ARDUINO SIMULATOR 1.

USER MANUAL
XEVRO

Version 1.8
Xevro© 2021
Louis D’Hont & Marc Van Den Berge

This manual describes all features and capabilities of the Arduino

Simulator.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

INTRODUCTION
The Arduino Simulator gives you the tools and components you need to simulate your Ar-
duino IO. It’s made for quick tests and small projects and there is still further developed in
order to obtain the widest possible IO functions.

This Arduino IO Simulator is designed to test an Arduino program quickly with the Arduino
board without really having connections to external IO (buttons, potentiometers, leds, LCD
displays, ...).

To be use the simulator we need 3 programs:

- Java JRE (Java Runtime Environment)

- The Arduino simulation program
- The Arduino IDE
In order to use the Simulator we need to download the Java JRE on our computer, you can
find the download link on the website of Xevro or search for ‘Java JRE download’.

ARDUINO IDE
Before we start using the Arduino Simulator we need the Arduino development software, it is
also free available on the Arduino website: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

Arduino Simulator 1.8

HOW TO START THE SIMULATOR FROM A COM-
MAND PROMPT
You can open a Command Prompt window directly from inside a Windows Explorer window.
Taking you directly to that folder location!
If you click on this address bar, you can type in text. By typing ‘cmd’ and hitting Enter, you’ll
open up the command prompt at that location.

Go to the directory C:\Program Files (x86)\ArduinoUNOsimulator

Check java version commando: java -version + ENTER

Start simulator commando: java –jar ArduinoSimulator.jar + ENTER

Arduino Simulator 1.8

If java doesn’t work in command prompt

Press simultaneously the "windows" and "pause" buttons on your keyboard, this will bring up
the System Preferences dialog. In the Advanced tab, find Environment Variables.

In the User (upper) section, create or update the following two variables :
• JAVA_HOME = where you put your JDK, eg. C:/Java/SDK
• PATH = %JAVA_HOME%/bin
•
Close the dialogs.
Then, in a new command-line console, try "java -version" and see if it's detected. It's
important that you use a new console, because environment variables are read only when
the console is launched.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

LICENSE REGISTRATION
The Arduino Simulator free available but we secured it with a license key. The first time you
open the program there will be an activation screen pops up where you can put in the
license and activate it.
Click on the ‘Change Product Key’ to insert the license key you copied on the website, after
entering this you need to click on ‘activate’.

License key input field

Arduino Simulator 1.8

CODE CHANGES
The Arduino IDE works with instructions that the IO read and write, by adding the libraries
to your project it is possible to simulate the project.
We don’t want to change the real instructions, we decided to edit the libraries so they are
compatible with our software. The core SimulatorProgram library will be added to the
Arduino/libraries folder in the documents folder the very first time you open the simulator. In
the Simulator software is a function available to add a library to add more libraries to the
Arduino IDE.

All available Simulator libraries

Go inside a folder and select the .zip file, click on the ‘install zip-file’ button to install the
library. The library will be automatically recognized by the Arduino IDE. by adding the
Arduino include statement to your project the library will be used in your project and you can
make simulations with the Arduino board.

Use the SerialInput(“x”) to read a value out of the serial communication line.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

attention:
Remember to adjust the 'Void Setup to initialize the real IO!!

Example: pinMode (0, OUTPUT);

pinMode (1, INPUT);

In each sketch are the instructions changed, so you only need to connect the inputs and
outputs through the screen and the sketch should work.

How to use an example:

1. Open an example sketch and upload it into the Arduino board.

2. Add the used components (I/O) in the worksheet. (there are some examples that are
already saved in the restore settings)
3. Connect the Arduino IO Simulator with the board
4. Simulate your Arduino in and outputs on the simulator.

HOW TO USE IT
The Arduino Simulator is very easy to understand. The simulator needs 5 simple things in
order to work correctly.

1. Connect the Arduino board

2. Upload your custom Arduino code with the corresponding library file
3. Change the original Arduino code
4. Select the used in-outputs in the Arduino Simulator
5. Connect the Arduino Simulator to the Arduino board with the right COM port

Arduino Simulator 1.8

1. Connect the Arduino Board
The Arduino IO Simulator is very easy to understand and work with. The Simulator requires
5 simple steps in order to simulate a project.

1. Connect the Arduino board

2. Upload your custom Arduino code with the corresponding library file
3. Add the used libraries
4. Select the used in-outputs in the Arduino IO Simulator
5. Connect the Arduino IO Simulator to the Arduino board with the right se-
rial port
1. Connect the Arduino Board
The Arduino IO Simulator works with a lot of Arduino boards:
• Arduino UNO
• Arduino Mega
• Arduino Leonardo
• Arduino...

Attention: Only the digital and analog pins that are available on the simulator can be used!
Disconnect the Arduino IO Simulator before uploading the Arduino code with the IDE.

2. Upload your custom Arduino code with the corresponding library file
Open the simulator and go to 'Help -> Arduino UNO programming code -> Arduino UNO
programming code (ino)’.
This will open a Arduino (ino) file with the corresponding library and important code in it.

