Surely many of us have thought at some time to try some kind 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 a good time to make a fast circuit. The problem is that we may not have the necessary elements on hand right at that moment. Luckily, there are plenty of web pages specially designed to allow us to simulate all kinds of electronic circuits in an easy way.
And it is that many times a design can seem perfect in our head, but then have small flaws that could break some other electronic component. So it is advisable to make the diagrams with an application, which allows us to have access to the real-time operation of the circuit. In addition, 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. Let’s see, therefore, which are the most outstanding.
Free websites to design and simulate electronic circuits
The web has become very complex since its inception and web pages have gone from being ordinary 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 to design and simulate electronic circuits. Which makes them ideal if you are not professionals and have become interested in electronics as amateurs. Although many of these websites are powerful enough to serve as the basis for professional design.
In passing, we remember that we are not going to cover things such as the configuration and programming of programmable circuits such as FPGAs and CPLDs, since these are another matter. By that we mean all those websites for basic electronics designs. That is, placing various components on a breadboard for wiring or a PCB and soldering them.
Schematics
The first of the web pages created for this purpose is Schematics. This free web page offers us hundreds of elements and components designed to allow us to create our own electronic circuits very easily. In addition, it allows us to share our creations with your community. So we can see the projects that other users of the platform have shared through it and participate in collaborative projects.
In addition, thanks to its grid background, those who are strict with order can ensure that their projects have complete symmetry and all the components are perfectly ordered.
Simulator.io
If what we want is a simpler and faster tool, specially designed to design logic circuits, then we should not stop trying Simulator.io. In addition to being able to have at hand the main logical elements for creating basic circuits, this platform has a complete simulator that will allow us to test how the project really works.
Other alternative websites to design circuits
While the two previous websites, when creating projects, create them using electronic symbols, Circuit.io seeks to offer users a much more realistic experience. This electronic circuit simulator uses icons and images that are very close to reality, so that, if we want to reproduce the results later in reality, it will be much easier for us to interpret.
Yet another alternative to simulate electronic circuits is Circuit-Cloud.com. This platform wants to be one of the most complete, and, for this, it uses a public library of resources. In addition, it has both analog and digital components. So we can create practically any project, and also simulate its operation, using only this page. Nor can we forget about 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 of them, since when it comes to simulating special circuits each one has some preferences or others, so the platform that may be most comfortable for one may not be the best for another. Ideally, if we want to create an electronic circuit prototype, we should try these websites ourselves and decide which one we are most comfortable with and which one best suits our needs.
Are they better than a conventional 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, they do have value for professionals. In addition, they allow us to work without being connected to the internet and it may be that in our small workshop the internet does not reach us. It is rare, but it can happen if we live in a very large house where the WiFi does not reach everywhere.
The collection of electronic components on the market is huge and many times the websites to simulate electronic circuits do not have them all. This is done to reduce the size of the app, so they also don’t have certain components mocked up correctly. So while web applications 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. In addition, many of these applications allow you to do a 3D simulation to see what the circuit looks like and even have integrated emulators of the most used microcontrollers on the market. Something that the vast majority of websites for the same task lack.
