The AnyLogic 8.9.1 release is now available. The newest version includes several long-awaited improvements in database connectivity, new Material Handling Library functionality, and other minor fixes. Let’s go through a detailed review of the most noticeable changes.
Built-in support for the new databases
Large simulation models are often required to process massive amounts of data. While AnyLogic has always allowed connections to external databases using drivers, the release of AnyLogic 8.9.1 makes this process even simpler.
We’ve increased the number of databases that can be connected without the necessity for searching, uploading, and adding drivers—you can simply choose from the list. AnyLogic 8.9.1 adds automated connections to the following databases:
- Oracle
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- MariaDB
Now you can select the newly supported databases from the Type list in the Import database tables wizard or Database connectivity element along with access settings, and AnyLogic will do the work for you.
Of course, the option to use drivers remains in AnyLogic, but now working with the most popular databases has become much easier.
Additionally, you will find some other improvements to simplify working with external databases:
- Access, import, export, and modify Oracle databases through the API.
- Import the data from Excel columns that have a Boolean data type.
Managing conveyor, station, and crane maintenance with the Downtime block
Downtimes in industrial equipment caused by planned maintenance or unexpected disruptions may seriously affect the throughput and other key performance indicators. That is why, to improve your experience of simulation in AnyLogic, we have simplified the control of the duration and frequency of the work disruption.
The Downtime block, which already existed in the Process Modeling Library, stops the resource work for a predefined period of time and allows it to engage external capacity to service or restore the operations. For example, it signals the need for the repair crew. To enable it, you should go to the Downtime block, to the Downtime task section, and choose delay with resources in Task type property.
The Downtime block is an automatic tracker of time when the next planned maintenance should occur or when some part exhausts its durability and breaks down. You can set various triggers, like working time or working cycles, that initiate the downtime process.
All tasks defined by Downtime blocks have special priority settings. This functionality allows to define what to do in cases when the trigger fires during the regular working process of equipment or during another downtime. For example, you can define the response of the equipment elements:
- Immediate interruption of the equipment element work, for example, modeling critical failures.
- Finish all the processes before the downtime starts, as it is in maintenance.
There is a wide variety of different properties and flexibility for setting specific downtimes. You only need to tune in the single downtime block or the set of blocks and specify them in the Maintenance, failures, breaks section of the corresponding markup.
If you want to test how the Downtime block works with the Process Modeling Library, check out the Maintenance of a Coffee Machine example model.
Transporter manual control
One of the long-awaited features in AnyLogic 8.9.1 is the ability to manually control transporters. This is particularly useful when a transporter needs to start moving to a loading point before the agent is ready for transportation—or even when the agent hasn't been created yet.
Now, with the move() function, you can direct the transporter to a specific node without using a flowchart block. To ensure accurate statistics, simply define the transporter's state as the method's second argument.
Mind that to seize the transporter and attach the agent to it, the block SeizeTransporter is still needed.
This feature is great for building your own transporter logic from scratch or testing custom routing policies. To make it easier to track when a transporter reaches its destination, we’ve added an On destination reached action in the TransporterFleet flowchart block.
Explore AnyLogic 8.9.1
At the AnyLogic Company, we’re committed to improving your experience with every update. In version 8.9.1, we've focused on refining various aspects, so your workflow should become smoother and more efficient.
For more details and technical specifics of the release, check out the release notes.
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