Piping & Instrumentation is an important part of engineering design in some industries. Piping is already addressed in the SolidWorks Routing add-in. Now with SolidWorks Electrical Professional, we have the combination of Electrical Schematics, P&ID and Routing which makes it easier for engineers to efficiently increase design productivity.

Start in 2D with SolidWorks Electrical

In SolidWorks Electrical Schematic we start a project in 2D with the P&ID information. The ideology of how the application works is still the same, we insert P&ID symbols on the title block and add manufacturing information to it. As the components are added to the project, they all populate in the component tree under their user set locations.

SolidWorks Electrical P&ID 2D Diagram

Convert to 3D in SolidWorks

Once completed with the 2D side of things, we can then proceed into 3D since the information is shared through an SQL database. All reports are shared and P&ID users can benefit from the collaboration of the product. In the image below, we opened up the SolidWorks Electrical P&ID project in SolidWorks. Inserted the 3D models from the component tree on the left and completed the piping route.

SolidWorks 3D CAD with imported P&ID Diagram

As you can see with SolidWorks Electrical Professional it is now much easier for engineers to design their Piping & Instrumentation systems. Read more on Piping & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) – Part 2

The post SolidWorks Electrical Piping & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) – Part 1 appeared first on SolidWorks Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

As discussed in Part 1, SolidWorks Electrical Schematic bridges the gap for 2D that is required in a Piping & instrumentation diagram. Instead of wire connections, users can create new wire style groups to show hydraulic or pneumatic type of connections. Different colours, sections, and other related information can be set up at this level.

Electrical Piping & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID)

From a user perspective, I had earlier discussed the Rules of Virtual circuits in my blogs. Most circuits are evident while using the electrical aspect to set up manufacturing parts. However when your system requires a combination of Electrical and P&ID information to be setup, SolidWorks developers have added a circuit type for Hydraulic/Pneumatic type of circuits. Below is an example of a Centrifugal pump that is represented through both type of circuits.

Centrifugal pump

This level of definition of circuits and connection types is maintained in real-time as the design is updated and available on all reports.

The post SolidWorks Electrical Piping & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) – Part 2 appeared first on SolidWorks Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

As a new and emerging product, one of the first characteristics users will notice is the “face” of SOLIDWORKS PCB. The SOLIDWORKS PCB user interface is familiar and easy to use for any Windows user.  It has a very modern and easy to use design environment, which promotes a smooth and intuitive workflow throughout the entire electrical and mechanical design process.  Some of the key interface features include:

• A refined ribbon-style menu system
• Flexible, multi-tab design editor windows
• Dockable panels for working with design documents
• A full set of command shortcut keys
• Context-sensitive web-based Help reference
• User configuration preferences

SOLIDWORKS PCB User Interface

SOLIDWORKS PCB is an extremely extensive and vast software product that includes a schematic editor, PCB editor, collaboration and library vaults, and numerous other functions.  The consistent look and feel throughout each of these functions produces a dynamic design environment which maintains ease of use and simplicity throughout such a traditionally complex design process.

Schematic & PCB Editor

Feel free to check out an article for even further detail on the SOLIDWORKS PCB environment

For more information about SOLIDWORKS PCB

Read our recent blog post for a demo video, images, and detailed explanation to help potential users understand the benefits of SOLIDWORKS PCM. Or call 1-877-219-6757.

The post SOLIDWORKS PCB User Interface appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

The productivity gains related to using 3D CAD technology for mechanical design are now obtainable for electrical design through integration of electrical and mechanical development on a single 3D platform. Instead of relying on slow, non-integrated 2D tools to develop electrical schematics, control panel designs, and electrical system layouts, or manual techniques for routing wires, cables, and harnesses. Manufacturers can take advantage of SOLIDWORKS® Electrical 3D technology to fully integrate the electrical and mechanical aspects of machine and product design. Resulting in time and cost savings, as well as quality improvements.

Whether you need to create schematics, design electrical systems, select electrical components, automate wire and cable routing and harness design, or simply share electrical and mechanical design data — the following white paper will help you understand how integrating electrical and mechanical design with SOLIDWORKS Electrical software solutions, and will enable you to achieve your product development goals.

Why choose SOLIDWORKS Electrical design software?

