SimulIDE — The Complete Guide: Real-Time Circuit Simulation With Arduino, AVR and PIC
SimulIDE is an open-source (GPL) real-time electronic circuit simulator. You build the circuit on screen and it simply runs: LEDs light up, motors turn and meters show values. What sets it apart is simulating microcontrollers that run your own code.
SimulIDE
SimulIDE (open-source project)
Real-time circuit simulator with PIC, AVR and Arduino microcontrollers, an oscilloscope and a serial monitor.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Microcontrollers — PIC, AVR and Arduino boards, loading a compiled firmware file.
- Editor and debugger — write, compile and step through code from inside the program.
- Instruments — oscilloscope, logic analyser, multimeter and serial monitor.
- Peripherals — LCD and seven-segment displays, motors, relays, sensors and keypads.
- Analogue and digital — one mixed circuit with passive parts, transistors and gates.
When it is useful
In teaching and microcontroller courses when there are not enough lab kits, and for testing an idea or a piece of code before you solder anything. Simulation does not replace measurement on real hardware: timing, noise and current limits behave differently in the real world. The program is available for Windows and Linux.
Related tools
To develop code and flash a real board — Arduino IDE. For a quick animated look at an analogue circuit in the browser — Falstad. To design the printed circuit board afterwards — KiCad.
Arduino IDE
Arduino
The official IDE for Arduino boards — write code, upload it to the board and watch sensors on the serial monitor.
Get it from the vendor
Falstad Circuit Simulator
Paul Falstad
An interactive circuit simulator that runs in the browser, with animated current.
Get it from the vendor
KiCad
KiCad Development Team
Open-source PCB design suite, from schematic to fabrication files, with no limit on layers or board area.
Get it from the vendor
Fritzing
Friends-of-Fritzing e.V.
Beginner-friendly electronics design — breadboard, schematic and PCB from one file.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
SimulIDE closes the gap between code and circuit: you watch the firmware drive hardware before there is any hardware. Completely free, commercial use included.