Microfluidic Simulator GUI

The microfluidic simulator is an integrated design environment for microfluidic devices. It enables the rapid specification and modification of microfluidic networks and can be used to run different types of simulations, e.g.,

• abstract simulations
• droplet simulations
• mixture simulations
• high precision abstract simulations.

The frontend enables real-time interaction with heterogeneous simulation results.

An online version of the simulator can be tested here: https://www.cda.cit.tum.de/app/mmft-simulator/

A video introduction concerning core functionality is available here: https://www.cda.cit.tum.de/research/microfluidics/mmft-simulator-intro/

Requirements

The microfluidic simulator depends on different 3rd party software, including

• Qt
• MMFT hybrid simulator
• MMFT stl genarator

It uses cmake for project configuration, and relies on a specific folder structure:

• frontend
  • THIS repository
• mmft-hybrid-simulator
  • https://github.com/cda-tum/mmft-simulator
• mmft-STL-generator
  • https://github.com/cda-tum/mmft-STL-generator

In the past, the software was compiled successfully under:

• [DESKTOP APP] Windows, using MinGW (shipped with Qt)
• [WEB APP] Windows, using WebAssambly via emscripten
• [DESKTOP APP] Ubuntu

Qt installation

1. download the qt installer from https://www.qt.io/download-qt-installer-oss
2. create a Qt account / Gpl
3. install Qt; make sure to select Qt version 6.5 with MinGW

WebAssambly

overview: https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/wasm.html

1. Install python

   • Ensure a recent python version is installed (e.g. 311), as the emscripten installer requires it.

2. Install emscripten

   • overview: https://emscripten.org/docs/getting_started/downloads.html
   • clone repository:

   git clone https://github.com/emscripten-core/emsdk.git

3. install latest SDK tooks

   • open an administrator shell
   • navigate to the repository
   • execute:

   emsdk install 3.1.25 emsdk activate --embedded 3.1.25 emsdk_env.bat

4. Update the Qt installation with web assembly support

About

The microfluidic simulator frontend was developed by SCCH https://www.scch.at/ in context of the AUTOMATE research project https://www.ffg.at/projektdetail?pid=4246167.