Application: Analog Simulation Concepts
In analog simulation, also termed analog computation, electronic circuits with op amps are used to solve differential equations. The basic circuit of this simulation is the op amp integrator circuit shown in Figure 1. Based on Equation (1), equating the input to an op amp integrator Vin equal to dy/dt, then the output of the integrator Vout is equal to -(1/RC) y(t). Thus, the voltages in the op amp circuit, i.e., Vout and Vin, can be "analogues" of other physical parameters.
As an example, suppose we have a system described by the following second-order differential equation, where y(t) is the output of the system.
d^2y/dt^2 + w^2 y(t) = 0
Represent the electronic scheme equivalent to this equation and perform subsequently its simulation knowing that w = 2.1 s^-1 and the capacitors in this diagram are all equal to 470 nF.
