Difference between revisions of "Using CircuitMaker"

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==Viewing Transient States==
==Viewing Transient States==
This section will show how to simulate the transient state and creat plots like those found in the [[RC_and_RL_Exponential_Responses|RC and RL Exponential Responses]] page.

Revision as of 16:42, 13 July 2006

CircuitMaker is a program that can be used to simulate circuits on a computer. The following tutorials explain some of Circuitmaker's basic functions.

Drawing Schematics

For the first part, we will create a simple voltage divider circuit.

Start CircuitMaker. It should open up with a blank canvas. To add components you can either browse through CircuitMaker's catalogue, or search the the part's name, number, or description. The buttons for these tasks are found at the toolbar at the top:

CM add parts.jpg

Click on the button on the left to open up the Device Selection window. The components are organized in a hiearchy:

Major Device Class > Minor Device Class > Device Symbol.

CM part menu.jpg

We now add a voltage source to our circuit: Source > Linear > VSource. Note that you can specify values and hot keys in this window. Checking the return box will cause this part selection window to automatically re-open after you've placed the part on the canvas.

Enter 10V into the Label-Value field and click Place. The window should disappear and your mouse cursor should become the voltage source symbol. To rotate the part, right-click. To cancel the part placement and get your mouse cursor back, press Esc on your keyboard. After you've placed the component, you can right-click it to edit its attributes. (Note that right-clicking on the empty canvas will also bring up a useful context menu.)

Now, we are going to change the voltage source from 10V to 5V. Double-click on the symbol (or right-click > Edit Device Data...) to open up a new menu. In the Label-Value field, change 10V to 5V.

To add a resistor to our circuit, open up the device selection window again, and select Resistors > Resistors > Resistor. Enter 100 for its value.

Add a second resistors, and give it a value of 200 (Ohms).

Our circuit should look like this:

CM disconnected circuit.gif

To connet our circuit, use the wire tool CM wiretool.gif to connect the pins. We also must add a ground (Source > Linear > Ground in device selection window), so CircuitMaker will know what to use as a reference when calculating voltages. Hook up the circuit like this:

CM connected circuit.gif

Simulating the Circuit

First, make sure CircuitMaker is in analog mode CM analog button.gif and not digital mode CM digital mode button.gif. If it is in digital mode, then click the button once to switch it back to analog mode.

Then, go to the Simulation menu and select Analyses Setup. Make sure only Always set defaults for transient and operating point analyses is selected.

Exit the Analyses Setup window, and click the run button CM run button.gif in the toolbar (or press F10). A multimeter window should appear. If it doesn't, go to Window > Multimeter to bring out the multimeter.

CM multimeter.jpg

Select the probe tool CM probe tool.gif, click on the multimeter window, and click on one of the wires in the circuit to view the voltage of the wire. If you click on a component's pin, you can view the current flowing into the pin, and if you click on a component, you can view the power dissipated by the component.

Viewing Transient States

This section will show how to simulate the transient state and creat plots like those found in the RC and RL Exponential Responses page.