2020 Update 1 Features

Here’s a quick look at the features and improvements found in FlexSim 2020 Update 1.

We’ve had different tools to model rail operations throughout our history, but our latest feature is the best one yet. We leveraged our high-fidelity AGV module to be able to attach trailers to AGVs. This behavior lets you represent the articulated motion necessary for modeling train yards, train travel networks, and more. It might seem a little funny to see our AGV module associated with trains, but this new functionality is no joke; combined with the AGV system, it provides all the behavior you’ll need to build sophisticated train simulation models.

Our AGV module got beefed up in other areas as well. You can now create custom offset travel operations; this is very useful when modeling warehousing systems, when AGVs might pick and place at many points along a rack. We’ve also added trailing time, for those situations where you want AGVs to follow a certain number of seconds behind each other instead of a certain distance length. We also have a convenient new way to show the points on a network that are able to reach a specific control point; just right-click on a control point, click Show AGV Routing Accessibility, and see the path transfers highlighted in blue that can reach it. This should be useful for troubleshooting navigation errors.

Outside of the AGV module, we’ve expanded on our existing pop-out menus from the 3D Library. Whenever you see a two-window icon in a library, that means you can click it to show a pop-out menu with different choices. We’ve added a lot of pop-out menus in the Dashboard Library, where many charts have different visualization options. This helps the Dashboard Library stay organized so you can easily find what you need. We’ve even added them to the Process Flow Library, where we’ve consolidated container object shapes and travel activity types.

For healthcare modeling, we’ve added a Max Speed property to Equipment objects like crash carts and portable EKGs. We’ve also added some new flow item shapes, including a clipboard, test tube, and pill bottle.

If you haven’t had a chance to dig into the powerful Statistics Collector tool yet, now is the best time to start. It’s been updated to be simpler and more user friendly, with an all-new collection of tutorials to teach you how to collect the exact data you need.

Finally, we’ve added a few new debugging tools in the Performance Profiler and the Memory Profiler. The Performance Profiler lets you record FlexSim’s activity to see exactly where FlexSim is spending the most CPU time. The Memory Profiler is similar, but for physical memory usage.

Thanks for watching, and we hope you enjoy FlexSim 2020 Update 1.