SOLIDWORKS^® Electrical software provides you with a single 3D development environment that integrates your 3D mechanical and electrical design so you can save time and money, increase innovation and improve product quality.

By adding SOLIDWORKS Electrical into your design process, you can:

• Create electrical schematics
• Design electrical systems
• Schematically drive your mechanical model
• Automate wire and cable routing and harness design
• Share electrical and mechanical design data

Download the white paper below and see how companies like yours succeed with SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

The post End the Disconnect between your Mechanical and Electrical Design [WHITE PAPER] appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

A SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic Component is a unique device designation/mark. Multiple symbols can make one component. Every component is directly linked to a manufacturer part; e.g. In a case of coil and contacts arrangements, we can keep adding additional auxiliary contacts to this component. This would entail that every symbol/symbol circuit have a manufacturer part circuit available that would directly correlate.

Fully defined Schematic Component

The first time a part is added, the application treats it as a base type of part. The remainder parts added to the same component would then come in as auxiliary, accessory or other types of parts.

Symbol Circuit = Manufacturing Circuit

One component can reference multiple symbols and as a rule of thumb the circuits of a symbol must match the circuits of a manufacturer part. We can keep adding symbols to a component as long as we simultaneously add parts with the right amount of matching circuits.

Learn more about SOLIDWORKS Electrical

Attend a SOLIDWORKS Electrical training course either in a Canadian classroom near you or live online. For more information about electrical software and training solution call 1-877-219-6757.

The post What is a SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic Component? appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Tips, Videos & Tutorials from Javelin.

Welcome back readers! Previously on Mechanical Engineering Meets SOLIDWORKS Electrical  I discussed my project to design and build a new home theater. Last time I covered the components I would be using and set them up with information and symbols in my SOLIDWORKS Electrical library. In this episode I will put my components to the test by creating SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2D Drawings to design the wiring and connections for my system!

To the Drawing Board!

Before inserting any symbols, I first needed to insert the parts they would represent in my home theater. It was very straightforward to use the Insert from Manufacturer Component command to insert components with all the correct information applied. I grouped these components into several locations to provide me with more information when it came time to wire the whole system. The symbols could then be inserted directly from the component context menu, again automating all the necessary linking. At this point, it was simply a matter of re-positioning my components and drawing location outlines to create a detailed representation of the physical system.

Location outlines are an easy way to provide context and organization

No Connection Left Behind

The final step in my SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2D Drawing design was to connect all the components. SOLIDWORKS Electrical continued to make this process as easy as possible by allowing me to set up custom cable types representing the different cables I would be using. I was able to customize a wide variety of options for these cables, such as manufacturer, number of cores, bend radius, actual colour, and line style for my drawing.  With that done, all I had to do was draw the connections between components and select the cable information to apply.

With all the cables in place, the Detailed Cabling manager made it a breeze to associate the cable and component terminals. This process reminded me of creating mates in 3D CAD, allowing me to specify exactly how my components go together. The manager then clearly indicated how my components were connected, allowing me to ensure that no connections were missed.

The detailed cabling manager allows terminals and components to be connected to each other, thus specifying exactly how the system goes together

While the line diagram contained all the information needed to route the cables, it did not indicate where each connector would be plugged in. SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2D Drawings provides users with several different formats for conveying this information, such as schematic drawings or reports; I chose to include the information as a connection table. This was done by simply creating a connection table symbol for the AV Receiver and including references to the relevant properties. I was able to insert this table anywhere in on my line diagram, giving me all the information I needed to wire my system, all in one convenient drawing.

This connection table provides all the information needed to hook up the system

For the moment, the “Wire Length” column of the connection table is not providing meaningful information. Although I could manually estimate the wire lengths for these cables, this detail will be left to a future part of the series. Once the wires are routed in 3D, their exact lengths will be communicated back to my drawing, taking the guesswork out of purchasing/cutting cables and wires.

Final Thoughts

As a user of SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD, the transition to SOLIDWORKS Electrical was seamless, regardless of my minimal knowledge of electrical design principles. The intuitive tools for applying manufacturer part information to components will feel natural for almost any 3D CAD user, and allow easy standardization within and between projects. The process of associating symbols to components, cables, and their terminals is fluid and allows users to fully capture their designs with ease. SOLIDWORKS Electrical provides a powerful platform for designers to create not just drawings, but complex digital representations of their physical systems. With a mechanical background, I was certainly thankful for this link back to the physical world!

