Electric motion systems

"VisSim is an essential tool for us in developing motor controls for electric bicycles. Code development time is greatly reduced with VisSim’s ready-to-use block sets and efficient debugging capability. The best of VisSim is its support team. They respond quickly, go an extra mile to solve issues and suggest efficient ways in implementations. For example, we asked VisSim to help us in implementing a serial communication interface (SCI) protocol for our electric bicycle system in 12/12/07. We had the system running flawlessly before Christmas vacation"
 

Ziaur Rahman, Ph.D.E.E. Director Electrical Controls

Shlumberger

"Adopting VisSim is a logical extension of the modeling we often carry out before and during system design. The user interface and its ease of use were a major attraction. The VisSim support  is a level above anything I have seen before. The VisSim team's response to ALL of my questions was very helpful and timely. VisSim is also useful to explain systems and requirements to pure embedded engineers who are not control experts. The software was very easy to learn and saved us a considerable amount of time. I have already recommended it to several engineers in our company and outside, and am currently trying to introduce the use of graphical embedded systems development to our engineering teams in order to speed up many of the prototyping and early development tasks. I would eventually like to see this approach be the mainstream among our engineering teams, and am confident that with the current pace of VisSim development, this can be achieved."

Shehab Ahmet, Product Development Engineer - Shlumberger

Texas Instruments

"VisSim/Embedded Controls Developer for MSP430 provides a breakthrough in ease-of-use for microprocessor development. It is truly amazing that VisSim graphical programming can generate code to access MSP430 peripherals and perform closed loop control in less than 2K flash and 128 bytes RAM."

Adrian Valenzuela, MSP430 Product Marketing Engineer - Texas Instruments

Wavecrest

"Thanks to VisSim/ECD, we shortened software development time for our BLDC mining pump motor by at least several months. We did coding and testing for the LF2406 Semikron inverter boards, performance tests for the motor, and PID tuning for system optimization, all in VisSim. Choosing VisSim is one of the smartest investments WaveCrest has made."

Guohui Yuan,Senior Controls Engineer

Energy Sciences Inc.

"I originally purchased VisSim about a year ago, with the idea that I would use it exclusively as a graphical programming environment to program Texas Instruments C2000 family of DSPs.  I'm the only engineer doing circuit board design at a small company, and I don't have time for hand coding and debugging 16 bit fixed point programs.  For my current project, VisSim has allowed me to collapse my firmware development time from months down to about a week.  It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of VisSim to my development time-table.
As a completely incidental and unanticipated benefit, I've begun using the using the pure simulation (non-DSP) blocks.  We had an unstable power supply that was giving us trouble.  We were able to model the circuit and find a fix.  For this problem, I actually preferred using VisSim to PSpice. The Simulation portion has the look and feel of a mature product.  I found it very intuitive.  The DSP coder is also excellent. The few snags that I've run into have demonstrated another virtue of Visual Solutions.  Whenever I report a problem or a bug, I generally get a fixed version in two days or less.  The company is very responsive in general, and eagerly accepts and implements feedback in their continuing releases.  Overall, I consider the VisSim product an invaluable tool, and the people at Visual Solutions a pleasure to work with."

Greg Gottshalk, Electrical Engineer

Mallinckrodt Inc.

"I consider VisSim/DSP to be the easiest, fastest method available for designing and implementing embedded DSP controls. It’s a well integrated and automated solution that frees the designer from having to deal with any programming at all."
Mike Borrello, Senior Controls Engineer

Boise State university

"I evaluated development software for a project using Texas Instruments DSPs. I reviewed VisSim/Embedded Controls Developer from Visual Solutions and Matlab/Simulink from the Mathworks. The Mathwork's software presented several challenges before code could be generated. The software from Visual Solutions was up and running producing readable code within a few hours. We have used the VisSim Embedded Control Developer for one year. With this software, we can easily program a TI EzdspF2812 without writing a single line of code. It takes little effort to implement the algorithms using the blocks offered in VisSim. The technical support is very responsive and helpful. We are extremely happy with our choice of VisSim for rapid prototyping of motion control algorithms."

Yishan Zhao, Boise State University

University of South Australia

"I am happy with VisSim in comparison with other available tools. I use VisSim/ECD with TI DSP for control and measurement system prototyping in my work with Switched Reluctance Motors because it supports all the peripherals I need in one package.  It is much easier to use and more capable than dSpace.  I can produce a "proof of concept" quickly with the great hardware peripheral choice on the F2812/F2808. A VisSim designed system is much easier to troubleshoot compared with Matlab/Simulink ET for F28xx. The number of VisSim target modules is greater, it covers every hardware peripheral I need. The code generated is easier to read and it is straightforward."

