This model is a proof-of-concept example for combining FlexSim's GIS features with the power of mixed integer programming in python. The model simulates a distribution network of 'factories' (red icons) and 'warehouses' (blue icons). The factories produce the product you are selling, and then distribute the product to various warehouses in the network. Every day, each warehouse generates a random demand for the product. Once demand from each warehouse is known, the 'demand dispatcher' must determine which factory should produce and ship how much of the product to each warehouse, fulfilling all warehouses' demands at minimum total cost. Each factory has a maximum daily capacity of production and a per-unit cost of production. In addition, shipping costs must be taken into account from each factory to each warehouse. Given these factors and constraints, the problem of optimal dispatching boils down to the well-known min cost flow problem in optimization. I've created a simple python script that uses cvxpy to solve this min cost flow problem as a mixed integer program. The MIP is not exactly the same as the standard min cost flow problem, since total factory capacity may be more than total warehouse demand, and I'm using integer instead of continuous variables. Nevertheless, it is sufficient to demonstrate the capability. The Warehouse process flow generates daily demand for each warehouse and pushes it to a shared Demand list. The DemandDispatcher then pulls demand from the list, and marshals capacity, demand, and cost data into parameters that can be passed to python. Then it evaluates getMinCostFlow label on the process flow, passing those parameters in. The label is configured to connect to the getMinCostFlow function defined in the MinCostFlow.py module. This function formulates the MIP with cvxpy, solves the program, and then returns the optimal shipping quantities for each factory-warehouse pair, returning control back to FlexSim. Once the shipping quantities have been resolved, the DemandDispatcher process flow creates and labels 'Trucks' that are sent to each warehouse. Note that this travel mechanism is purely for animation purposes, letting you visualize how much product is being sent from factories to warehouses each day. Potential additions to this model could use inventory management strategies, simulating randomized lead times, etc. I've added several dashboards that show the cumulative average breakout for each warehouse of which factories supply that warehouse, as well as the cumulative average breakout for each factory of which warehouses that factory supplies. I've also added costing measures for the warehouses and factories. Some interesting insights that can be gleaned from this model are how shipping vs. production costs affect the balance of which factories will ship to which warehouses. For example, if your shipping costs are low relative to your production costs, then the min cost flow algorithm will push production to factories that are the lowest cost to produce, even if they are far away from the destination warehouse. High production cost factories are consequently relegated to little if any production. However, if shipping costs are high, the algorithm will localize production to the factories nearest their respective warehouses. In order to run this model, you need python properly configured, including: Install one of these python versions: 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 Install the cvxpy and cvxopt packages: python -m pip install cvxpy cvxopt Make sure the python directory is part of your PATH environment variable Configure your Global Preferences (the Code tab) to use the associated python version. This model was built in FlexSim 22.1. MinCostFlow.zip

FlexSim 2022 Update 2 Beta is now available. (Updated July 18) FlexSim 22.2.0 Release Notes To get the beta, log in to your account at https://account.flexsim.com, then go to the Downloads section, and click on More Versions. It will be at the top of the list. The More Versions button does not appear when logged in as a guest account. Subsequently the beta is available only to licensed accounts and accounts that have a license shared with them. Learn more about downloading the best version of FlexSim for your license here. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email dev@flexsim.com or create a new idea in the Development space.

This Kiva system demo model showcases some of the new AGV/AMR features that were added in FlexSim 2023, including new events and parameters to help with deadlock and allocation failure, and dynamic barrier management. You can update the layout through five parameters, and then click the “Build” button to re-build the system. FlexSim-2023-Kiva-System-Demo.fsm

This model showcases the latest enhancements to the mass flow conveyor object, found in FlexSim 2023 Update 1. See several new features in action, including the Randomized fill order and Width Rules for conveyors. Mass-Flow-Bottling-Demo_23-1.fsm

FlexSim 2019 Beta is available. (Updated 21 December 2018) To get the beta, log in to your account at www.flexsim.com, then go to the Downloads section, and click on More Versions. It will be at the top of the list. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email dev@flexsim.com or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Added support for importing JT files. Added a way to directly animate 3D shapes with bones. Added a way to parent subcomponents to a bone on a 3D shape. Updated calculated tables and chart templates to be able to save their data during an experiment. Added support for SQL keywords UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, and EXCEPT. Updated the time table's weekly and daily modes to use a graphical display. Improved the time table's user interface. Added options for stacking bars on a histogram and added more bar modes. Added a Column Sets feature to statistics collectors. Added more options for event listening in statistics collectors. Added an option to statistics collectors and calculated tables for object path display depth. Added an option to statistics collectors to stop tracking row values after specified events. Added an option to milestone collectors to start new entries on the next milestone. Added options to record more data in additional columns on a milestone collector. Added enable/disable right-click menu options to statistics collectors in the toolbox. Improved the performance of calculated tables in certain configurations. Fixed a bug with Always Leave Entries on List when reevaluating multiple back orders. Fixed a bug with color spilling from one mesh to another when using shape data overrides. Fixed scaling issues and a crashing bug when loading certain STEP and IGES files. Process Flow Improved the Token.create() method to be able to create child tokens. Added a new Person Flow type of Process Flow. Fixed a bug with a resource connected to a global list deleting the list when the resource was in an instanced flow. People Added a Process activity. Added a Remove Person activity. Added various activity sets to quickly create common groups of activities. Added a priority value to resource objects that is used for acquiring and preempting resources. Added advanced options to the Process activity for handling preemption. Added functionality for simulating shift schedules with time tables and down behaviors. Improved the UI for how people objects are added to groups. AGV Improved control point selection on paths in the 3D view. A* Added a way to draw a heat map based on a node's percentage of total traversals. Added a Two Way option to preferred paths and dividers. Added a Condition option to A* objects to optionally disable them under certain circumstances. Added a Mandatory Path object used for defining sets of paths where certain connected objects can travel. Updated the Barrier object to be able to specify patterns to determine how it affects the grid. Added a FlexScript API for A* objects and data. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Fixed a bug with A* barriers blocking space larger than their actual size.