The finished 2D Design

Until Next Time

Thank you very much for joining me on this journey through 2D electrical design with SOLIDWORKS Electrical. Stay tuned for future blogs detailing the continued design of this project with SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us and discuss how SOLIDWORKS Electrical can assist your ongoing and future projects.

The post Mechanical Engineering Meets SOLIDWORKS Electrical Episode 2 – 2D Drawings appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

Ever wonder what’s behind the walls at home or researched how an electrical device works? Maybe you want to fix something that runs on electricity? At first glance an electrical schematic may come across as a confusing cluster of multicoloured lines and symbols of various shapes and sizes, which can be true, however they are much more than that.

Three-phase power distribution for a packaging line

An electrical schematic is a logical representation of the physical connections and layout of an electric circuit. A well documented schematic outlines the functionality of an electric circuit and provides the basis for assembly and troubleshooting of a system. A schematic can contain few or many symbols and connections and is normally read from left to right, top to bottom.

Symbols

Symbols are quite literally the building blocks to any electrical schematic. Symbols are a pictorial representation of the electrical component and usually display their respective connection points. The two most common standards for electrical design symbols are ANSI and IEC.

Common electrical schematic symbols

Device Tags

Marks and tags serve as an identifier to each electrical component on the schematic. They usually begin with a few letters followed by their assigned order number. Marks help operators distinguish between many of the same object.

Device tag of a motor

Attributes

Attributes provide a detailed description of an electronic component beside its symbol. In SOLIDWORKS Electrical, attributes are variables directly linked to the manufacture part library, allowing values to be displayed or hidden as needed. The manufacturer and reference part number are commonly displayed symbol attributes. Attribute information is usually then populated on a Bill of Materials (BOM) or list of parts required to make the system.

Wires

Wires create connections and join components together, completing a circuit. The colour of a wire is usually indicative of its purpose. For example, green wires in a schematic often indicate the connection is going to ground.

Three phase wiring

Wire Labels

Components, wires and cables are assigned: labels, tags, marks or numbers to assist in traceability and allow for systematic troubleshooting of the design. A typical tagging scheme may include combinations of: device id, wire type, page number, row number, wire size and order.

Title Block

A title block is the border and text of the drawing that describes the project and current sheet. Common information displayed in a title block are: project name, company name, job number, company logo, title, author, sheet number, approvals and page scale.

ANSI Size B Title block

Once you know how to read an electrical schematic, the next step is to design your own. There always exists the method of brute force drafting and then there are intelligent tools to bring your designs to fruition quicker. In SOLIDWORKS Electrical, complex schematics can be created in a matter of minutes and portions of the circuit copied and saved for re-use. SOLIDWORKS Electrical comes pre-packaged with device libraries containing thousands of symbols, 2D footprints and manufacturer parts along with a variety of power, control, hydraulic and pneumatic wire styles to suit any electrical design. The best part is all the built-in tools and library data can be fully configured as necessary to adhere to industry and company standards.

See if making the switch from DraftSight to SOLIDWORKS Electrical is the right move for your electrical engineering team.

The post How to read and understand an Electrical Schematic appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

Samony Riyaz is a Programmer here at Javelin Technologies. The article below is an introduction to electrical drawing from her work.

My academic career pursuing Automation Engineering Technology had prepared me well for the SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD world, but I could not say the same about SOLIDWORKS Electrical. Due to this, my experience with mechanical design software is on par, but not electrical. I began to ponder, what truly is an electrical drawing? Lucky for me, I only needed two things to turn this around, a little bit of time and a licence of SOLIDWORKS Electrical!

As I have never used SOLIDWORKS Electrical before, this was my chance to do some learning and see what it could do for me in my courses. One of my goals during my work term with Javelin was to get familiar with SOLIDWORKS Electrical, but unfortunately, I never found the time to do so. You can imagine my surprise when I returned to school and immediately needed to produce electrical drawings complete with bill of materials for one of my projects! Luckily, having made great friends at Javelin, I was able reach out and attain the help and resources needed to get the job done. Thus, began my journey of learning SOLIDWORKS Electrical!

