim 6.0 now Available
25/10/2005
VisSim version 6.0 is now available in Australia and New Zealand. VisSim version 6.0 adds new blocks, an improved simulation engine, and enhanced user interface.
VisSim is an award winning program for the modeling and simulation of complex nonlinear dynamic systems. VisSim combines an intuitive drag and drop block diagram interface with a powerful simulation engine. The main additions to the program are;
New blocks
The new blocks, audioIn and audioOut, read and write audio from .WAV files or a Windows audio device. The delayed-Switch block enables the user to control the delay for the ‘on’ and ‘off’ commands found in process control. Version 6.0 provides new options for more accurate control over how the Display Block formats numeric data. Other new blocks include: maxElement, minElement, time of day, and video. The export and import blocks have been improved to allow ‘,’ as decimal point, and allow ‘.’ as a field separator. The import block now understands hh:mm:ss.ff as a time specification format.
The new Maple interface blocks communicate with Maple, mathematical problem-solving software. These blocks allow the reading and writing of scalar and matrix data to the Maple workspace, as well as execution of Maple scripts. This brings a fast smooth interface between VisSim and Maple.
The new add-on ‘Knobs and Gauges’ block set lets the user specify various blocks to give high quality graphical behavior of interactive gauges, meters, dials, switches and knobs. This allows the user to create a ‘dashboard’face plate to drive and monitor your VisSim model.
Enhanced user interface
VisSim Version 6.0 brings an improved user interface. The addition of the VisSim Tutor allows the user to annotate a VisSim diagram with interactive help balloons so that the user can read and understand it better.
The new VisSim Diagram Explorer Window now allows the user to explore the VisSim menu hierarchy. This makes it very convenient to insert blocks from deeply nested menu trees.
Simulation engine enhancements
Subsystem Superclocking, which allows all blocks within a Compound block to run at a user defined rate faster than the overall sym rate. It allows for containment of high frequency components, iterating through matrixes, or modeling of partial differential equations.
Two new integration methods for solving adaptive step stiff systems.
A real time scale factor which allows the user to run real time simulations at multiples or fractions of real time.
Auto check pointing lets the user automatically save diagram state to a file name with a time stamp suffix. The file contains the current state of all variables in the diagram at that point of the simulation. This is useful for operator training, allowing the operator to go back in time and re-simulate questionable decisions.
"When we developed the wheel motor drives for the Segway Human Transporter,VisSim was a great tool for simulating control algorithm behavior, tuning loop gains, and verifying that what we built was behaving as expected." - John David Heinzmann, Lead Engineer,Motor Drive Development,Segway LLC.
International Conference on Computational Methods
26/06/2003
Visual Solutions is the sponsor of the 1st International Conference on Computational Methods in Fluid Power Technology.
The 1st International Conference on Computational Methods in Fluid Power Technology will be held in Melbourne, Australia 26-28 November 2003. The Conference is organized by Fluid Power Net International, the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Monash University and sponsored by Visual Solutions the developer of VisSim.
The objective of the Conference is to provide an opportunity to exchange high quality, recent information on development, design, and research in the field of software for analysis and design of fluid power technology. “It is our intention to provide a forum for presentation of tools, methods, and "best practices" concerned with all aspects of application of computers to analysis, design and control of fluid power systems” - Dr. Jacek Stecki, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Monash University.
Visual Solutions has been a pioneer in the development of Windows-based VisSim software for the modeling and simulation of dynamic systems. VisSim products are used by major companies worldwide to model, simulate and embed control, communication and signal processing systems. VisSim combines an intuitive drag & drop block diagram interface with a powerful simulation engine. The visual block diagram interface offers a simple method for constructing, modifying and maintaining complex system models. The simulation engine provides fast and accurate solutions for linear, nonlinear, continuous time, discrete time, time varying and hybrid system designs.
VisSim version 5 from Visual Solutions is the standard simulation tool for the United States Air Force Advanced Flight Research Lab this standardisation was implemented after a comparison with competing products including Simulink.
"The VisSim product is a fabulous piece of software that allows the complex modeling and simulation using block diagram notation. I have been using this product to produce the control algorithms for a small robot using a TI 2406A DSP. The real advantage of the VisSim product over MATLAB's Simulink is in the code that it produces. The code the VisSim produces is tight, readable, and fast. By contrast, the Simulink code is virtually unreadable, making even small modifications somewhat impossible. In the rapid prototyping space, VisSim really shines as an enabler of quick turn-arounds and trade-off studies. After having used this product, I really do not see hand coding for any target for which VisSim is available." - Gabriel Elkaim, Ph.D. Global Positioning System Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University.