Finding the right answer should be easy. Together we can build and maintain a well organized, growing knowledge base by practicing a bit of good Question and Answer hygiene. Below are 12 tips for using Answers in a way that will help the whole FlexSim community get maximum value from the site, and keep our content organized, efficient, and intuitive. These tips are adapted from this Devada article. Devada makes AnswerHub, which powers this site. Search existing questions before asking. Use the advanced search functionality to look for a question you may have before asking it. You may find your question has already been asked and answered. This saves you and other community members time and effort. Please also search our online user manual. Your answer may be in FlexSim's documentation. Post a model that demonstrates your question. The best case is to make a simple model that demonstrates the question or issue. If the model is sensitive, you can post a private question (see the Private Questions item below for more info). Make your question titles descriptive. Making a question's title descriptive makes it much easier for other people searching the site to find what they need. Question titles like Problem with conveyor are not very helpful when searching, whereas titles like Item gets stuck at photo eye when using area restriction are much more helpful. The question title should not be too verbose, but it should describe the problem well. Post content in the right space. When creating content, it's important to select the appropriate space for it to be posted. Choosing the right space for your content will not only keep the community organized, it's also more likely to be viewed and responded to by the right community members. Need help with some aspect of FlexSim or your simulation? It goes into the Software & Simulation Questions space. Starting a discussion that doesn't have a specific answer? General Discussion is the space it should go in. Don't post an article to ask a question - do that with a question. Don't use a question to request a feature - that should be posted as an idea. Mark correct answers as accepted. It's important to accept a correct answer to a question, especially the questions that you asked. This will make finding the right answer much easier for other members and let the community know that your problem has been solved. Let others know what answers helped you solve questions by upvoting or liking correct answers to show community support. Share your knowledge by answering questions. See a question you know the answer to? Submit an answer with text, images, links, videos, and more to support your answer and to help fellow community members. Use comments and replies. Only post an answer when you're actually answering a question. You can use comments, or directly reply to others' comments to provide support, additional information or ask for further explanations when necessary. Ask experts directly. Want a reliable answer quickly? You can ask an expert directly after creating a question and the expert will be notified. Use the 'at' symbol @ and start typing someone's name, and they will be notified that they were referenced in a post. Be sure to use the autocomplete as you type their name, or you may type it incorrectly and the user will not be notified. A properly formatted @mention automatically becomes a link. If it's not a link (like this: @Ben Wilson!), try again. Avoid overdoing @mentions. Don't make the mistake of @mentioning more people than is necessary to try to draw attention to your question: Your question is just as important as any other question. The community will help you to the best of our ability regardless, so there is no need to spam multiple users in hopes of bumping up your priority. If anything, annoying active members on the community you will only hurt your cause. Monitor reputation points and the leader-board. See how you rank in your community with reputation points. Reputation reflects engagement levels like questions asked, answers submitted, upvotes, and more. Become an expert yourself. Have an area of expertise? By providing knowledgeable answers you can be recognized as a topic expert. The system identifies these users based on the number of accepted answers you provide within a topic. Additionally, you can self-identify areas of expertise in your profile settings. Topic experts receive an elevated role in the community and get notified when content is posted within their area of expertise. Follow topics of interest. Want to continue learning about a specific topic in your community? Follow a topic and receive activity updates in your inbox instantly, daily, or on a weekly basis. Change notification frequency and other settings within your profile. Visit the community often. The more we contribute to the community, the more valuable it becomes for everyone. Have an article you want to share? Post it. Want to share an idea and generate a discussion among other FlexSim users? Answers is a great place to facilitate "ideation" and collaboration. Additional pointers for using answers.flexsim.com: Use the latest version of your internet browser. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and other modern browsers should be fully compatible with this Answers site. For the safest, fastest, and most compatible browsing experience, please keep your browser version up-to-date with its latest release. Internet Explorer is an older browser and is not supported. Preparation We expect you to have some foundation of FlexSim knowledge and experience before asking a question. If you're new to FlexSim, before asking questions here, please take the time to go through the in-software tutorials. Topics - when you create a post, whether it's a question, article, or idea, you must tag your post with at least 1 topic (and up to 5 topics) to help identify the main issues of your post. As you add topics, autocomplete will suggest preexisting topics. Please select a preexisting topic if it is a good match, rather than creating a new, slightly different spelling of an existing topic. Also, please try to keep new topics to only 1 or 2 words. Ask one question at a time. When composing a new question, limit yourself to a single question. Don't include multiple questions in one post. Each question deserves its own place. When you separate multiple questions into individual posts, it's more likely that more users will participate in your questions, getting you more answer options more quickly, often from multiple individuals. It also makes each post smaller and easier to digest, encouraging more participation. Follow-up questions. Sometimes it's tempting to ask a follow-up question as a comment to an answer, or even more inappropriately, as a new answer to your first question. New questions that can stand alone should be posted as brand new questions. Only clarifying questions should be asked that expand on the original question/answer/comment that is being discussed. This keeps each question post laser-focused on the top question, and each answer directly pertaining to the main question. An answer should really be an answer. Each answer should directly address the top question in a post. An answer is never a 'thank you', a comment, or another question. Those each have their place (usually as a comment), but none of them should be posted as an answer. A question can have multiple answers. The question asker (or 'OP' - original poster) should 'accept' the answer that worked best for them. Users can up-vote answers that are helpful, or down-vote those that are not. The top answers will bubble up to the top. 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Whenever possible, simplify your question for a general audience. Private questions are for private information. If you have a question pertaining to your specific license, make it a private question. Only FlexSim US can see the contents of private questions. AnswerHub takes reasonable measures to help protect information (see their privacy policy's Security heading) but this AnswerHub community should not be considered a secure site. Be sure to follow your organization's rules regarding posting of proprietary data, and when in doubt use approved methods to share confidential information. Consider reaching out directly to your local FlexSim representative for phone or email support. Post attachments: Attachments types - If you find that you can't upload a particular file type, simply compress it to .zip and upload that way. Make a note of that in your post so that we can consider allowing your file type. Attachment sizes - We've tried to be quite generous with total allowable upload sizes. If you find that your attachment(s) are too big to upload, first try compressing to .zip. If that still doesn't get your attachments small enough to post, you may be able to use a 3rd party file hosting service such as Dropbox or SugarSync, and include a link to your uploaded file in your post. Make a note of that in your post so that we can consider increasing the file size limit if this becomes a common problem. Attachment count - Again, we've tried to be quite generous with the total number of attachments that can be added to a post, primarily because images count against your attachment count. Let us know if you're trying to make a post but run into the max attachment limit. Advanced search functions: Simple search A search that uses one or more words, separated by spaces. For example: Enter transporter resource to perform a search for transporter, resource, or transporter resource. Refined search You can refine your search by adding different symbols (+, -, [, or ]) to your search. For example: Entering transporter +resource in the search bar returns results that include transporter and resource, but resource is a required term. Entering transporter -resource in the search bar returns results that include the term transporter, but excludes any that contain the term resource. Entering in the search bar returns only results that are tagged with the transporter topic. Entering [resource] in the search bar returns only results that are tagged with the transporter and resource topics. Google search This Answers community includes Google Custom Search to easily enable the use of Google's powerful search engine across all FlexSim web sites, including this Answers community, our old, archived community, our online user manual, and more. Please see this question and answer for details. If you have any questions, comments, or tips of your own that you'd like to share, please start a discussion in the comments below. We can update the article above with the best suggestions or illuminate anything that might be confusing.