Getting started with my Electrical Drawing

There are many tools available to make non-intelligent 2D schematic drawings from Microsoft Paint all the way up to DraftSight for more detailed drawings. While being useful tools, there are certainly much more powerful resources for complex electrical drawing and system design. SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic was the right tool for my project as it required minimal design time by clearly laying out the tools required for the job.

Microsoft Paint Drawing – Fischertechnik Punch

As you can see in the diagram above, I had began making a very simple 2D electrical drawing in Microsoft Paint, but due to the lack of detail and specifications, I made the switch to SOLIDWORKS Electrical. I was able to customize the electrical drawing to look much better than it did in Microsoft Paint while adding manufacturer specific intelligence to each component to better represent my drawing through proper connections, symbols, labeling, and BOM.

This drawing completely met the requirements for my project. Due to the timely nature of my goal, it took me approximately 3 – 4 hours to go from never having worked with SOLIDWORKS Electrical, to generating this drawing. Taking this into consideration, SOLIDWORKS Electrical has a much wider range of features which can be customized to fit your needs.

SOLIDWORKS Electrical Line Diagram – Fischertechnik Punch

SOLIDWORKS Electrical Bill of Materials – Fischertechnik Punch

Putting it All Together in SOLIDWORKS Electrical

Through this project, I found that the SOLIDWORKS Electrical workflow made it very easy to set up a project with all my necessary components, and provided me the flexibility to customize symbols according to my needs (as seen in the Microsoft Paint drawing). I have attached another similar project I’ve worked on to get a handle on SOLIDWORKS Electrical including the Line diagrams and BOM for a simple Rotating Unit. Where in a non-intelligent drawing, it wouldn’t be as easy to alter the design, but with SOLIDWORKS Electrical, designs can be re-used and circuitry modified while maintaining design integrity.

SOLIDWORKS Electrical Line Diagram – Rotating Unit

SOLIDWORKS Electrical Bill of Materials – Rotating Unit

Thanks to SOLIDWORKS Electrical and the Javelin team, I had enough time to complete this task and get back to some of my favourite student activities, such as making Kraft dinner and doing homework. With Javelin’s resources and support, you too can become competent with the software and make more time for your favourite activities. Check out our Electrical Optimization Service and discuss with an electrical expert how you can speed up your design process.

The post Creating my first Electrical Drawing with SOLIDWORKS Electrical appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

Adjusting to a new design software can be a daunting task even for seasoned electrical designers and engineers. For myself, coming from a mechanical engineering background, even visualizing schematics in a 2D space took some getting used to. What worked for me when first getting started with SOLIDWORKS Electrical was to simply get my hands dirty and do some design work. Here is my SOLIDWORKS Electrical Getting Started Guide from starting a new project to generating schematics and creating reports:

Starting a New Project

The first step in our electrical design is to create a new project. Projects can be created and managed from the Projects Manager under the File tab.

Projects manager

Select New and choose one of the default design templates according to your company standards. Follow the wizard and input project specific information such as job number, customer, and company details. If this is your first project, it would be recommended to create a project template to automate future design projects. Any project can be saved as a design template for re-use from the Projects Manager.

Create a new project

Common project template configurations include: book and folder structure, wire styles, reports, locations, PLCs, numbering formulas and title blocks. Utilizing project templates ensures design consistency and eliminates having to repeat routine design tasks. For more information read our configuring project templates blog article.

Drawing Creation

After our project is generated, it is time to create a book and folder structure. If we have already set up a project template, then this work is already done for us! If not, we can create this on our own.

Create a folder structure

Books are often used to separate electrical and mechanical drawings or for different areas of the shop floor. Folders can be used to house different document types. What is the difference between books and folders you ask? It comes down to how report documents generated. Report documents (bill of materials, wire lists, drawing lists, etc) can be generated on a per book basis.

1. Placing Symbols

Once our file structure is complete it’s time to create a schematic and insert some symbols. Schematics can be created by right clicking a book or folder or from the Project tab. With a schematic open, symbols can be placed from either the Schematic tab or the Symbols dock. With a symbol chosen simply left click to place the symbol.

