What's New in MapleSim 5

MapleSim 5 offers you even more powerful features for you to use in your symbolic modeling and real-time simulations, to solve and master complex 3-D multibody constructions, covering all aspects of the design process, from the idea stage through to the final construction, and model playback and export.  With MapleSim 5 you can efficiently manage complexity by testing scenarios and deriving solutions easier and faster than ever before, with improvements to model building, simulating, analyzing, and visualizing.  This includes:

Enhanced Component Library

A vastly enhanced Component Library lets you choose the right components for your model.  With MapleSim 5, you can more quickly build and fine tune complex models by selecting specific pre-built  library components for your specific application requirements.  The MapleSim Component Library contains over 150 new components, including sample models from various engineering fields for you to use, view and apply to your simulation.  With this library you can build complex and complete multi-domain simulations using signal block components, and components from the electrical, mechanical, and thermal domains.

For more information, see What's New in MapleSim 5 Component Library.

Easier Inspector and Settings Tab Navigation

The Inspector tab provides easier access to the Parameter, and Advanced Parameter and Variable settings by providing distinct groups for each section.  Each section may be minimized to allow you to better manage your model, inspect values, easily edit names and parameter values, and specify simulation options and probe values without navigating through a long list.

The Settings tab provides easier access to the Solver, Multibody, and 3-D Construction settings from anywhere in the model hierarchy.  You can minimize each section for quicker access to various settings, allowing you to better manage your project requirements, inspect simulation and visualization values, and specify simulation options for the Solver, Simulation Engine, and 3-D Workspace.

For more information, see Chapter 1: The MapleSim Window in the MapleSim User's Guide.

Improved Component Identification in a 3-D Model using the Pick List

As you are building your 3-D model in MapleSim 5, you can more easily select, view and identify specific components from two or more co-positioned multibody components.  You can then select the corresponding component and view the associated subsystem name and parameters in the Inspector tab or in the Model Tree palette.  If you are working in both the model workspace view and the 3-D Workspace view at the same time, the corresponding component or subsystem is highlighted in the model workspace.

The Pick List lets you easily isolate and disassemble specific components from your 3-D model and set their initial conditions for testing purposes.  With this feature you can go directly to the joint and edit the initial conditions.  When the component is re-attached, MapleSim 5 automatically updates all system initial conditions.

For more information, see Identifying Objects in a 3-D Model.

Improved 3-D Visualizations using Fit Selected

For 3-D visualizations, you can select specific multibody components and use the Fit Selected feature to reposition your view to display the selected multibody components.  This is especially useful for complex models, where the individual components may not be obvious.  Fit Selected is useful for finding the 3-D representation of a component from a 2-D schematic.  This feature works with a single component, or with multiple components.

For more information, see Centering a Component in the 3-D Workspace.

New Application Programming Interface

MapleSim 5 provides a new Application Programming Interface (API) to let you access from Maple the full functionality of MapleSim and the powerful built-in analysis templates, which automatically extract system equations and other information from your model.  The new API commands provide a suite of powerful tools for creating Custom Analysis Templates that allow you to easily interact with all of your MapleSim models, extract parameters and equations, initialize models, run simulations, and much more.  You can then use the full power of Maple to immediately analyze your MapleSim model.

For more information, see the MapleSim Application Programming Interface Overview.

Expanded Custom Grid Settings for the 3-D Model Workspace

You can customize the gridline size and spacing to suit the relative sizes and positions of your 3-D model.  Using the 3-D custom grid lets you also specify the extent and spacing of the perspective view grid.  Grids in orthographic views are now 'infinite' and will always be drawn to the edges of the view.

For more information, see Customizing Grid Settings for the 3-D Model Workspace.

Improved Interactive 3-D Visualization

In the 3-D Workspace, you can view your model from any direction by using the zoom tool to specifically select a 3-D Workspace area and move forward (zoom in) or backward (zoom out), relative to the position of the mouse cursor.  

For more information, see Zooming Into and Out from a 3-D Model.

Enhanced Translational and Rotational Snapping

Components that you move or rotate in the 3-D Workspace are positioned to the closest 3-D space virtual grid intersection using specified values.

For more information, see Changing Snapping Options for the 3-D Workspace.

Animated View Transitions

When you change views, the change from the current view to the other view is shown as a smooth transition.  The purpose of this is to maintain your sense of orientation in the 3-D space.

For more information, see Enabling View Change Animations.

Improved Viewing on Small Screens

To allow easy viewing on small screens, some tools in the 3-D Toolbar are hidden from view.  In MapleSim 5, to allow easy viewing on small screens, some of the least used selections in the 3-D Toolbar automatically truncate as you resize the toolbar area to display the most frequently used controls.

For more information, see Reference: Main 3-D Toolbar.

Movie Export

Using the Export Movie feature you can export a recorded simulation as an .mpeg file to share with users who may not have MapleSim.  By specifying the playback duration you can speed up or compress the entire simulation to suit your visualization requirements.

