What type of Engineers use VisSim?

Control engineers (process, motion, embedded)Communication engineers – data communication, blue tooth, 802.11a/b, satellite, cellular, Bit error ratesProcess engineers – pulp & paper, power, turbine, nuclear

Top selling VisSim products

• $$ - Pro VisSim, Embedded Controls Developer, VisSim/Comm, VisSim PE

• Qty - VisSim PE, VisSim LE

What attracts engineers to VisSim

• Virtual prototyping saves time• Ease of use• Speed of simulation• Quality of code generation• Virtual prototyping allows experimentation that

may not be possible in real world (nuclear power plants, military munitions, large electric motors, turbines)

• Price (1/2 to 1/10 cost of Simulink)

What excites engineers about VisSim

• They can be up and running very quickly - usually within hours.

• So intuitive the manual is often unnecessary• They remember how it works so can go back

later and use• Free redistributable runtime version• Affordable

What terms indicate VisSim is needed

• Control• Modeling• Continuous Simulation• Nonlinear systems• Dynamic systems• Frequency Domain Analysis• Real-Time• Test Stand• Data Acquisition• Code Generation

• Embedded Control• DSP• Data Communications• Process Control• Digital Filtering• Signal Processing• Fixed-Point arithmetic• Motion Control• Electric Motors• Neural-Nets• Optimization

VisSim Strengths

• Ease of use (intuitive)• Fast 2-4X speed of Simulink• Free Viewer• Easy to link with hardware (DSP or I/O cards)• Quality of code generation• Inexpensive entry products (PE’s) with easy

upgrade paths

VisSim Weaknesses

• None

• OK - Lack of market awareness. • Simulink well entrenched. Hard to sell into existing account.

>>VSI has Simulink translator• They want to script – VisSim interfaces with Matlab for

scripting needs >> Use “C” code for startup definitions• Exposure to “PE” versions can give impression VisSim is only

for “small” model. >> Counter by showing models using tens of thousands blocks (Dupont, Air Force MSTARS)

Success Stories• Dupont – plant wide model used for training and off-line control

development – reduces plant down-time• Indramat – VisSim motor model convinces customer of new motor design• Universal Instruments – model of precision motion control saves effort of

building prototypes• Honeywell – turbine model saves millions $$ in the field• Delphi Automotive – VisSim/Real-Time helps reduce testing of advanced

automotive breaks from two months to less than two days • Air Force Research Labs – VisSim used for for smart munitions• Ericsson – VisSim/Comm models used to save time and expense of

hardware prototypes

Academic sales

• Difficult because Mathworks is entrenched• Embedded Controls Developer + $100

controlCards from Texas Instruments is powerful, low cost platform for embedded development.

• 80% discount from commercial pricing, plus aggressive “Lab Pack” pricing gives tools for selling into Universities.