3. Add the used libraries

In order to let the Simulator understand the code, we have created our own libraries. To
maintain the usability, we have decided to keep the instructions as they are but we changed
the libraries a bit so they are compatible with our software.
There are a few libraries available to use. The simulator program library is necessary for the
digitalWrite… instructions. To use the 16x2 LCD display you have to add our liquidCrystalSim
library in order to use it with the simulator. All the instructions are the same.

4. Select the used in-outputs in the Arduino IO Simulator

Each input and output on the Simulator has a selection box where the used digital or analog
pin can be connected.

5. Connect the Arduino IO Simulator to the Arduino board with the right serial
port
The Arduino IO Simulator knows which port is the Arduino board.
MAKE SURE THE ARDUINO IS DISCONNECT WHILE UPLOADING THE ARDUINO CODE.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

CHECK YOUR PROGRAM WITH CHECKVAR VARIABLES
With Checkvars it is possible to check the status of your variables in the Arduino sketch. You
can insert a variable on a line in your sketch and through the serial monitor you can follow
the values of the variables.
You can enter many different variables as :
Int, long int, long unsigned int, word, double, float ,char, string, Boolean

Instruction:
CheckVar(num , var);

num: integer from 0 to 32768

var: Int, long int, long unsigned int, word, double, float, char, string, Boolean

Example sketch parking:

I want to check the variables ‘BarUp’ and ‘BarLow’ in the sketch, and I give the CheckVars
the numbers 111 and 112 for BarUp and BarLow.
In the serial monitor you can follow the variables CheckVar_111 and CheckVar_112 and their
values.

It is also possible to see only the CheckVars by check the box ‘CheckVar’.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

PREPARING THE ARDUINO UNO PROGRAM
Open a new sketch (xx.ino)
The Simulator UNO-program (.ino) and the Simulator library “SimulatorProgram.h” can
found under Help:

Start the “Arduino UNO programming code” application

Now you can set your own code into the Arduino, if its upload in the Arduino you can test it
with the Simulator.

Attention: The library ‘SimulatorProgram.h’ stand by the Simulator.

Uploading of a new program to the Arduino board

• Start the Arduino application

• Open the sketch
• Arduino UNO connecting with the pc:

• Select board ‘Arduino UNO’

• Select the serial port
• Upload the program into the Arduino UNO

Attention: The BaudRate on the simulator is 9600.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

CONFIGURE THE COM PORT
Set the BaudRate
The BaudRate is by default set to 9600 or chance the BaudRate in the Arduino code and in
the Simulator.

Set the Com port

First you need to select the COM port, the USB port that is used by the Arduino. The
Simulator auto detects the Arduino and turns ‘red’.

Before the selection After the selection

Attention:

At start-up, we also see the state of the simulator at the bottom of the COM port:

Once you have selected the correct COM port changes to this text:

If you choose the wrong COM port or there is no Arduino connected than you get this
message:

If you select a in or output that is already used you will get an error message:

Arduino Simulator 1.8

HOW TO RUN A PRE-PROGRAMMED SKETCH
Example: Parking
Select ‘Examples’ and select ‘Parking’, the Arduino sketch start up.

Go to the menu ‘File’ and select ‘ Restore Settings’, choose the file ‘parking.sav’ and the pre-
programmed tools come on the screen.

The BaudRate is normally 9600, check this in the Arduino sketch.

Select the COM port, the connection between your Arduino and the simulator is established
(green button) and the program is running

If you want to start a new sketch you do the following moves:

Push the button ‘Reset I/O and Text’.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

ARDUINO BOARD VIEWER
By clicking on the Arduino board button a window will open in which you will see an Arduino
UNO board with all the used IO pins on it. The Reset IO button will clear all the IO pins to
start with selecting IO again. The RX/TX LEDs are also visually simulated.
The Arduino UNO board window is set as a top-level window to make sure you can always
see the Arduino board while you are simulating projects.
The real IO connect method in the setup will allow the simulator library to use simulated IO
together with real IO pins if you want to use connected components on . When you perform
a hardware reset on the real Arduino board or a reset from the simulator Arduino board you
will lose all real IO connections, to get these connections back you have to enter the
following instruction in the setup.
When working with TCP you have to place the instruction ‘RealIO_Connect()’ after the
delay(5000).

When you click on a pin you can change the status of the pin. To use an analog or digital pin
as a real in or output you will have to click ones and it will show a ‘D’ OR ‘A’ in it. A PWM pin
will show ‘P’. Each time you click on a pin, the status will be send to the Simulator library on
the Arduino board.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

USE THE ANALOG & DIGITAL IO
Digital Inputs
The Arduino UNO has 14 digital and 6 analog IO pins that we
can configure into inputs or outputs (IO). This pins get
symbolic images as D0 to D13 and A0 to A5. The IO labels
change red if it’s select.

BUTTONS
There are 8 buttons available. The combobox is used to connect the button to one of the 14
IO pins.

The light blue pin can be used to hold down the button while doing other things, the border
changes to red when its pressed.

The buttons can be controlled with the digitalRead() function.

LEDS
There are 14 leds available, for every pin of the Arduino 1 led.
Use the combobox to connect it with the Arduino. By clicking
on the led you can change the color.