Dr. Evgueni Sliva, Research Fellow, Centre for Advanced Manufacturing Research

Biomedical

REsmed

"VisSim's great strengths have been the free viewer feature, so that our models can be used around the world, executing automatically from a CD, and the 60-day evaluation license system, which has allowed the models to grow from a series of student projects. We couldn't have achieved the current level of sophistication in our models under the licensing approach of some other simulation software. This licensing flexibility is to VisSim's credit, and ultimately led to the purchase of numerous VisSim licenses. "
 

Dion Martin BE, MBiomedE, Principal Engineer, ResMed (R&D) Limited

Robotics

stanford university

"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. Stanford UniversityGPS  Lab

Automotive

Daimler Chrysler

"VisSim is truly a breakthrough in simulation software. Its extensive tool kit, model library, interface capability and ease of use make it clearly a powerful software development tool."

Dave Perugini, Daimler Chrysler

Motion Design

Segway

"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

Communication Design

ERICSSON

"Using VisSim/Comm, we designed a new modulation synthesizer much faster than if we had followed the conventional hardware proof-of-concept. We were able to validate our approach in a matter of days as opposed to the several weeks required to design, assemble and test a breadboard."
Charles Gore, R&D Engineer

Delphi

" My group chose VisSim/Comm software over ADS, Simulink, Matlab and  Mathcad based on ease of use, extensive library of Communication  operations, speed of simulation and price. I am developing next generation digital receivers with switched and phased array diversity algorithms. VisSim/Comm has more than lived up to my expectations. It has been easy to  learn, and enables us to get quick answers to our design questions. I have made great progress on my project and received excellent support from Visual Solutions. I highly recommend VisSim/Comm to anyone interested in serious physical layer RF data communication simulation."
 Raed S. Shatara, Ph.D, Senior RF Design Engineer

Booz Allen Hamilton

"I chose VisSim/Comm software to help me with various R&D and consulting projects. It meets my criteria for functionality, performance, price and easy learning curve. When I first started using VisSim I was up and running on the project within 2-3 days. In fact, people thought I was a guru by the second week. The software pays for itself by allowing me to perform tasks quicker and easier, leading us to get new consulting work. The BER (Bit Error Rate) simulations definitely run fast without having to have special high power machines. The general nature of VisSim having the ability to model projects for other disciplines outside the comm. arena has been a definite plus also. I rarely need to ask for support but when I do, the folks at Visual Solutions are completely knowledgeable and professional. I often recommend the software to others.."
 Mark Tigerman, Advanced R&D Technology Engineer

Medical Equipment

Mallinckrodt Inc.

"Discovering VisSim has been a major turning point in my career as a control engineer. VisSim allows me to solve problems ten times faster than with tools conventionally adopted by industry."
Mike Borrello, Senior Controls Engineer

Aerospace

Northrop-Grumman

"For high-level simulation of complex systems, VisSim gets the job done faster. Period."
Steve Morrison, Advisory Engineer

PHM Technology

"We recently used VisSim to model a fuel delivery line for a helicopter turbo engine. The client demanded a Simulink model, so we translated the VisSim model to Simulink. This work really demonstrated to me how poor Simulink is to model, debug and get simulation info. The running time for VisSim is approx. 1 minute per one sec of simulation time. Bl**dy Simulink takes hours! You can't see anything until it finishes. One does not know if it is working properly until the end of the run. I can't understand why anybody would use Simulink."
Dr. Jack S. Stecki, PHM Technology

Process Control

WMC Kwinana Nickel Refinery

"At WMC Kwinana Nickel Refinery, we are using VisSim for developing process models and new control strategies. We have found the software to be excellent and particularly like the ability to do development work without impacting the plant."
Kate Smith, Process Engineer

Union Camp

"Process control designs that have been validated using VisSim result in smoother start-ups and better designs. VisSim paid for itself the first time I used it."
Fred Thommasson, Senior Engineer

Emerson/EnTech Control Engineering

"High fidelity modeling of large scale projects can be done with VisSim. From a financial standpoint, it’s extremely worthwhile to the process control community. There are tremendous cost savings in reduced downtime due to offline tuning and control design as well as operator training."
Andy Waite, Senior Designer

Honeywell

""VisSim/OPC allows me to easily exchange data between plant controllers and process models developed in VisSim for off-line tuning and controller development.
The product works well and is easy to set up.""
John McIlwain
Information Technology/Process Control Engineering Leader
Honeywell Performance Polymers & Chemicals

INEOS Chlor

VisSim is an easy program to pick up and use, and it’s easy to get more sophisticated the longer you use it. Now, because we have such a detailed, scaleable and dynamic model, the new plant may achieve full rates earlier than would have otherwise been possible. And for an operation like INEOS Chlor, saving a few days alone will justify the spend on the simulator software.  By extensive use of the simulator we’re maximising our chances of a quick, safe and efficient start to production. It also enables us to train the operators whilst the new cell is still being built
Philip Masding
Process Control Manager
INEOS Chlor

