LDC1614: Excel_FEMM_v1P29 fails

Jim,

Thanks for the post.
Just to confirm:
1. Which version of the spreadsheet tool are you using? The most recent version is rev G (slyc137).
2. What is the detailed sequence of steps that get you to image you posted? 
3. Would you please post a higher res image of the error message pop-up to this thread? 

Thanks.
John

Hi John,

For testing if this even works, I just use the standard Excel_FEMM_v1p29 provided in the rev G folder I dowloaded. I open it up, enable the macros and press "Run FEMM" with the "Save FEMM Simulation" box checked only. After a while it gives me this error:

When I open the previous image, I see it in high res, so I don't know what went wrong there. Above you find the error message only. 

As I probably will not get this working, I am already trying to model a spiral coil by myself. However, as my FEM knowledge is already a couple of years old, details elude me and I will probably ask some questions about that in a different post.

Hopefully, we can find a solution for the Excel file, cause that would save me a lot of manual work.

Kind regards,

Jim

Hi John,

You also did not include the the .xlsm file, but I don't think that will solve my issue. Of course, I have already removed and reinstalled the FEMM software several times. Including a try with administrator rights when installing, but it keeps giving me errors. Do I perhaps miss anything on my end during the installation? E.g., does it need to be in a specific folder? Do I need to change any settings inside the FEMM software itself before running the Excel file?

I also tried it on my desktop at home, which is not limited by any security measures in contrary to my company laptop, but I still did not manage to get it running. The errors are the same, so I'm expecting something else to be the issue here. It would be great if you could help me out. Perhaps the engineer that created the .xlsm file can help me gain some insight into why the FEMM software is not working? 

Kind regards,

Jim

Jim,

I will look at the issues you have reported in more detail when I am back in the office tomorrow.

John

Hi John,

Through breakpoints in the Macros of Excel_FEMM_v1p29 I have been figuring out what is at least going wrong. There are several things:

• At the start of the simulation setup, the problem has to be defined as asymmetric with a specific frequency and units in millimeters. The command is like this: fcmd = "mi_probdef(" & CStr(freq) & ",""millimeters"",""axi"",1E-8)" (line 238). However, once executed by femmcmd femm, fcmd (line 243) the following settings are applied in the "Problem" tab of FEMM:
  
  So, it does take the frequency along, but for some reason it cannot change the problem type and units. Which ultimately generate quite the issue when the node are being places.
• After that the circuit and material settings are put in, which is okay.
• Finally, it starts placing all the nodes based on the parameters from the sheet, but this goes wrong definitely, as you can see in the initial post.

Why it does this is unclear to me. I have tried nearly everything with settings including compatibilty mode for Excel and admin mode. I will rebuild the first steps of the macros in Matlab to see if I can get it working there. If so, I will just rebuild it entirely in Matlab. 

If you find anything that can help me, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

Jim

Thank you for the clarification Jim. 
I will continue looking at this and provide any updates on Thursday.

Regards,
John