The leds can be controlled with the digitalWrite() function.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

BUZZER
The buzzer is used to make a noise with a custom frequency. The combobox is used to con-
nect the buzzer with the Arduino.

The buzzer can be controlled with the digitalWrite(); function. By sending out a digital-
Write(pin, HIGH); signal in the Arduino code, the buzzer will make a noise with the adjusta-
ble frequency (use the slider to change the frequency).

7 SEGMENT DISPLAY
The 7 segment display has 6 digital pins that can connect to D2-8 on the Arduino. The dis-
play can be connected in common anode or common cathode.

To light up the display use digitalWrite(D2-8);

See the example: Parking.

SLIDERS
There are 3 sliders to connect with one of the 6 analog pins (A0-A5). The sliders can be read
by the Arduino with the analogRead() function. On the Arduino you have a white box where
the slider value is shown.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

NOISE DETECTION
The noise detection is used to send an analog (0-1023) signal to the Arduino depends on the
noise level. The combobox is used to connect the noise detector to one of the 6 analog pins
(A0-A5).

When you click on the ‘Start Noise Detection’ the detection starts listening to the microphone
noise level. When the noise level exceeded the slider value then it will sends the signal (0-
1023) to the Arduino. The limit value in the Arduino code needs to be lower than the noise
detection slider because the signal will be send when the noise is detected.

The noise detection can be controlled with the analogRead() function.

BARGRAPH
The bargraph can be connected to one of the 6 digital PWM pins of the Arduino. The bar-
graph shows the % of your value (0-1023), this can be used to simulate a PWM signal as a
% bar.

Use analogWrite(pin, value); to control the bargraph (See example: sound switch).

Arduino Simulator 1.8

SOUND GENERATOR
The sound generator can be connected to one of the 6 digital PWM pins of the Arduino.
By changing the time (ms) you change the duration that the sound goes off (1ms – 10
000ms). The frequency can goes from 10hz to 10Khz.
Use analogWrite(pin, value); to control the sound generator.

SERVO
The servo can be connected to one digital pin (D2-13) of the Arduino. The number of de-
grees (°) is visible in the servo. Click on the servo to make the servo smaller through remov-
ing the background and combobox. Use servo.write() and servo.attach(). Add the servo sim-
ulator library to use it.

LCD DISPLAY
The LCD display can be connected to the Arduino by
connecting D2-5, D11 and D12. Add the simulator
LiquidCrystalSim library to make it work with the
simulator.

TONE MELODY
The tone melody can be connected to digital pin D8 of the Arduino. The frequency and time
of the sound (milliseconds) are present in the light green boxes.
Use tone(8, f, d); and noTone(8); (See example: Tone Melody)

noTone() stops playing sound.

f = frequency
d = duration

Arduino Simulator 1.8

SQUAREWAVE GENERATOR
The squarewave sends pulls signals to the Arduino, when the signal is high you see the grey
square lights up ‘red’. The combobox is used to connect the squarewave to one of the 6 ana-
log pins (A0-A5 = D14-19).

When you click on the ‘SquareWave’ button there opens a second window with a slider to
change the frequency.

The squarewave can be controlled with the digitalRead() function.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

A FEW THINGS WHILE PREPARING THE ARDUINO PROGRAM

Always upload the sketch to the Arduino UNO.

if the simulator is connected with the Arduino you can’t upload the Arduino program. We
made a tool 'Disconnect' which closes the connection with the COM port of the simulator so
that you can upload the sketch to the Arduino.

The great advantage of this is that we don’t need to shut down the Simulator whenever we
want to upload the sketch simulator.

After downloading the simulator, we connect again with the COM port and we initialize the
I/O.

Choose BaudRate Choose COM port Disconnect COM port

Arduino Simulator 1.8

SERIAL MONITOR
In the simulator, it’s now also possible to view the serial data. There are 2 buttons that you
can use to send a signal to the Arduino. The monitor shows you a ‘Receive from Arduino’ line
when the Arduino sends data to the simulator and a ‘Send to Arduino’ line will be shown
when you send something to the Arduino with the simulator.

If you want to save the serial monitor output you can save the whole text or a selected area.
With the search function, it’s possible to search for a specific word or character. if the word
or character is found, it will be highlighted in yellow. By clicking on the blue question mark
you get the explanation of all the simulator codes.
By using Serialprint(); in the Arduino IDE, you can send a serial message.
The serial message will start with ‘txt_’ in the serial monitor.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

SAVE AND RESTORE OF SETTINGS
With “Save” you can save your selected I/O and dictated texts.
the ‘Restore’ button restores the settings to make it easy to use.
We can save the filename of the extension with *.sav or *.txt.
You find the ‘Save and Restore’ function under ‘File’.

Save Restore

LANGUAGES
There are 5 languages available, you can change the language in the menu toolbar. We
support English, German, French, Spanish and Dutch. The software starts always with
English.

Arduino Simulator 1.8

SCREEN RESOLUTION
We have 4 options:

- Resolution: 1024 x 768

- Resolution: 1336 x 768
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Variable resolution (min: 500, max: 2000)

Arduino Simulator 1.8