For more information, see Export Movie.

Enhanced Diagnostics

MapleSim 5 provides a way to test and troubleshoot your model for proper design and construction by providing instant feedback for your 2-D or 3-D simulations as you build a model.  A test of the constructed model informs you of ‘construction’ errors.  Running a simulation reveals any interface and simulation errors.  Warning and error messages appear in the debugging pane as you build your model identifying the subsystem in which the errors are located.

For more information, see Using Diagnostics.

Improved Parameter Pane Usability

The overall usability of the Parameter Pane in MapleSim is improved to let you access your simulation and visualization settings at any level within a subsystem to validate and visually analyze the behavior of your 3-D model under different conditions.

For more information, see Chapter 2: Building a Model in the MapleSim User's Guide.

Using the New Parameter Sets Feature in a Simulation

In MapleSim 5 you can run numerous simulations using previously saved parameter values.  You can save, reuse and compare different sets of values for the same model and easily apply and run different simulations, saving new values for each application.  The user interface now includes an enhanced Parameter Sets palette in the Project tab and an Inspector tab to manage saved parameter values.  You can store the current parameters in a set, delete and rename parameter sets, use a parameter set in the next simulation, compare two parameter sets to each other and compare one parameter set to the current parameters in use.

For more information, see Parameter Sets.

Advanced Parameter and Variable Settings

As you are building a model, you now have a more flexible way of working with subsystems to prevent a model from becoming unmanageable.  Using the Advanced Parameter and Variable Settings feature allows you to modify one copy of a subsystem without altering variables and parameters that affect all copies of a shared subsystem.  You can now directly assign subsystem parameters, variables and initial conditions to components in your subsystem and use many initial conditions for the same model.  You can override an existing value and then change the override into a parameter by promoting it using the 'parametrize' feature.  This means that this parameter modification now affects all copies of the shared subsystem as the default.  It’s also easy to revert that promotion.

For more information, see Using Advanced Parameter and Variable Settings.

Clutch Keys

New keyboard shortcuts provide a quick way to connect components in 3-D through the activation of a keyboard command.

For more information, see Connecting Objects in the 3-D Workspace.

Improved Connection Rerouting

MapleSim 5 now makes sure that you have a way to automatically and efficiently reroute all diagram connections to their simplest form.  All connections in the working diagram are automatically rerouted; otherwise only selected connections are rerouted.  Selecting reroute multiple times, from the Edit menu or Context menu further cleans up the routing.  MapleSim 5 uses a local optimization strategy rather than a global strategy to 'sensitize' the ordering of the selected lines for rerouting purposes.

For more information, see Rerouting Connection Lines.

Enhanced Port Labeling

To allow easy viewing, port labels are now automatically scalable, evenly spaced and can be enabled at any time during the model construction.  When creating new subsystems, ports are automatically labeled and can be turned off (or turned on for older subsystems) via Show Port Labels on the Edit menu or Context menu.

New Visual Subsystem Markers and Overrides

Show Subsystem Markers is a new feature to help you identify subsystems and keep your subsystems organized and neatly grouped.  When creating new subsystems, their status can be turned on or off via Show Subsystem Markers on the View menu.  The ‘hand’ at the lower right of the subsystem box indicates that it is a shared subsystem.  The arrows in the top-right corner indicate that a subsystem component has overrides (modifications) that are in addition to any parameter and IC settings.

Improved Modelica Import and Modelica 3.1 Support

In MapleSim 5 improvements have been made to significantly speed up Modelica Import.

Availability of Code Generation for all MapleSim models

Optimized code generation is now available for all MapleSim models.  By expanding the code generation tools to handle continuous systems with discrete events, MapleSim can now produce efficient C code for simulating any MapleSim model.  This code can then be incorporated into other programming tools.

New Magnetics Examples for a Saturated Inductor and Moving Coil Actuator

The Saturated Inductor model demonstrates the effects of the non-linear magnetization characteristics of soft magnetic material in an inductor.  The Moving Coil Actuator model demonstrates the effects of the magnetic force components of a moving axis-symmetric coil actuator on a flange.  These examples are found in the MapleSim Libraries Examples Magnetics palette.

New Thermal Examples for a Cooling with Pump and Valve and Indirect Cooling

The Cooling with Pump and Valve model demonstrates the effects of a heated thermal mass cooled by a liquid-cooled heatsink.  The Indirect Cooling model demonstrates the effects of heat transfer between recirculating coolant and a radiator connected to an outer cooling loop.  These examples are found in the MapleSim Libraries Examples Thermal palette.

Lookup Table Import

An enhanced Lookup Table import functionality allows you to skip the heading row when importing spreadsheet data.  The data does not have to start on the first row.  In turn this allows you to include the creation of data sets for your interpolation table using custom headings.

	See Also
	What's New: MapleSim Component Library