Technical Information about SIMUL8 for Teachers
This section assumes some understanding of simulation concepts at an academic level
SIMUL8 is discrete event using a modified version of the John Crookes (University of Lancaster) ABC-event simulation engine. (Modified for computing efficiency reasons). SIMUL8 has a "Simulation Monitor" that displays events (B & C) to the user - so students can get a detailed understanding of exactly what happens inside the simulation engine if required.
The underlying visual model is "Process Flow" - In a typical model "Work Items" (Entities) start at a "Work Entry Point" (Source), flow through connected queues and machines (controlled by routes), demanding floating resources as required, and end at a "Work Exit Point" (Sink). However, other structures are accommodated (for example the "World Queue" style of structure).
All uses of random number are independent and their seeds can be automatically or manually changed if/as required. Statistical results can be inspected for part or single runs, or following multiple runs (with automatically calculated confidence intervals).
