Proteus : An Introduction

Image Source: labcenter.com

Couple of years ago, one would need a strong imagination power to think of a magical tool that could run electrical systems without actual requirement or installation of any electrical component. Who had ever thought that one can design not only a network, it may be an integrated system or a tiny school project, but also can witness the system responses in real time in his laptop or mobile screen! Yes, I’m talking about the virtual simulation.

A sudden breakthrough came in the studies of electrical engineering with the development of a number of simulation software with different features. This allowed the students to develop their circuit designing skill as well as the better understanding of the system responses through real time simulations. And the very first name we have to take is ‘Proteus Design Suite’

What does Proteus offer?
Proteus comes with three major blocks of operation;

· Schematic Capture: It allows the users to design circuits using different components. Proteus provides a very user friendly schematic editor with numerous tools.

· Real Time Simulation: This is the most fascinating feature of simulation software. A user can access the simulation during run time, can do modification etc.

· PCB Design: Proteus has a different software package that allows users to design PCB with multiple inner layers, surface mount & ‘through hole’ technology. Also, one can customize PCB package for any component. 3D visualization of the PCB and 2D drawings are also included in Proteus.

Need To Know!

ISIS : It is the software package installed in Proteus for schematic capture and real time simulation of the network. ISIS is enriched with a huge built in component library. Again one can add libraries of external components. These libraries come with the PCB package of the components with standard measurements. Also the PCB package can be customized manually. 

Image Source: electronics Lovers

ARES : PCB designing and related tools come under this ARES software package. Schematic drawn in ISIS, can be transferred directly in ARES.

Image Source: 201tube.tv

Designing PCB in Proteus ARES can be a good option for beginners. There are dedicated software for PCB designing with upgraded features. Still Proteus can provide a better interface to get acquainted with the basic tools and settings of PCB designing.