AVR-Chat

Doing some search on the internet regarding development tools and simulators for microcontrollers, I got to Proteus website.
Is anyone using this tool?
It looks pretty good but you never know until you hear from somebody who is actually using it.

Any opinions?

Adrian

Adrian:
> Doing some search on the internet regarding development tools and 
simulators for microcontrollers, I got to Proteus website.
> Is anyone using this tool?
> It looks pretty good but you never know until you hear from 
somebody who is actually using it.
-------
I use it at work every day (in fact, we have a site-licence and 
installation that I'm responsible for at the university where I 
work.)
While they could do with more new AVR models, they have the Mega8, 
16, and 128 covered.  The simulation libriaries are really extensive,
layout to acetate for etching is perfect, and the support, either by
telephone or their forum (hosted on their website and frequented by at
least for of the guys who write the software) is quick.  I've found a
couple of bugs in the AVR models over the years and a replacement DLL 
has
arrived in a few hours for me to try.

I find it incredibly easy to use (but I did spend a couple of years 
using the behemoth that was Mentaur V7 :-) ) and very powerful.  I 
can teach a class of 30 first year EE undergrads how to use the 
common features of the PCB side of it in a few minutes.  Recently I 
managed to cover in-depth analogue, digital, PLD and AVR simulation, 
as well as PCB work in two three hour slots.

I'd say get the demo version of the professional if you'll need PCB 
design, but if you just want to simulate, the lite version with AVR 
and the graph-based simulation if available might be quite cheap.



Richard