AnyLogic 8.9.4: smarter profiling, better organization, and more

The latest release of AnyLogic, version 8.9.4, brings a number of new features and improvements designed to enhance usability, optimize performance, and streamline model development.

In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the most significant updates and introduce them to you.

Contents:

1. New profiler tool
2. Favorite palette and folders
3. Maintenance
4. Crowd behavior
5. Improved road traffic control
6. Upgrade to AnyLogic 8.9.4

Profiler: identify performance bottlenecks

A new profiler tool is now available, allowing you to analyze how execution time is distributed across different functions in a model. This helps in detecting operational constraints, inefficient code sections, and excessive function calls that could slow down model execution or even cause it to freeze.

To use the profiler, simply press the designated button in the toolbar or access it via the context menu in the project tree.

After running a model with a profiler enabled, you can find valuable insights into model performance in a dedicated profile view on the right-hand side of the screen.

Favorite palette and folder organization

Now, you have all frequently used elements at hand with a new favorite palette feature. Use it to store your most-used flowchart blocks and agent elements, such as functions, parameters, variables, and other components, in one place.

Pick the element, open the context menu, and click on Add to favorite. The palette has two parts:

1. Section where you manually add elements.
2. The Last used area that automatically displays the most recently used elements.

Just have all you need in one place, quick and easy.

Another improvement for a better user experience is the ability to create folders within the project tree. You can now organize agent types, Java classes, and Java interfaces into a hierarchical structure. This is especially useful for large models and custom libraries. It helps separate components that contain only auxiliary elements, such as animation, from those that include logic essential for model development.

To create a folder, simply use the context menu in the model tree.

Enhanced maintenance modeling

In earlier versions, the Downtime block could be connected to conveyors, stations, and cranes to model equipment failures and scheduled maintenance. However, transporters were missing this functionality. With AnyLogic 8.9.4, this gap is now closed—you can connect the Downtime block to the TransporterFleet block.

Each transporter within a fleet will now follow its own downtime triggers and settings. Using delivery and downtime task priority and preemption policies, you can model various task management scenarios, such as the following:

• If downtime is critical (such as a failure), the transporter can immediately stop its operation, allowing another one to take over.
• If the current task cannot be interrupted, the transporter will complete it before going into downtime.

For a hands-on example, check out the Transporter Charging System model.

Additionally, you can configure downtime processes so that it will force movable resources to automatically direct to the maintenance location. It is particularly useful for modeling Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) or mobile robot charging, where battery recharging or swapping happens at specific stations.

You can find the overall list of changes related to maintenance management in the release notes.

More realistic crowd behavior

We have refined the Pedestrian Library to enhance the realism of crowd movement. In AnyLogic 8.9.4 you can:

• Navigate pedestrians through narrow, complicated passages (e.g., doors and entrances) more smoothly.
• Get a better modeling experience from movements near walls and corners with more natural crowd formations.
• Disperse large crowds faster, improving simulation performance in high-density pedestrian scenarios.

Improved road traffic control

The Road Traffic Library now gives you even more control over how vehicles navigate in your simulation models. With the new Include roads and Avoid roads properties in the CarMoveTo block, you can specify which roads vehicles should use or avoid, such as preventing trucks from traveling on residential streets or simulating road closures.

By fine-tuning vehicle routing, you can create more detailed and realistic traffic models, ensuring better accuracy in your simulations. Take advantage of these new tools to refine traffic flow and optimize logistics.

Upgrade to AnyLogic 8.9.4

With AnyLogic 8.9.4, you get powerful new tools to analyze model performance, organize your workspace, enhance maintenance modeling, and create even more realistic pedestrian and traffic simulations. These updates help you build better models faster and with greater precision.

Upgrade today and take your simulation projects to the next level!

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