Insert a symbol

Manufacturer parts can be assigned during symbol insertion by selecting the second tab and searching for the corresponding part or even added after symbol insertion. Upon part association and inserting the symbol, manufacturer part attributes such as reference, manufacturer part and various specifications will appear beside the symbol. Continue this process for the remaining symbols on the page. Note, standard windows shortcuts such as copy-paste apply in SOLIDWORKS Electrical and the software is intelligent enough to continue mark and formula schemes in accordance.

Attributes displaying device tag, part number, manufacturer and more are displayed automatically

2. Drawing Wires

Once symbols have been placed it is time to connect all the symbols together. Wires can be drawn from the Schematic tab. Select the desired wire style and left click to start and stop wire drawing, hit escape to exit the command. A useful tip to note, when drawing wires, is that you can draw past the symbol and the wires will automatically be cut at the connection points, providing reassurance you haven’t missed any pins.

Select the desired wire style

Draw wires

Repeat this symbol insertion, manufacturer part association and wire drawing process for the rest of your design. Wires can be linked across pages using the origin destination arrows found under the Process tab. Cables can be associated to wires by highlighting the necessary wires and selecting Associate cable cores. Terminal blocks can be inserted from the Schematic tab.

3. Numbering Wires

Once the designs have been created it is now time to complete our documentation. Numbering of the wires can be done via the Process tab.

Number wires

If documents have been moved around in the document tree they can be renumbered from the “Renumber documents” button. Numbering formulas for wires, cables and components can all be configured from the Project tab under “Configurations”.

Numbering schemes are displayed according to desired formula

Congratulations, you’ve just completed your first schematic drawing in SOLIDWORKS Electrical!

Completed schematic

Supporting Documents

Schematics and line diagrams are not the only documents we need in a project. We may need spreadsheets, manufacturer datasheets, or mechanical drawings included in our prints. SOLIDWORKS Electrical allows external files to be embedded in the project itself. Simply right click either a book or folder in the desired location, select New > Data files… navigate to the file and select Ok. The file will now be embedded in the project archive.

Browse and insert desired supporting documents

Supporting documents are now embedded in the project itself

Generating Reports

With all drawings complete it’s time to generate reports. No need to manually audit any drawings, the software has been keeping a running tab of all parts, wires, and cables throughout the design process. Reports can be added and configured from the Project tab according to bill of materials, wire lists, drawings list and component tags to name a few. Once reports have been configured as necessary simply select Generate drawings and these reports will be added to the project.

Configure report settings

Generate reports for release

What’s Next?

Now that our project is complete we can export to print via the Import/Export tab, or even take our project one step further and incorporate SOLIDWORKS 3D. Watch the video below for more ways SOLIDWORKS is revolutionising electrical design.

Check our our Electrical Services and see how Javelin can assist you in automating your electrical design process.

The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Getting Started Guide appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

In electrical design, how we choose to represent connections between electrical devices in our schematics is often open to interpretation. If we’re not careful, our design intent can be easily miscommunicated to the reader, leading to potentially disastrous results. “The danger is in the details,” as they say. SOLIDWORKS Electrical provides some powerful methods of ensuring that nothing is lost in translation, but many designers frequently overlook them. Today’s blog will focus on how you can avoid costly and time-consuming errors in testing and assembly, by spending just a bit more time clarifying your schematic connections. Let’s begin.

Contactor Holding Circuit

Let’s take a look at a pretty simple connection that can still be easily misinterpreted if we’re not careful – a contactor holding circuit. This type of circuit is employed when we want a contactor (CR1) to stay engaged after a momentary contact pushbutton (PB4) is pressed by a technician. The pushbutton in this scenario is also illuminated. While the system is engaged, we’d like the light to stay and remain on until S1 breaks the circuit. The connection pictured is between two devices and is facilitated by three wires.

SOLIDWORKS Contactor Holding Circuit

Complex Equipotentials

As an electrical designer handed these requirements, the way this should be wired is perhaps obvious. However, to an untrained technician or layperson, the chances that at least one head-scratch will occur is quite high. When you have more than one wire represented on a given potential, this is called a “complex equipotential” in the software. Complex equipotentials need to be defined and clarified so that miswiring does not occur when interpreting the schematics or downstream publications, such as wire run lists. In SOLIDWORKS Electrical, this is done using a tool called Wire Cabling Order. It can be accessed by right-clicking on any member of the complex equipotential and selecting “Wire cabling order.”