FlexSim 2020 Update 1 Beta is available. (Updated 24 March 2020) To get the beta, log in to your account at www.flexsim.com, then go to the Downloads section, and click on More Versions. It will be at the top of the list. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email dev@flexsim.com or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Updated the Statistics Collector to be simpler and more user friendly. Added a PowerPoint FlexScript API. Added an HTTP FlexScript API. Added a sorting tab to various charts. Improved performance of chart templates. Replaced the code profiler with a new Performance Profiler. Added a Memory Profiler. Added OnEntry and OnExit events to TaskExecuter objects. Added an icon to library items that launch a pop-out library of choices. Reorganized the dashboard library using the pop-out library to consolidate charts with multiple visualizations. Updated the WebServer to use the Version Selector. Added a Find/Replace UI for global tables. Added support for Ctrl-F and Ctrl-H keyboard shortcuts for various windows. Added support for renaming objects using the F2 keyboard shortcut. Added a Vec3 overload to the Object.setRotation() method. Added a stop parameter to the userinput() command which will stop code execution until a value is entered. Added a default parameter to the realtime() command that returns realtime(1)+0.001*realtime(2). Updated various pickoptions to use the TaskSequence and TaskExecuter APIs. Added tutorials for the Statistics Collector. Fixed some issues with the importtable() command. AGV Added new Train functionality. Added offset travel functionality to the AGV network. Added a time-based trailing option. Added the routing drawing feature to a right click option. Updated Quick Properties' apply to all selected objects functionality to work with AGV objects. Made arrows bigger. Fixed several spinners in Quick Properties not applying immediately. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Changed behavior for when a TaskExecuter is connected to an AGV network, and is set to use the navigator for its offset travel. Previously, the navigator was hard-coded to find the closest control point. Now, you instead need to add an OnAGVOffsetTravel trigger to the navigator, wherein you can direct the AGV how to offset. People Added clipboard, test tube, and pill bottle flow items. Added a Max Speed property to Equipment objects. Updated Transport and Equipment objects to do low priority returns. Added the ability to install instanced People flows. Updated the LocationStaytimeHistory chart to handle people entering and exiting transports inside a location. Process Flow Added an AGV travel activity. Updated the Sink to notify parent tokens on a Run Sub Flow activity that the child token finished the subflow. Updated the Wait for Event and Event-triggered Source activities to be able to display more than one link at a time. Updated the sampler for Universal Edit fields to display process flow variables and current labels when sampling white space. Added a pop-out library for choosing the shape of Container objects. Added a pop-out library for choosing the type of travel activity. A* Updated the Heat Map to use a Color Pallete.

