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GeckoCIRCUITS

  • Power Electronics Simulation

    Simulate DC-DC, AC-DC, DC-AC converters with multi-domain support for electrical, thermal, and EMI analysis.

    Getting Started

  • 50+ Tutorials

    Step-by-step guides from basic circuits to advanced control systems, motor drives, and HVDC applications.

    Tutorials

  • 100+ Examples

    Ready-to-run circuit files covering automotive, renewable energy, and industrial applications.

    Examples

  • Automation & Integration

    Control simulations from MATLAB, Python, or via REST API for automated testing and optimization.

    API Reference

What is GeckoCIRCUITS?

GeckoCIRCUITS is an open-source circuit simulator specialized for power electronics. It provides:

  • Multi-domain simulation - Electrical, thermal, magnetic, and mechanical
  • Real-time visualization - Oscilloscope with live waveforms
  • MATLAB/Simulink integration - Co-simulation and parameter sweeps
  • Extensive component library - Switches, diodes, transformers, motors
  • Advanced analysis - Thermal modeling, loss calculation, EMI prediction

Quick Example

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│          Buck Converter                  │
│                                          │
│   Vin ──┬──[S]──┬──[L]──┬── Vout        │
│         │       │       │               │
│         │      [D]     [C]    [R]       │
│         │       │       │     │         │
│   GND ──┴───────┴───────┴─────┴── GND   │
│                                          │
│   Vout = D × Vin                        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Getting Started

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/tinix84/GeckoCIRCUITS.git
cd geckocircuits
mvn clean package assembly:single -DskipTests

# Run
./scripts/run-gecko-linux.sh

:: Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/tinix84/GeckoCIRCUITS.git
cd geckocircuits
mvn clean package assembly:single -DskipTests

:: Run
scripts\run-gecko.bat

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/tinix84/GeckoCIRCUITS.git
cd geckocircuits
mvn clean package assembly:single -DskipTests

# Run
./scripts/run-gecko-macos.sh

Tutorial Roadmap

graph LR
    A[101 First Simulation] --> B[102 Basic Circuits]
    B --> C[103 PWM Basics]
    C --> D[201 Buck Converter]
    D --> E[202 Boost Converter]
    E --> F[Advanced Topics]

    C --> G[301 Diode Rectifier]
    G --> H[302 PFC Basics]

    D --> I[501 Loss Calculation]
    I --> J[502 Junction Temp]
    J --> K[503 Heatsink Design]
Example Description Difficulty
Buck Converter Step-down DC-DC with PWM control Beginner
Boost PFC Power factor correction Intermediate
PMSM FOC Field-oriented motor control Advanced
EV Charger Level 2 AC charging Intermediate
MMC Converter Modular multilevel for HVDC Advanced

Comparison with Other Tools

Feature GeckoCIRCUITS PLECS PSIM SIMBA LTspice QSPICE
Licensing Open Source Commercial Commercial Commercial Freeware Freeware
Power Electronics Focus ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⚠️ General ✅
Ideal Switch Models ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Thermal Simulation ✅ Built-in ✅ Built-in ✅ Add-on ✅ Built-in ⚠️ Manual ⚠️ SPICE
Magnetic Domain ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Mechanical Domain ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⚠️ Manual ⚠️ Manual
Motor Models (PMSM/BLDC/IM) ✅ ✅ ✅ Add-on ✅ ⚠️ Manual ⚠️ Manual
MATLAB/Simulink Integration ✅ RMI ✅ Blockset ✅ Co-sim ❌ ❌ ❌
Python Scripting ✅ ✅ XML-RPC ✅ API ✅ Native ❌ ✅
C/C++ Custom Blocks ✅ Java ✅ C-Script ✅ C-block ✅ C-code ❌ ✅ C++/Verilog
Code Generation ❌ ✅ Coder ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
REST API ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Cloud/Online Version ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅ ❌ ❌
Analysis Tools (Bode, SS) ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ AC Sweep ⚠️ AC ⚠️ AC
EMI/Conducted EMC ✅ ⚠️ Limited ✅ ⚠️ ✅ ✅
SiC/GaN Device Models ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ⚠️ ✅ Native
PSIM Import ❌ ❌ N/A ✅ ❌ ❌

Legend: ✅ = Full support | ⚠️ = Partial/Manual | ❌ = Not available

Tool Characteristics

Tool Best For Website
GeckoCIRCUITS Power electronics education, MATLAB integration, open-source GitHub
PLECS Professional power electronics, Simulink co-sim, code generation plexim.com
PSIM Motor drives, SmartCtrl design, embedded code altair.com/psim
SIMBA Modern UI, Python-first workflow, cloud simulation simba.io
LTspice Analog circuits, component-level SPICE analog.com
QSPICE Mixed-signal, SiC/GaN power devices, fast simulation qorvo.com

Community

Citation

If you use GeckoCIRCUITS in your research, please cite:

@software{geckocircuits,
  title = {GeckoCIRCUITS: Power Electronics Circuit Simulator},
  author = {GeckoCIRCUITS Team},
  year = {2024},
  url = {https://github.com/tinix84/GeckoCIRCUITS}
}

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  • Documentation

    Complete user guide

    Docs

  • Support

    FAQ and troubleshooting

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