SOLIDWORKS Complex Equipotentials

SOLIDWORKS Wire Cabling Order

The Wire Cabling Order command is more intimidating than most aspects of the program, so it’s worth breaking it down into 3 distinct sections:

• Equipotentials – The project level version of this command (Project>Wire Cabling Order) allows you to see every complex potential in the project, and this section of the menu allows a user to set the focus of the tool on a particular equipotential. However, it’s usually more practical to do this on the front end by right-clicking the potential of interest to launch the command.
  This panel also reflects the status of the equipotential – the field for “Wire” and “Cables” will be marked as “Incomplete” if the number of wires or connections made in the dialog does not match what has been drawn on the schematic.
• Components – This section is a list of all components and connection points on the selected equipotential. When selecting a connected device, a preview window will display the symbol which was used to represent the device for context.
• Wires – This section describes all the wires which are used to facilitate connections between connected components on the selected equipotential. Each wire is represented by a row.

SOLIDWORKS Wire Cabling Order

The Goal

The primary function of Wire Cabling Order is to set the Origin and Destination field for each wire to be consistent with the design intent of the project requirements. This can be achieved by:

1. Select one or more wires whose origin or destination needs to be modified
2. Select the component connection point that you’d like to replace the connection with
3. Select the button at the bottom of the components panel corresponding with the intended change
   1. Replace origin with point
   2. Replace destination with point

You may also drag and drop the connection point from the components panel to the origin or destination field in the wires panel.

By explicitly stating how you’d like each wire in the potential to connect to each component, you ensure the wire run lists that are automatically published to Excel, accurately reflect your expectations for the system. What’s more: if you have the SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D add-in for SOLIDWORKS, you ensure the wires automatically routed in your mechanical assemblies are also following the plan.

Nodal Indicators

One final option to consider, is to trade out connection dots for nodal indicators. Nodal indicators are small branches that are automatically placed at wire intersections to indicate the underlying cabling order. The option to enable nodal indicators can be found in your project configuration settings under the Graphics tab. This small change can really punch up the clarity of your schematics and reduce misinterpretations of your designs. Give them a try!

SOLIDWORKS Nodal Indicators

SOLIDWORKS Electrical Training

Want to learn more about SOLIDWORKS Electrical? Take a SOLIDWORKS Electrical training course live online from Javelin »

The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Wire Cabling Order for Testing and Assembly appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

In addition to being able to create schematic representations of cable harnesses, SOLIDWORKS Electrical is also able to generate fabrication prints for harnesses in conjunction with SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D.

What this means is you can define connection information in the schematic application as an electrical designer and automatically feed that in the mechanical space in SOLIDWORKS to route your harnesses, calculate things like routed links and interferences between devices and channel ways, and ultimately produce a flattened representation and illustration of that harness annotated with information and data that came directly from the schematic application.

cable harnesses

The remarkable thing about the SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D tool is that an associated solid model can be added to match the components on the 2D schematic side of things. So, you can just drop your components into the 3D side and have all of the wires and cables go to the correct places. On top of that, all the wire and cable information from the 2D schematic side will carry across and populate on to the wires in the 3D side of things. Things like gauge size, wire color and pin location are all pulled from the 2D schematic tool.

We can take our harness assembly and flatten it out. Being able to position each of our connectors in a flattened view will make it quick and easy to create a drawing of our overall harness.

Cable Harness Fabrication Drawings with SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D  >>

The wonderful thing about using the SOLIDWORKS Electrical tool is that all of the information is included in the 2D drawing. Things like wire lengths, from-to lists, and where each one of my wires is going pin-to-pin. Something that would typically be a manual process, is automatically created from the information added on the SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2D schematic side of things. Also, a BOM and automatic ballooning of all components and wires are added with updated wire lengths that will feed back into the 2D schematic side to update wire lengths in the 2D schematic reports.

2D schematic report

No matter your design requirements, we have a solution to help speed up your wire harness design integration into your mechanical assemblies.