Attached is an example model and user library comprising commands to return an array of objects whose bounding boxes intersect, and a Collision Detection object to drop into your model. The Collision Detection has a ticker interval label to adjust the frequency of checks and will switch the colliding objects to selected. It looks for two groups - "Obstacles" containing static objects in the scene (which may be overlapping and not recorded as collisions) and "Colliders" which are the objects navigating the scene and should be checked for intersecting bounding boxes. In the example model I'm adding the flowitem when it is created using Group("Colliders").addMember(item) The detector code is on its FlexScript label, 'analyseScene', which is first scheduled to run by the object's reset trigger. collisionDetection3.fsm BBCollisionDetection2.fsl

This table is meant as a reference and guideline. While we strive to maintain this list regularly, it may be out of date at any given time. If an advertised feature of FlexSim is not listed here, it is generally not subject to limitations by license type.   The Express license type is FlexSim's default, unlicensed state. Downloading and installing FlexSim to a new computer, it will be in Express mode. The other license types require you to obtain a license and apply it to the software. Please refer to FlexSim's End User License Agreement (EULA) for details on allowed uses, restrictions, and other considerations. If you wish to test a particular license type, please contact your local distributor to request a test license.   Please Note: Runtime seats are no longer available for new purchase or renewal but are referenced in this table to support those Runtime licenses still outstanding.   Please Note: Autodesk sells a node-locked subscription license. This is the same as Enterprise in the table below, with some restrictions on moving the license. Please see our article Node-locked license vs Transferable license.       Express Runtime Student Educational Enterprise Use Cases (see EULA) Testing, evaluation, and model viewer only. Run only (no model building). Educational use only. Educational use only. See EULA. Open, Run, Save open and run any size model ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ open and save models in XML format     ✔ ✔ ✔ unlocked random streams   ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ compile models built with C++ (optional, requires Visual Studio)   ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ save model size limitations model size must be under limitations none model size must be under limitations none none experimenter   ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ OptQuest optimizer   with OptQuest add-on license up to 10 optimization variables with OptQuest add-on license with OptQuest add-on license webserver (requires separate download) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Model Building model building features available ✔ no ability to add objects or activities, but any objects and activities used by existing models are editable ✔ ✔ ✔ create objects and activities ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ object creation limit 30   100 none none process flow activity creation limit 35   250 none none execute FlexScript in script console     ✔ ✔ ✔ tree view     ✔ ✔ ✔ Tool Box Add Tools ✔ no ability to add tools, but all tools used by existing models are editable ✔ ✔ ✔ FlowItem Bin ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Global Tables ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Time Tables ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ MTBF/MTTR ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Down Behavior ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Dashboards ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Groups ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Process Flow (all options) ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Global List (all options) ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Statistics Collector ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Milestone Collector ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Calculated Table ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Experimenter     ✔ ✔ ✔ Statistics - Tracked Variable     ✔ ✔ ✔ FlowItem (all options) ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Modeling Logic (all options)     ✔ ✔ ✔ Visual - Model Floor ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Visual - Model Background ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Visual - Video Recorder     ✔ ✔ ✔ Visual - Fly Path     ✔ ✔ ✔ Connectivity - Database Connector ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Connectivity - Excel Import/Export ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔ Connectivity - Visio Import     ✔ ✔ ✔ Connectivity - Emulation (Modbus and OPC DA connections only. Other connection types require an Emulation license.) ✔   ✔ ✔ ✔

We have released a beta version of our bottling module. The module adds two new objects to the FlexSim 3D Library. The Mass Flow Conveyor (MFC) and the MFC Motor. The Mass Flow Conveyor allows you to define multiple lanes for flow items to move along. It is often used in bottling lines. Help files are included in the FlexSim User Manual to assist you. This beta version must be installed with FlexSim 2017 Update 2. 32-bit and 64-bit installers can be downloaded through the downloads section in the Modules tab of the FlexSim website: FlexSim Downloads The following are known issues: Acceleration implementation is not complete. Crossline Multiplier implementation is not complete. MFC.Motor property 'sections' is not working. Please post any feedback or bug reports either as a comment to this article or you can email them to dev@flexsim.com

Flexsim 2021 Update 1 is now available for download. You can view the Release Notes in the online user manual. For more in depth discussion and videos of the new features, check out https://www.flexsim.com/news/flexsim-2021-update-1-pre-built-agv-logic-bottle-shapes-and-more/ If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email dev@flexsim.com or create a new idea in the Development space.

