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Simulation Systems
(Simulink, Wolfram SystemModeler, VisSim, SystemBuild, STELLA, Adams, SIMSCRIPT, COMSOL Multiphysics, ...)
As the complexity of modern engineering systems increases, Mathematica's unique breadth and integration becomes ever more important for dynamic simulation. With its symbolic architecture, document-centered interface and built-in access to the world's largest web of state-of-the-art algorithms, Mathematica provides a uniquely effective platform for constructing, implementing, documenting and analyzing complex simulations.
Mathematica's algorithmic breadth and unified design—consistently covering both established and emerging modeling methodologies, including ODEs, PDEs, DAEs, CAs, discrete systems, optimization and much more—give modern model builders unique flexibility in selecting and seamlessly combining the best modeling frameworks. Wolfram Research has long been a leader in developing new solver technologies, and Mathematica's unique automated algorithm selection methodology dynamically picks the best state-of-the-art algorithms at all stages in a simulation.
While traditional simulation systems tend to focus on particular areas, Mathematica not only provides broad multiparadigm modeling and computation, but also includes unique support for the complete simulation project workflow. With its immediate interactive interface, powerful built-in programming and development environment, world-class visualization, custom dynamic interface construction system, rich built-in documentation and presentation system, and broad connectivity to external systems, Mathematica allows a new level of productivity in simulation-oriented projects.
While earlier-generation simulation systems tend to be based on hand-constructed block diagrams, Mathematica emphasizes more systematic equation, program and language-oriented approaches. Mathematica's unique symbolic architecture allows it to offer a wide range of increasingly important capabilities that can never be coherently achieved with traditional simulation systems, including algebraic model derivation and verification, integrated perturbation analysis and parameter optimization, full algorithmic model construction, symbolic model validation and full meta-analysis and encapsulation of models.
Typical Simulation System Features in Mathematica:
- State-of-the-art numerical differential equation solving (ODEs, PDEs, DAEs, etc.)
- State-of-the-art 2D and 3D dynamic visualization and animation
- Fully customizable interactive dynamic user interface »
- Full compatibility on all computer platforms »
- Automatic use of platform-specific optimized internal libraries
- Broad range of third-party packages for specific application areas »
Key Advantages of Mathematica as a Simulation System:
- Broad access to emerging as well as established modeling methodologies
- Automatic selection of optimal algorithms during a simulation »
- Full coverage of continuous and discrete systems (including cellular automata, etc.) »
- Fully integrated constrained nonlinear optimization »
- World's largest integrated web of algorithms and methods
- Consistent design allowing flexible connection of different approaches
- Integrated document-centered interface for documenting models and simulations »
- Full traditional mathematical notation for readability of equational models »
- Fully integrated dynamic presentation system
- In-document fully customizable GUIs
- Seamless ability to handle models symbolically in algebraic form
- Graph visualization, manipulation, and syntactic input »
- Import and export of data in hundreds of formats »
- Integrated database connectivity »
- Broad access to curated area-specific data »
- Full professional software development environment »
- Immediate support for modern grid and distributed computing »
- Full web deployment with webMathematica
Interoperability with Simulation Systems:
- Wolfram SystemModeler package for multidomain Modelica-based models
- Control System Professional for control system models
- Analog Insydes package for SPICE and other circuit-based models
- Cellerator, PathwayLab, etc. packages for systems biology models
- LinkageDesigner and MechanicalSystems packages for robotic and mechanical models
- Optica and LensLab packages for optical system models
- MathematicaLink to LabVIEW package for LabVIEW interoperability
- Built-in MathLink API for immediate connectivity to hardware and software systems
Interesting Tidbits:
- Mathematica is at the core of a huge number of industrial simulation systems
- Stephen Wolfram has been a major pioneer in computational modeling »
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