HVAC

Carrier Electronics Division of United Technologies

"Due to its power, flexibility, ease of use, and low cost, VisSim has been Carrier’s choice for system modeling, simulation, data acquisition, and rapid prototyping for each of the past five years. Carrier uses VisSim to develop and test all of its electronic controls and depends on the resulting shortened development times to continually merge new technology into its products. Products, which would have taken two to three years to develop in the past, are now routinely completed using VisSim in less than one year."
Richard Kolk, Senior Simulation & Control Scientist

Motion Control/Machine Design

Universal Instruments

"Based on the success of the GSM1 Z-axis application, we use VisSim on every new servo system design. In fact, modeling the system in VisSim is a required point on our development checklist… The software is helpful not only in designing new products, but in making improvements to existing ones. Over the years, our machines frequently undergo changes to the mechanical and servo systems. To test a proposed change, we simply call up that machine’s VisSim model and run a quick simulation."
Jim York, Motion Control Engineer

Servo Motor Controller Design

Rexroth Indramat / Mannesmann Rexroth Corporation

"VisSim’s easy-to-use interface and sophisticated simulation engine not only boosts the productivity and quality of control system design, but also minimizes costs for everyone. VisSim is intuitive and visual, with a block diagram approach that closely emulates the way a control engineer looks at the world."
Bill Erickson, Staff Engineer

McDonald Observatory, H.E.T.

"I have found VisSim to be an indispensible tool for motion control. I used it while working at the Baylor College of Medicine, Artificial Organs group to model the behavior and control of a Back EMF commutated Brushless DC motor.  The rotor of this brushless DC motor was integrated into the impeller of an axial flow blood pump designed as a Left Ventricular Assist device.  This heart pump presented some unique problems.  The time constant of the mechanical pump system was very close to the time constant of the electrical system of the brushless DC motor.  VisSim has a variety of tools which enabled me to model the complex control system of the Back EMF commutated brushless DC motor.  I am currently using VisSim to visualize large amount of encoder data at one of the McDonald Observatory's telescopes here in west Texas. The variety of tools provides solutions that are unavailable in other software packages.  ForIntermedics, a pacemaker/defibrillator company, I used captured data from an oscilloscope to calculate the efficiency of a high voltage defibrillator charging system.  This system converted 6 volts to 760 volts.  System efficiency was critical to device longevity because the device was implanted. VisSim's functions provided an easy was to integrate the product of voltage in and current in to determine system efficiency.

George Damm, Electrical Engineer

Academics

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

"For our class Introduction to Engineering Design ( ENGR-2050) our group was tasked to create a device to teach middle school students some aspect of physics. The biggest hurdle our group had to overcome in our design was the computer interface as nobody in our group had much experience in this area. VisSim was the solution for us, very simple without needing to write any code. The simple nature of VisSim allowed us to concentrate on how to make the project work and not lose sight of the big picture by spending hours debugging code.  We impressed our professor by completing the project to a higher level then he expected within the time allowed, resulting in an A. We would not have been able to do it without VisSim"

 Jeff Cain - Student

Penn State College of Engineering

"Using VisSim has extremely enhanced my learning experience through Dr. Perez-Blanco's course on Dynamics of Energy Systems at Penn State. I like playing around with VisSim and finding out its new uses. The first project I did was to model the projected global oil usage. Our group had multiple factors contributing to the demand, cost, etc. I was able to model Hubbert's equation easily and examine responses from various starting points.  "

 Lisa Gerken, Student, Treasurer Penn State ASME

System Modeling and Simulation

Remic N.V.

"I like VisSim because it is so easy to learn and use. You don't have to spend days reading a manual to get a simulation done. I use it every few months, and I come up to speed right away, with no time wasted relearning obscure commands. I recommend this tool highly."

Dr. Luc Lasoen, Director of R & D

Scimitar Associates, Inc.

"I haven’t cussed at this new-to-me software even once. When I don’t know how to do something and look in the manual, I can find it and I can understand it. Even better: when I try it, it works. I went from ’training wheels’ to serious work in less than two hours with VisSim, and I count myself among the ’software challenged’.

This has to be some kind of world record in terms of ease-of-use. I'm reasonably facile with several other analytical and simulation software tools, but that facility did not come without some blistered paint in my workspace and responsive reproach from my gentle wife. I’ve even cussed with serious vigor at Microsoft now and then, but who hasn’t? I’m a hardware designer, definitely not a software wizard.

Being an independent consultant, I don’t have a ’training budget’ to spend learning software tools. I need new tools to become productive immediately or sooner, or I don’t need them at all.

I’ve had VisSim for about two days, have run about 100 sims of the system I need to design, and I know exactly where the sticking point is. Figuring out how to deal with that is my problem, but I now know where the problem is and I have a sim with which to evaluate possible solutions very quickly. VisSim has done a very nice job.

Thanks! "
Don Foreman, President