This model shows a simple way of bringing together all the separate picks in an order to be consolidated in a putwall. It also shows a great way of tracking flowitems while on a conveyor through the use of tracked variable labels. A side concept is that the order reserves a slot in a rack for all of the picks. Conveyor-Routing-Order-Consolidation.fsm

FlexSim 2018 Update 2 Beta is available. (Updated 26 July 2018) To get the beta, log in to your account at www.flexsim.com, then go to the Downloads section, and click on More Versions. It will be at the top of the list. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email dev@flexsim.com or create a new idea in the Development space. Release Notes Added an interface for running experiments and optimizations on the cloud. Added a mechanism for adding new charts as experimenter performance measures. Added a Sankey Diagram to the dashboard charts. Added a Milestone Collector statistics tool and chart templates. Added a way to customize how objects draw their 3D shape meshes. Added {} syntax to specify FlexScript expressions in SQL queries. Added a Down Behavior tool that can be used by Time Tables and MTBF MTTR objects. Added a message() method to the Object class to replace sendmessage() and senddelayedmessage(). Added a varchar bundle field type for variable-length strings. Added status bar updates to the table view. Updated the bar and pie charts with more options and data formats. Added duration settings to the gantt chart. Added new task sequence classes to the FlexScript API. Added a getCategoryName() method to the TrackedVariable class. Added getEntryFromValue() and reevaluateBackOrders() methods to the List class. Added padStart() and padEnd() methods to the string class. Added an option to sort back orders independent of entries when reevaluating back orders. Added an option to configure a list to always leave its entries on the list. Added events to the Statistics Collector. Added options for sorting rows in statistics collectors. Added dot syntax label access to List.BackOrder. Added a backOrder keyword that is available in a list back order queue strategy. Added a new overload to List.pull() that takes both an array and a query. Updated user library functionality to better handle conveyor types and containers. Updated Move into Highlighted code to preserve global position and rotation. Improved sampler options in various places. Improved drop-down options with label values in several places. Updated the Ctrl+W keyboard shortcut so it correctly closes the window that has keyboard focus. Updated the query() command to re-throw exceptions. Fixed a bug with updating bundle indexes when using certain commands. Fixed a performance bug with pasting into bundle tables. Fixed a window docking bug. Fixed a bug with the robot not drawing collision spheres or its stopped indicator. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Changed Variant math operations on non-numbers to throw exceptions. Updated the Source to automatically attach task executer flowitems to the DefaultNavigator. Updated dumpquery() to use bundle varchar fields. Fixed an issue with the Z-axis being inverted for screen-locked shapes in perspective 3D views. Process Flow Added stop() and resume() methods to the Token class. Updated global shared assets so they now have a separate global block instance. Updated Edit Mode so you can no longer move activities when it is off. Added a check box to quick properties to turn off all trace histories. Updated Wait for Event to handle listening to arrays of objects. Updated Pull from List so you can use it with a Resource shared asset. Updated the Resource so you can point it at a global List or a List shared asset. Added a way to sample shared assets in certain fields. Updated the naming convention for Resource object copies. Added an error message when trying to rename a shared asset the same name as another. Improved the performance of the Wait for Event activity. People Updated the multi-location to allow people to enter without an available sub-location. Conveyor Added a max count slug building property to the conveyor type. Added a catch condition to the power and free functionality to customize whether a given dog will actually catch an item. Added the capability to reverse conveyors under certain conditions. Changed the roller skew kinematics to be based on item travel distance instead of time. Changed the conveyor's belt repeat distance to sync to the adjusted dog interval. Fixed a bug with decision points snapping to grid when added with a conveyor from a user library. AGV Updated path transfers to prioritize their requests. Fixed an issue with accumulating path allocations causing AGVs to get stuck. Fixed various issues with AGVs having different deceleration values. Backwards Compatibility Note: the following changes may slightly change the way updated models behave. Improvements to AGV proximity detection on accumulating paths. Emulation Fixed Modbus polling for changes. Fixed the Modbus panels in the Variable shared asset so they show the associated object now.

