Proteus VSM

Schematic drawing, PCB designing and off you go testing the design. These days we do everything on a PC. Simulation programs have now reached a level of sophistication that includes co-simulation of a microcontroller in your design. Proteus VSM from Labcenter Electronics is an extensive software bundle offering professional features at an affordable price.Proteus Virtual System modelling (VSM) is software that allows digital and analogue circuits, or a mixture of the two, to be simulated on a PC. Of course, it all starts with circuit diagram entry (‘schematic capture’). Here, ISIS schematic capture is used. From the same supplier comes a separate utility, ARES, for the PCB design phase, providing a seamless link with ISIS. Together, ISIS and ARES form the traditional combination that makes ‘putting a circuit onto PCB’ very easy indeed. Naturally we found features like connectivity verification (‘electrical rule and connectivity check’), an automatic component placer and an automatic track router. So far, nothing unusual as other software products may be found with roughly the same functionality.