Altair has announced a new release of VisSim, its visual language for mathematical modelling, simulation, and model-based embedded system development.
A visual language with automatic C-code production makes embedded software creation simpler and more accessible to control engineers. VisSim 9.0 increases engineering productivity and expands its support of the Texas Instruments (TI) C2000 product family.
The main improvements for this new release of the software focus on improving the speed of large plots and the overall simulation, as well as to large diagrams with many conditional subsystems.
Multi-scaled plots, polar plots, and a block and diagram finder have been added. New embedded features include an Execution Ordering block, a CRC16 block, and TI MotorWare InstaSPIN FAST and SpinTAC blocks for programming sensorless field-oriented control (FOC) motors.
“Throughout my career I have depended on one particular tool, VisSim, to provide the tools necessary to realistically simulate dynamic systems,’ said Mike Borrello, Principal Controls Engineer at Philips Healthcare. ‘As a beta user from the beginning, I can say that VisSim 9.0 is every bit as stable as 8.0 while providing some great new features and increased functionality that make building models much easier.”
VisSim now offers deep support for motor control simulation and embedded development on TI C2000 microcontrollers (MCUs), enabling control engineers to develop embedded systems 100% graphically without the need to write a single line of C-code. Specifically, release 9.0 expands the collaboration with respect to the F2805x, F2837x, and F2807x MCUs as follows:
support of the Piccolo F2805x MCU, including programmable gains, digital-to-analog converters (DACs), and comparator subsystems;
support of the Delfino F2837x MCU with 200 MHz performance, 16 bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC), 12 bit DACs, and dual C28x cores; and
support of the Piccolo F2807x MCU with 100 MHz performance, 12 bit ADC, 12 bit DACs, and dual C28x cores.
Furthermore, electric drive engineers may now access TI InstaSPIN, the leading motor technology on the market.
Dave Wilson, Motion Products Evangelist at Texas Instruments said: “VisSim 9.0 has totally changed the way I interface to InstaSPIN-FOC. I have used it for lab activity in my motor control course, and my students loved it! They had the interface working and their motors spinning in no time.”
By adding VisSim to its portfolio, Altair extended its math and systems capability beyond multiphysics modelling and simulation to include embedded software, controls, and chemical reactions.
Model-based systems engineering creates a complete functional and architectural systems definition of a problem, integrating the domains of embedded software, controls, electronics, and mechanical design. An advantage of this approach is that it allows engineers to link system requirements to design elements, facilitating full design traceability and verification.
“This is the first release of VisSim since the acquisition of Visual Solutions by Altair in August 2014,” said Peter Darnell, Senior Vice President of Embedded Systems, Altair. “By leveraging Altair’s impressive software resources, VisSim 9.0 is the fastest, most robust release yet. I’m also really excited about the new features like edit-in-place, the interactive block finder, and our synchronous JTAG HotLink, which enables Processor-in-the-Loop (PIL) testing.”