Attached are three models that can be used to see the VR capabilities of FlexSim. oculus-warehouse-demo4.fsm (built with FlexSim 7.7) oculustouchdemo-6.fsm (built with FlexSim 17.1) The zombie production game was also updated for VR. These models were primarily designed and tested with the Oculus Rift, but they work with the HTC Vive as well. The HTC Vive requires a more powerful graphics card than the Oculus Rift does to achieve similar performance. You need to maintain 90+ frames per second (File > Global Preferences > Graphics > Show FPS Counter) in order to avoid judder with the HTC Vive. The Oculus Rift will remain smooth at 45 FPS or higher due to asynchronous spacewarp in their driver. In any model in 17.1, you can teleport around by pointing and pressing the Vive touch pads or Oculus Touch thumb sticks as buttons. The position where the thumb presses the button on the Vive or the direction that the thumb stick is rotated on the Oculus Touch will affect the direction you are looking when you teleport. This control scheme is similar to the Oculus Home controls. Moving via teleporting minimizes the motion sickness felt by users who are unaccustomed to VR. In the touch demo model, you can push buttons to release conveyor merge lanes, move operator figurines to change the operator assignments, and control the crane. The code that handles the touch inputs is in the ModelOnPreDraw user command. See VR model custom code for a version of the model with more comments in the code. The warehouse demo model was built in 2015 and doesn’t have any interactive elements that work with the Oculus Touch or HTC Vive controllers. For optimal tracking, after you press the VR Mode button in FlexSim and put on the headset, make sure you recenter the headset in the VR settings while standing or sitting in the middle of your play area and looking straight forward. On the Vive, push the system button to open the Steam VR overlay, then press the Settings button near the bottom-right corner, then look straight forward and press the Reset Seated Position button. On the Oculus, press the Oculus home button and then press the Reset View in App button in the upper-right corner.

Attached is a sample model that tracks social distancing metrics. I just grabbed one of our testing models, so it's not necessarily eye popping as far as visuals, but the basic concepts of social distancing metric tracking are in there. This model is implemented in the new 20.2 beta. It uses the new Agent module to detect proximity between objects. I added a proximity system, and added each operator as an agent in the system. I created an object that draws a "heat map" where proximity points happen. This is a visual tool called "HeatMap" in the model. If you send a message to the object it will add a "hot point" at the location of the sending object. I implemented the object's OnReset, OnMessage, and OnDraw triggers to do this. Once the heat map is set up, I have the proximity system send a message to the HeatMap from the involved agent object as part of it OnEnterProximity trigger. Second, I do some statistical tracking using a statistics collector named ProximityTimes. This listens to the agent proximity system's OnEnterProximity and OnExitProximity events, and collects data accordingly. The trickiest part to setting this up was sampling the actual event. For now (hopefully we'll get a better system in the future) you have to sample the event in the tree. In the Events tab of the statistics collector, press the sampler button, then in the tree navigate to the node at MODEL:/ProximitySystem>variables/behaviors/Proximity Behavior and hover the cursor over it to get the list of events. The ProximityTimes statistics collector collects individual times. This allowed me to add the "Time In Proximity" dashboard chart. For the other charts, I needed a calculated table to aggregate the values. The ProximityAggregates table aggregates the data needed for the other three dashboard charts: Total Proximity Time, Proximity Count, and Average Time In Proximity. SampleSocialDistancing.fsm

FlexSim 2023 Update 2 Beta is now available. (Updated July 21) FlexSim 23.2.0 Release Notes To get the beta, log in to your account at https://account.flexsim.com, then go to the Downloads section, and click on More Versions. It will be at the top of the list. The More Versions button does not appear when logged in as a guest account. The beta is available only to licensed accounts and accounts that have a license shared with them. Learn more about downloading the best version of FlexSim for your license here. If you have bug reports or other feedback on the software, please email dev@flexsim.com or create a new idea in the Bug Report space or Development space.

Hi everyone, I had a discussion with @Jordan Johnson recently and I also wanted to share with the distributors group some thoughts about the autosave feature: Comment #1: there is no autosave if your model is in a run state every 10 minutes When a user reads this checkbox, he thinks that FlexSim will "autosave a model backup every 10 minutes" exactly as it is written. But it does not. As explained in the user manual: "AutoSave will only save your model if it is reset and not running." (https://docs.flexsim.com/en/20.1/Reference/GeneralModelSettings/GlobalPreferences/#environment) Let's take an example: a user saves his model file at 10:00 am. The first autosave is scheduled at 10:10 am. The user starts building his model, then runs his model between 10:09 and 10:11. As at 10:10 am his model was running, there was actually no autosave. So the first autosave is postponed at 10:20 am. The user does some modifications in his model, then resets and runs his model between 10:19 and 10:21. As at 10:20 his model was running, there was actually no autosave. So the first autosave is postponed at 10:30 am. And so on... So after 1 hour of work, a user could actually have no autosave of his model. And I already have seen this with some users. If FlexSim crashes, then the user looses his work since he forgot to regularly save his model. So he looks for the autosave file, but there is none, even after 1 hour. You might answer me that users are supposed to save their model more regularly, but if they would do so then there would be no need to have an autosave feature. Idea: if the model is in a run state when the autosave is scheduled, the autosave should not be postponed in 10 minutes, but instead the autosave should be triggered at the next model reset. Comment #2: there is no autosave if you save your model at intervalls less than 10 minutes Let's take an example: a user saves his model file at 10:00 am. The first autosave is scheduled at 10:10 am. But the user saves his model at 10:09. So the first autosave is postponed at 10:19 am, there is no autosave at 10:10. Then the user saves his model at 10:18. So the first autosave is postponed at 10:28 am, there is no autosave at 10:19. And so on... So after 1 hour of work, a user will also have no autosave file if he saves regularly his model. I am not shocked by this behaviour, but again when a user reads that FlexSim will "autosave a model backup every 10 minutes" , he thinks that FlexSim does autosave a model backup every 10 minutes as written on the checkbox. If saving the model postpones the next autosave, then the label of this checkbox should be more precise. And there should also be at least a tooltip on the checkbox and one more sentence in the user manual to explain that the autosave is postponed everytime the user saves his model. I know that you are all experienced users and you save regularly your models. But I would be interested if you have already seen some of your users loosing their work, and then when looking for an autosave file there was none, or the autosave file was much older than 10 minutes. Don't hesitate to add comments to this post.

