homeCRUMBCRUMB is a 3D circuit simulator based on breadboard prototyping. Unlike most of the software I use, it is not free and open source and instead is available on Steam. On Steam it is listed as a game, rather than software, but there's no game to it, its just a straightforward circuit sim. I'm not sure what the name CRUMB stands for, if anything? Maybe bread crumbs since everything in it is based around breadboards? It's made by a single developer, more as a passion project than anything else it seems, and it's always great to support an indie dev, but while the dev is clearly passionate about circuits, the fact that all the work is done by him alone means that updates are fairly slow and functionality is fairly limited so far. While it's not listed as being in early access on Steam, I wouldn't consider this a complete program. It's still pretty good and he is still working on it (some reviews allege that he abandoned it but this isn't true), but it's not as feature filled as something like TinkerCAD or SPICE based circuit simulators. Though, I should mention that it isn't trying to be a replacement for SPICE simulators. Rather than simulating circuits through 2D schematic designs, CRUMB's approach is different in that it provides a 3D environment to virtually build circuits on a breadboard with components that look true to life. It runs smoothly, even on Linux, and electricity behaves as you would expect it to, save for the occasional bug with transistor switching. Like I said, it lacks features and many components are missing. If you want an extremely capable circuit sim, CRUMB isn't really for you, at least not yet. I hope that some day in the future CRUMB could be a legitimate contender for best circuit simulator, but there's a lot of work to be done. One of the more interesting features though is that CRUMB includes programmable microcontrollers (including Arduino) and EEPROM, as well as a basic oscilloscope. CRUMB is actually pretty good at helping you visualise the physics behind a circuit, with views that highlight voltage and current within the circuit, as well as a logic view to see the output of pins on the ICs included in the program. For this reason, I would recommend CRUMB to a beginner, especially one who might not have breadboards and components already lying around, or tools such as a scope or multimeter, or a benchtop power supply. But if you already have that stuff, there's really no reason that you need CRUMB, unless you just want to support an independent developer, and if you're past that beginner stage already, you will find CRUMB quite lacking in its part list. Admittedly, CRUMB can be pretty tedious to work with. The UX feels a little clunky, and one of my major nitpicks with the game is the actual placement of the components. Components cannot be placed as freely on the board as they can in real life, and a number of the components are unnecessarily big, which can block you from placing other components nearby. One electrolytic capacitor, which have a pretty huge model (and it doesn't change if you give it a smaller capacitance value), takes up almost an entire breadboard row. Aside from that, CRUMB does have potential, and, as I saw someone else point out, it would benefit a lot from Steam Workshop support, so hopefully that'll come in the future, but for now, you'll only really find value in this if you're a complete beginner who doesn't already have the equipment to prototype circuits in real life, and even then, you may end up outgrowing it fairly quickly. Get CRUMB if you're in that situation, or if you just want to support an indie dev, but don't get it if you actually need something with industry level capability, or if you're a learner who's progressed to the point of wanting things like sensors, motors etc. |