CAD User Online Article Archive

Review

The full circuit

From CAD User Mechanical Magazine Vol 22 No 6 - JUNE/JULY 2009

David Chadwick looks at the various E3 Series design modules from Zuken, which provide a comprehensive suite of tools for electrical engineering industries

I remember writing about E3 a number of years ago, and since that first introduction to the software it has gone global - I hope I had some input into that! - becoming one of a suite of electrical design tools being developed and marketed by Zuken, working from their European HQ based in Germany.

E3 was by no means as comprehensive a solution back then as it is now, comprising a whole series of electrotechnical engineering modules from designing schematics to laying out cable, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, harnesses, panels and all of the admin tools that you need with them - viewing, redlining, BOM creation and so on.

They are all based around an object- oriented database, with all of the modules fully integrated with each other and feeding back into a single data structure. This ensures that data is shared throughout, eliminating the possibility of errors creeping in through data transfer. Using object-oriented architecture also ensures that the definition and the automatic placement of components and connections is always correct, making it easy to set up schematic diagrams, and enabling the optimisation of wiring by managing effectivities.

The bi-directional nature of the software has other benefits too. Users can start working anywhere in the electrical design workflow, creating schematics from wiring diagrams and vice-versa. And it's a multi-user solution. Electrical design engineers can work simultaneously on the same project, concentrating on their individual specialities. The inclusion of hydraulic and pneumatic modules illustrates the general nature of the software which can generate intelligent

fluid schematics as easily as it dose with electrical systems.

Cables and harnesses can be designed in E-CAD, and can be integrated with ERP and other PDM systems through a COM interface.

E3 SERIES MODULES

Aiming for maximum ease-of-use, a Windows-style user interface is used throughout, optimised for electrical engineering.

E3.SCHEMATIC

The heart, I suppose, of any electrical system is the schematic diagram. E3.Schematic gives users the ability to produce complete schematics for anything from circuit diagrams to terminal plans and BOMs. The solution is made as foolproof as possible by providing automatic connections, and the use logic and electrical checks, and online verification, which is used to validate the correct insertion of objects or components.

E3.CABLE

Cables and cable harnesses are used throughout the automotive and transport industries, and for machinery and heavy equipment. Even the simplest saloon car now relies on a complex configuration of wires, routing everything from the processor-controlled engine to the lights, air-conditioning and the in-car entertainment system. At the other end of the scale, the final take-off of the Boeing 380 was delayed through incompatibilities in the wiring configuration.

Not only, therefore, does the E3.Cable design module include the standard verification tools to help design

engineers make the right mating connections and set up the correct pin terminals, but the module comes with its own, integrated language database.

What the heck does that have to do with it, you may wonder? The simple answer is communication! An important function of the module is to lay out cables so that they can be easily identified by everyone working on the layout - which, frequently, means in different component factories across the globe. The documentation of the cables and cable harnesses is every bit as important as the layout, and that is enhanced by being able to simply switch the documentation into different languages for ease of comprehension (including Asian characters, using UNICODE).

Furthermore, the module provides a number of different views of cables and harnesses for designers, manufacturers and service engineers.

In some industries, such as Aerospace and Defence, standards have been established to co-ordinate cable and harness generation. E3.cable therefore supports structured wirings according to ATA Chapter. And, furthering the easy visualisation of components, wires can be bundled, or supplied with more attributes to aid identification.

In the automotive industry, Zuken goes a step further, supplying plug-ins to run customer-specific programmes assigning, for instance, specific type and function remarks to the E3.cable object.

Cable lengths, angles and connectors in cables and harnesses cannot properly be assessed without matching it up to its physical location. Accordingly, E3.Cable can be interfaced with mainstream 3D M-CAD systems. E3.cable also supports STEP AP212/KBL and STEP AP212/ELOG-Standard.

E3.FORMBOARD

It might be a much simpler process to create cable harnesses using software like E3.Cable, but the process of putting them together remains very much a hands-on job! It's a painstaking process of laying out cables and connectors on a

1:1 scale formboard. E3.formboard is capable of creating a scaled drawing of a harness as defined in the schematic, which will form the basis of the physical formboard. It also creates all of the specific detail needed to produce the lengths of cable required, and to modify the actual positioning of cables and components on the board - defining manufacturing lengths of segments, with automatic segment adjustment (segments being the bite-sized chunks that overlarge schematics have to be broken down into). The module also provides wire assignments in dynamic connector tables, and the capability of users to rotate branches to facilitate the layout. Nail points and branch attributes are added to similar effect.

There are a number of items that are added that have little to do with the electrical operation of the harness, but are essential to protect and shield various components - shrinking tubes and fasteners, cable ducts and snap functions - incorporated in the software to speed up the design process, and added where applicable.

E3.PANEL

This module gives engineers the ability to specify penal layouts, and to connect them with the corresponding schematics online - and also to generate complete documentation for production. It will automatically calculate wires and connection routes, enabling the pre-assembly of wires and cables and performing cross-section checks at the same time.

Unlike harnesses, panel wiring can be automated, and the software can be used to control wiring machines, drilling machines for positioning and creating holes in PC boards for inserting components, and so on.

E3.FLUID

Hydraulics and Pneumatics are included in the E3.Schematic module. The same object-oriented functionality that enables them to take advantage of the software schematic capabilities is put to use in the E3.Fluid module. This enables engineers to generate circuit diagrams for hydraulic and pneumatic systems, using similar logic checks to avoid errors. E3.Fluid can be used as a stand-alone solution, or together with electrical design in one complete solution.

The graphic representation of the diagrams have also been enhanced to

give users a visually effective view of the systems, including the ability to rotate symbols to any angle.

E3.VIEW

This comes as a free module within the E3 series, and it allows electrical design engineers to share intelligent circuit diagrams with other engineers, production and service departments and incorporates a quick search and print facility.

E3.REDLINER

Taking the above a step further, modifications that need to be made to graphics or text annotations can be documented within this module, and then exchanged with the developer of the original design for incorporation.

Covering all industries, the E3.Series from Zuken is pretty comprehensive in what it provides in the various modules. It conforms to all appropriate industrial standards, and, because of its compatibility with external resources, can save electrical designers time and money by allowing them to import and use component, connector and cable types from all the main industry suppliers, directly within the E3 circuit diagrams and schematics. www.zuken.com

Review

Click here for a Print Friendly Version

The products referenced in this site are provided by parties other than BTC. BTC makes no representations regarding either the products or any information about the products. Any questions, complaints, or claims regarding the products must be directed to the appropriate manufacturer or vendor. Click here for usage terms and conditions.
For Comments towards this website please contact the webmaster