Run FlexSim "in the cloud"? Instead of provisioning a desktop or laptop PC that meets FlexSim's recommended system requirements, you may prefer for your FlexSim users to use a thin client PC which connects to a more powerful back end system that actually runs FlexSim. FlexSim does not test our products in such environments, so your user experience may vary. Meet the system requirements It is important that the remote system meet or exceed FlexSim's recommended system requirements. Usually for CPU and RAM that is not a problem. In the past, the biggest hurdle was typically graphics. Does the remote machine support hardware accelerated graphics, and support streaming those graphics to the thin client where the user is actually sitting? If the graphics are not accelerated, or if accelerated graphics can't be streamed to the user, then the system doesn't meet FlexSim's requirements and you may have a bad user experience. In the past In the past, provisioning such a system to meet FlexSim's requirements was quite a specialized combination of hardware and software. Even today not every cloud provider has the infrastructure to stream accelerated graphics. Our anecdotal experience is that such set ups are becoming more common among 3rd party cloud providers. Going forward Major players now seem to have mainstream support for hardware accelerated graphics: https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/elastic-graphics/ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/sizes-gpu https://cloud.google.com/gpu/ As mentioned above, FlexSim is not targeted to these environments and the software is not tested in these environments, so your mileage may vary. Conclusion With more and more cloud providers enabling hardware accelerated graphics, there is a chance that FlexSim could work well on a cloud-based platform. If you have tried running FlexSim remotely using one of these or another cloud provider, we'd love to hear your experience. Please comment below to let us know about your setup, what worked, and what didn't.

Como criar animações customizadas em máquinas ou equipamentos no FlexSim é o que demonstramos nesse rápido vídeo. Customizamos uma animação no objeto processor, criando a movimentação real de uma maquina envolvedora de filme stretch. Veja o tutorial completo de como executar essa tarefa passo a passo, acessando o Canal Youtube da FlexSim Brasil. Ainda neste artigo, estou anexando uma pasta chamada 'Wrapper' com os arquivos em 3D para os interessados que quiserem criar as customizações acessarem e usarem os arquivos. wrapper.raranimationcreator.fsm

