Surely many of us have at some point thought of trying some sort of electronic circuit, from a basic battery-cable-bulb circuit, to much more advanced circuits of all kinds of complexity. If we are fans of electronics, any time is good to make a quick circuit. The problem is that we may not have the necessary items on hand at the time. Fortunately, there are many web pages specially designed to allow us to easily simulate all kinds of electronic circuits.
And it is that often a design can seem perfect in our head, but then have small defects that could break another electronic component. It is therefore advisable to make the diagrams with an application, which allows us to have access to the real-time operation of the circuit. Additionally, they have the ability to simulate signal measurement mechanisms such as oscilloscopes. Well, there are not only complex professional applications, but also a series of web pages that allow us to design and simulate electronic circuits. So let’s see which are the most remarkable.
Free websites to design and simulate electronic circuits
The web has become very complex since its inception and web pages have evolved from simple documents to applications in themselves. And not only for office applications, but also for other more complex functions. In this article, we bring you the best web pages for designing and simulating electronic circuits. Which makes them ideal if you’re not a professional and have taken an interest in electronics as a hobbyist. Although many of these websites are powerful enough to serve as a basis for professional design.
By the way, we recall that we are not going to discuss such things as the configuration and programming of programmable circuits such as FPGAs and CPLDs, because that is another matter. By this we mean all those websites for basic electronic designs. That is, placing various components on a breadboard for wiring or a PCB and soldering them.
Diagrams
The first of the web pages created for this purpose is Diagrams. This free site offers us hundreds of elements and components designed to allow us to very easily create our own electronic circuits. In addition, it allows us to share our creations with your community. Thus, we can see the projects that other users of the platform have shared through it and participate in collaborative projects.
Moreover, thanks to its grid background, those who are strict with order can ensure that their projects have complete symmetry and that all components are perfectly ordered.
Simulator.io
If what we want is an easier and faster tool specifically designed for designing logic circuits, then we shouldn’t stop trying. Simulator.io. In addition to being able to have at hand the main logical elements to create basic circuits, this platform has a complete simulator that will allow us to test the real operation of the project.
Other Alternative Websites for Designing Circuits
While the two previous sites, when creating projects, create them using electronic symbols, Circuit.io seeks to provide users with a much more realistic experience. This electronic circuit simulator uses icons and images very close to reality, so if we want to reproduce the results later in reality, it will be much easier for us to interpret them.
Yet another alternative for simulating electronic circuits is Circuit-Cloud.com. This platform aims to be one of the most complete, and for this it uses a public library of resources. Moreover, it has both analog and digital components. So we can create almost any project, and also simulate how it works, using just this page. We also can’t forget the alternatives like PartSim.com and DigiKey.com, to name a few.
Each of these simulators has unique features and functions that set them apart from the rest. It is very difficult to decide which is the best of all, because when it comes to simulating special circuits, everyone has preferences or others, so the platform that can be the most comfortable for the one may not be the best for the other. Ideally, if we want to prototype an electronic circuit, we should try out these websites ourselves and decide which one we are most comfortable with and which best suits our needs.
Are they better than a classic application?
No, the truth is that no, since conventional applications have a series of additions that, although they have no value for the novice user, have value for professionals. In addition, they allow us to work without being connected to the internet and it is possible that in our small workshop internet does not reach us. It’s rare, but it can happen if we live in a very large house where WiFi doesn’t reach everywhere.
The collection of electronic components in the market is huge and often electronic circuit simulation websites do not have them all. This is done to reduce the size of the app, so they also didn’t simulate some components correctly. So while web apps can get you out of a bind, they don’t have the same capabilities as dedicated software.
So our recommendation is that once you reach a certain level of complexity, both in projects and in knowledge. Additionally, many of these apps allow you to do a 3D simulation to see what the circuit looks like and even have built-in emulators of the most widely used microcontrollers on the market. Something that the vast majority of websites for the same task lack.
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