Maplesoft has released the pilot version of MapleSim, which is a tool to be used in the modelling and simulation industry.
MapleSim is a high-performance multi-domain modelling and simulation tool, which will reduce the time taken to bring products to market by using physical modelling techniques.
MapleSim offers numerous advantages over traditional tools, including: it allows users to mix physical components with traditional signal-flow blocks; the model diagram looks like the real system being modelled; multi-domain models are easily assembled from pre-built components; units management removes potential conversion and consistency errors; live design documentation captures the analysis behind the model; systems of equations representing the model are automatically generated and complex models are automatically simplified using sophisticated symbolic techniques.
Physical modelling, or physics-based modelling, is the process of modelling the dynamic behaviour of a system mathematically. Traditionally, this task required significant manual effort to derive equations and manipulate them into a form that could be used by signal-flow simulation tools that employ a block-diagram paradigm. The block diagrams are more complex, harder to produce, and do not resemble the original system representation.
With the physical modelling techniques in MapleSim, users can re-create a system diagram on a screen using compact and intuitive components that represent a physical model, making it easier to build and understand. MapleSim has more than 500 components from several domains, such as electrical, mechanical, control design, and thermal, organised into easy-to-navigate palettes.
With MapleSim, mathematical equations that represent a model are automatically generated, saving weeks, sometimes even months, on complex applications. The equations are also simplified automatically, yielding concise models and high-speed simulations of sophisticated systems.
Maple’s symbolic computation technology is at the core of MapleSim. Unlike purely numeric computation, symbolic technology can convert a physical system representation directly into mathematical equations. Models created in this way are very concise and do not rely on iterative numeric routines to solve. This provides the best simulation performance without generating errors typical of manual derivations.
