[HN Gopher] A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was ma...
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A circuit simulator that doesn't look like it was made in 2003
Author : malerba118
Score : 76 points
Date : 2022-12-14 21:42 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.withdiode.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.withdiode.com)
| jonathankoren wrote:
| Skeuomorphism? No thanks. I'd rather keep the circuit plan clear.
| SAI_Peregrinus wrote:
| Schematics are for _understanding_ what a circuit does.
|
| Breadboards are for prototyping small low-speed circuits.
|
| Veroboard is for prototyping larger medium-speed circuits.
|
| Gerbers & a PCB are for production and for prototyping large or
| high-speed circuits.
|
| If the tool could automatically make a 3D breadboard view from a
| schematic, it'd be pretty neat for beginners. If the tool warned
| you when the normal parasitic capacitance between breadboard rows
| would cause problems with a part you're using, that'd be
| _amazing_ for teaching.
| mtreis86 wrote:
| Are there any inductors or transformers? I don't see any on the
| left parts panel. I want to make an oscillator.
| heywherelogingo wrote:
| The ones from 2003 worked - this is mostly blank and does
| nothing.
| proee wrote:
| This is great for learning - you should consider a mode that
| switches to traditional schematic view so people can understand
| the corresponding circuit.
| steve_adams_86 wrote:
| I believe another web-based tool which can do this already is
| https://www.flux.ai
|
| I've noodled around with it and I like it, but I actually find
| working with pencil, paper, and the actual components to be
| more efficient than panning and zooming around a 3d
| environment. It's not always an option so these simulators are
| very useful, but I've come to realize I'm far better off by
| planning _not_ to use these tools, I guess.
| pkstn wrote:
| Wow, so awesome!
| Kwpolska wrote:
| 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).
| MichaelZuo wrote:
| The title does seem like a misaimed comparison.
| Gigachad wrote:
| Does the page just show up mostly blank for anyone else?
| Taniwha wrote:
| doesn't seem to work on chrome either
| CoffeePython wrote:
| Hey! Would love to investigate and see why this isn't working
| for you. Any more info on your OS/specs/browser version or
| what exactly isn't working? Should work on chrome.
| jakear wrote:
| Do you perhaps have "Advanced Security" mode enabled, where
| JIT is disabled for new sites? Site was super jank at first
| but once I added it to my exception list it was buttery on my
| M1.
| CoffeePython wrote:
| Yeah on my machine it's a lot slower using Firefox than chrome.
| We can investigate and see why it's happening.
|
| Also I do agree that 2D interface is probably important to add
| at some point too!
|
| I think right now the skeuomorphism is nice for folks wanting
| to get their hands dirty with circuit projects but don't have
| all the materials/supplies available for whatever reason
| (cost/space/etc)
| macintux wrote:
| macOS Safari (2020 Intel MacBook Pro) is unusably slow.
| [deleted]
| cpcallen wrote:
| Also doesn't seem to work in Chrome: I see a toolbar and the
| rest of the page is blank.
| malerba118 wrote:
| 3d opens up a few extra possibilities for us, but i think
| there's definitely advantages to 2d as well and seeing every
| solder joint on the arduino board is just a waste of cpu/memory
| at the moment. We have some camera presets that let you
| position the camera directly overhead for a top-down view which
| effectively is a 2d building experience. We might create a
| dedicated 2d view if there's enough demand for it!
| duskwuff wrote:
| So many times this. There is a reason why engineers use
| schematics instead of assembly diagrams or renderings when
| designing circuits or discussing how they operate. In
| particular, layouts on solderless breadboards tend to become
| incomprehensible for any sort of even mildly complex circuit.
| gumboza wrote:
| I want 2003. That's the last time anything worked.
|
| LTspice for example.
| melony wrote:
| Are you using SPICE for the actual simulation?
| CoffeePython wrote:
| Hey! I work on Diode w/ Austin (OP). Yeah we use a wasm-
| compiled version of ngSpice for the circuit simulation.
| etimberg wrote:
| Cool! We did something similar when I was on the team that
| built multisim.com
| tiagod wrote:
| That's so cool that there's a web version now! I was
| introduced to multisim back in high-school and enjoyed that
| unit a lot, will play around with it on the weekend :)
| IshKebab wrote:
| Pretty cool, though I would say that a breadboard is probably a
| worse UI for capturing circuits than whatever we had in 2003.
|
| But it is fair that e.g. LTspice has a terrible GUI. I always
| thought QUCS had the best UI of all the free options:
|
| https://qucs.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html
|
| Unfortunately it's not the most popular project.
| malerba118 wrote:
| 3d does present some additional challenges, but we decided to
| go this route to reduce friction for beginners who might not
| understand how schematics or other abstract representations map
| to the real world circuits they're playing with
| duskwuff wrote:
| I'm still not sure what the 3D aspect in particular adds,
| though. Tools which work with physical wiring diagrams, like
| Fritzing, have been available for ages, and I don't think the
| 2D nature of those tools has ever been a meaningful obstacle
| to understanding.
| azalemeth wrote:
| In my opinion, 3D is useful if:
|
| a) You want to check that your components won't physically
| bash into something else you care about
|
| b) You are designing something that operates at RF to mm-
| wave frequencies and need to worry (a lot) about the
| spatial location of the high-frequency components and
| nearby conductors / ground planes
|
| c) You want to get an idea about airflow and heat
| dissipation on power electronics and/or modules (such as
| power amplifiers) that come with their own heatsinks (some
| SIPs do!)
|
| Kicad and the other bits of hobby software that do a 3D
| render (such as diptrace) tend to do it for reasons (a) and
| (c). Software that does (b) properly costs hundreds of
| thousands of EUR$PS per year to rent and tends to have a UI
| that makes you scream with frustration at every possible
| moment.
| [deleted]
| pugworthy wrote:
| Ah skeuomorphism my old friend. So good to see you!
| oscillonoscope wrote:
| Nice idea but it's not very useful without net names or a
| schematic view. A nice looking UI isn't good if it's not
| functional
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(page generated 2022-12-14 23:00 UTC)