EoW January 2008

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EuroWire – January 2008 53
english technology news
Today, many companies create their electrical systems and wire harness designs
using general purpose drawing tools.
At first sight this seems sensible – such tools are usually flexible, inexpensive,
easy-to-use, and can be used to create all the drawing sets typically associated
with electrical design: wiring schematics, harness drawings, service diagrams and
the like.
But general purpose tools are a false economy in electrical design, as they
have no in-built intelligence of the real-world product – its electrical behaviour,
manufacturing constraints, or costs.
The resultant design drawings are
just that: two dimensional pictures
containing lines, arcs and text but with
no notion that these visual entities
actually represent electrical objects
(such as wires and connectors) that
have specific electrical behaviours.
As a simple example, if the engineer
moves a component in an electrical
diagram, any connecting wires must
each be moved or redrawn as well.
And since no electrical information is
incorporated into the drawing, parts
lists and other reports must be created
manually as a separate process.
By contrast, dedicated electrical tools
allow the engineer to create designs
using ‘intelligent’ representations of
electrical objects, selected from an
integrated components library.
This provides multiple benefits. Drawing
creation is faster – when the engineer
moves the component the wires
automatically move with it, remaining
connected.
Correct component selection and
compatibility can be guaranteed –
because parts are selected from a library
that contains detailed descriptions of
compatibility and costs.
Electrical integrity can be validated
because the electrical symbols on the
drawing have in-built models that can
check voltages, currents, fuse and wire
ratings.
Costed bills of material, and other
reports, can be generated automatically.
In other words the software helps the
engineer create lower cost, right-first-
time designs, with less effort, because
it supports the engineer in his or her
design creation task by understanding
the intent behind the task.
Mentor Graphics Corporation – USA
Fax: +1 503 685 1204
Email:
Website:
Modern software tools help accelerate wire harness development
John Wilson, of Mentor Graphics ▲