When installing FlexSim, has the installer ever quit, saying "Installation Cancelled" or "FlexSim must close"? Installation Canceled Installation was cancelled by user. Or has your FlexSim installation ever had errors upon starting the software? FlexSim has encountered a problem. Your work is saved in recovery files. Please notify FlexSim Technical Support. Retrieve your recovery files, then email FlexSim. Do you want to restart? FlexSim encountered an unrecoverable error and must close. Please notify FlexSim Technical Support about this issue. This can be frustrating any time, let alone for a brand new FlexSim installation. Here are some possible solutions that may help FlexSim install or start properly: 1. Meet the System Requirements Make sure that your computer meets FlexSim's minimum system requirements. If your computer's hardware or operating system is out of spec, you may not be able to install FlexSim, or it may not start or work properly. Don't overlook the disk space requirement. You'll need about 2.5 GB free for the installer and the completed installation in order to install FlexSim. Low disk space will cause the installation to fail. Graphics specifications are particularly important, as incompatible/nonexistent graphics hardware or out of date graphics drivers may cause strange graphics behavior or other issues. See this article for more graphics considerations, tips, and guidance for installing or upgrading graphics drivers. 2. Windows Updates, Driver Updates FlexSim relies on some newer Windows components and libraries provided by Microsoft in patches and updates. Make sure your computer is up to date with all Windows updates. In addition to Windows updates, be sure to upgrade your system's graphics drivers, as FlexSim relies on fixes and features found in the latest graphics drivers from NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD. It is not enough to just use Windows Update to check for new graphics drivers - you should check the websites for your system manufacturer or graphics vendor specifically for updated graphics drivers. See our graphics article for more detailed information. 3. Reboot your computer Windows has improved enormously over the years, but even with modern Windows sometimes a good, old-fashioned reboot can do the trick, especially if you have recently installed or uninstalled other software or Windows updates. 4. Run as Administrator Software Installation: Ensure that you have the proper privileges on your PC to install new software. Install FlexSim by right-clicking the installer file and choosing Run As Administrator. If you don't have admin rights, you will be prompted to enter credentials with admin rights. Enter the proper credentials to allow the software installation to proceed. Startup Issues: Try starting FlexSim with higher permissions by right-clicking the program icon and choosing Run As Administrator. If you don't have admin rights, you will be prompted to enter credentials with admin rights. Enter the proper credentials and the software should start with elevated permissions. Does this solve the problem? Some users have reported that some FlexSim components are blocked by default, but can run properly when FlexSim is started with elevated privileges. If you find this is the case for you, work with your IT group to determine how to unblock the DLLs or other components required by FlexSim. 5. Delete FlexSim's saved settings Sometimes when FlexSim has trouble starting up, it can be due to a corrupted prefs.t file. FlexSim's prefs.t file stores your FlexSim settings and preferences and is located at: %APPDATA%\Flexsim\FlexSim <version> The %APPDATA% address is a shortcut to your Windows user account's Roaming directory. This animation shows how to get to your %APPDATA% directory: With FlexSim closed, delete this prefs.t file. Then try starting FlexSim. Are the problems resolved? 6. Reinstall FlexSim Completely uninstall FlexSim and try a new installation. It may be worth downloading a new copy of the full installer to ensure there was no corruption in the install package. You could also try the .msi installer, instead of the .exe. When installing using the .msi you can save a log of the install process. This could help with debugging if there are still problems. Whichever method you use when reinstalling FlexSim, be sure to right-click the installer and choose to Run as Administrator (see the Run as Administrator section above). 7. Update your computer's .NET installation FlexSim relies on Microsoft's .NET Framework for some functionality. Windows 10 includes a compatible .NET version, or if a compatible version is missing the FlexSim installer will try to download and install .NET directly from Microsoft. If your computer/network does not allow this you may need to update .NET yourself. Click here to download the .NET framework directly from Microsoft. After installing the .NET Framework, please revisit the Windows Updates section above. Microsoft may provide new security fixes that should be applied to your .NET installation. 8. Reinstall Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable These are run-time components provided by Microsoft that are required to run FlexSim. Normally these components are installed during FlexSim's installation process. If FlexSim is encountering errors, it could be caused by a broken or out of date C++ redistributable. Click here to download the latest Visual C++ Redistributable directly from Microsoft. After reinstalling the Visual C++ Redistributable, please revisit the Windows Updates section above. There may be new security fixes for the redistributable. 9. Antivirus We have seen instances where FlexSim is blocked by an overzealous Antivirus software. If FlexSim doesn't start up at all, despite a new installation, this could be the case. To test this, temporarily disable your antivirus and try to install or start FlexSim. If the problem clears up then your antivirus may indeed be blocking FlexSim. In this case, work with your IT department to configure the appropriate settings to allow FlexSim to run alongside your antivirus solution. Remember to re-enable your antivirus software after this test. 10. Windows Event Viewer If FlexSim still won't install or start, try checking the Windows Event Viewer to see if there are any errors related to installing or starting FlexSim. If so, please send those our way so that we can troubleshoot further. In case you've never used it before, here is a tutorial covering the Event Viewer. Add your comments below on what did or didn't work for you, other problems or symptoms you encountered, or tips and tricks that helped you solve them. Fixes for older versions The following suggestions apply to outdated versions of FlexSim. Update OpenSSL DLLs Applies to FlexSim versions 7.0.0-20.2.0 (excluding LTS versions 20.0.9+) Some older FlexSim installations may crash shortly after FlexSim opens, when FlexSim's start page contacts our remote servers for dynamic content, due to a new system incompatibility with the openssl library that shipped with these older FlexSim versions. Newer versions of FlexSim include updated files that resolve this problem. Install the latest version of FlexSim to obtain updated versions of the following two files: C:\Program Files\FlexSim <version>\modules\Emulation\openssl\libeay32.dll C:\Program Files\FlexSim <version>\modules\Emulation\openssl\ssleay32.dll Copy those updated DLLs to your affected FlexSim installation, under its program\Webkit folder, overwriting the older version of those files. Alternate workaround: disconnect your computer from the Internet, both wired networks and Wi-Fi. Start FlexSim. Go to File > Global Preferences > Dynamic Content tab. Deactivate all of the options there. You can now reconnect to the Internet and FlexSim may work properly the next time you start the application. Uninstall KB4571756 Applies to FlexSim versions 7.7.0-16.2.2 A Windows 10 patch released in September 2020 may prevent FlexSim versions 7.7.0-16.2.2 from starting. If you are using one of these older versions of FlexSim and the program will not start, try removing this Windows update: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4571756/windows-10-update-kb4571756