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A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was made in 2003

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Re: A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was made in 2003

#51
post #25

I want 2003. That's the last time anything worked. LTspice for example. Edit: worth nothing there is a native macOS port of LTspice now.

LTspice still works great afaik. I use it on Linux with Wine.

Have a look at Qucs-S for a native, usable Spice on Linux: https://ra3xdh.github.io

It's still missing a comprehensive component library like LTspice does though, contributions are welcome.

KiCad can also simulate circuits through NGSpice, but it's missing a library and suffers from a lot of quirks.

Re: A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was made in 2003

#52
post #8

The competition might look ancient, but IMO, a 2D interface would be much more productive and easier to work with. This site is completely unusable for me in Firefox (it does work in Edge though).

Well, it is like 2003 as far as the real-time performance of the graphics go. Or maybe more like 1993.

Re: A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was made in 2003

#54

It sure is pretty, but there's a critical issue. Components can have their pins labeled, but this is done in the 3D environment. Just place them down on the right side. There's plenty of white space there. No one wants to rotate a component around like that and strain their head to read. I'm literally just going to pull up Google and get the schematic there. You have the information but it is displayed in a way that…

Great feedback, we've chatted a bit about this internally already. It's something we'll likely add. In general we're looking for ways to make it easier to see pinouts/voltages/current/etc.

Thanks for sharing!

Re: A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was made in 2003

#56
For reference, here is a circuit simulator that was ported from a 2005 project and it is 2D. It also visualizes the voltage and current as speed and density of electron packets flowing through the circuit:

https://www.falstad.com/circuit/

Maybe a similar sort of visualization could be used for this project?

It is neat that it can simulate arduino uno code to pulse IO, as an in-simulation workbench.

Re: A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was made in 2003

#58
post #49

Nice touch that you can fry a LED, but unfortunately I couldn't get the Arduino to fry; it's the expensive part and the one I would want to run a simulation to make sure I will not destroy.

oh most've missed adding that in. we'll make sure you can let the magic smoke out of the arduino if you fry it too lol

Re: A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was made in 2003

#59
There's a similar product at https://wokwi.com/ (with an open source core)

It's actually really useful, fast, educational. Highly recommended.

I also wish someone would revitalize falstad circuit sim (http://falstad.com/circuit/), which is still I think the best tool for experimentation with analog electronics. Just a little bit better interface and user friendliness and it would be amazing!

A somewhat more robust numerical backend (that can give error guarantees) would also be nice, you kind of have to tinker with time steps in some cases.

Re: A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was made in 2003

#60
post #40
post #25

I want 2003. That's the last time anything worked. LTspice for example. Edit: worth nothing there is a native macOS port of LTspice now.

LTspice at least had a gui! I remember sketching schematics by hand, marking up nodes with names, then feeding plaintext into PSpice. But it worked great!

Considering how many ECAD programs have come and gone since the beginnings, over time that could still be a net win.

"When you include the time to earn the money for a car, driving can be no faster than walking." (~Mumford)

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