Interested in SOLIDWORKS Electrical?

Visit our website to explore more SOLIDWORKS Electrical features, as well as SOLIDWORKS Electrical Services and Training options available.

The post How to Create Cable Fabrication Drawings with SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

As discussed in Part 1, SolidWorks Electrical Schematic bridges the gap for 2D that is required in a Piping & instrumentation diagram. Instead of wire connections, users can create new wire style groups to show hydraulic or pneumatic type of connections. Different colours, sections, and other related information can be set up at this level.

Electrical Piping & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID)

From a user perspective, I had earlier discussed the Rules of Virtual circuits in my blogs. Most circuits are evident while using the electrical aspect to set up manufacturing parts. However when your system requires a combination of Electrical and P&ID information to be setup, SolidWorks developers have added a circuit type for Hydraulic/Pneumatic type of circuits. Below is an example of a Centrifugal pump that is represented through both type of circuits.

Centrifugal pump

This level of definition of circuits and connection types is maintained in real-time as the design is updated and available on all reports.

The post SolidWorks Electrical Piping & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) – Part 2 appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

As a new and emerging product, one of the first characteristics users will notice is the “face” of SOLIDWORKS PCB. The SOLIDWORKS PCB user interface is familiar and easy to use for any Windows user.  It has a very modern and easy to use design environment, which promotes a smooth and intuitive workflow throughout the entire electrical and mechanical design process.  Some of the key interface features include:

• A refined ribbon-style menu system
• Flexible, multi-tab design editor windows
• Dockable panels for working with design documents
• A full set of command shortcut keys
• Context-sensitive web-based Help reference
• User configuration preferences

SOLIDWORKS PCB User Interface

SOLIDWORKS PCB is an extremely extensive and vast software product that includes a schematic editor, PCB editor, collaboration and library vaults, and numerous other functions.  The consistent look and feel throughout each of these functions produces a dynamic design environment which maintains ease of use and simplicity throughout such a traditionally complex design process.

Schematic & PCB Editor

Feel free to check out an article for even further detail on the SOLIDWORKS PCB environment

For more information about SOLIDWORKS PCB

Read our recent blog post for a demo video, images, and detailed explanation to help potential users understand the benefits of SOLIDWORKS PCB. Or call 1-877-219-6757.

The post SOLIDWORKS PCB User Interface appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

The productivity gains related to using 3D CAD technology for mechanical design are now obtainable for electrical design through integration of electrical and mechanical development on a single 3D platform.

Instead of relying on slow, non-integrated 2D tools to develop electrical schematics, control panel designs, and electrical system layouts, or manual techniques for routing wires, cables, and harnesses. Manufacturers can take advantage of SOLIDWORKS® Electrical 3D technology to fully integrate the electromechanical aspects of machine and product design. Resulting in time and cost savings, as well as quality improvements.

Whether you need to create schematics, design electrical systems, select electrical components, automate wire and cable routing and harness design, or simply share electromechanical design data — the following white paper will help you understand how integrating electrical and mechanical design with SOLIDWORKS Electrical software solutions, and will enable you to achieve your product development goals.

Why choose SOLIDWORKS Electrical design software?

SOLIDWORKS^® Electrical software provides you with a single 3D development environment that integrates your 3D mechanical and electrical design so you can save time and money, increase innovation and improve product quality.

By adding SOLIDWORKS Electrical into your design process, you can:

• Create electrical schematics
• Design electrical systems
• Schematically drive your mechanical model
• Automate wire and cable routing and harness design
• Share electrical and mechanical design data

Download the white paper below and see how companies like yours succeed with SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

The post End the Disconnect between your Mechanical and Electrical Design appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

A SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic Component is a unique device designation/mark. Multiple symbols can make one component. Every component is directly linked to a manufacturer part; e.g. In a case of coil and contacts arrangements, we can keep adding additional auxiliary contacts to this component. This would entail that every symbol/symbol circuit have a manufacturer part circuit available that would directly correlate.

Fully defined Schematic Component

The first time a part is added, the application treats it as a base type of part. The remainder parts added to the same component would then come in as auxiliary, accessory or other types of parts.

Symbol Circuit = Manufacturing Circuit

One component can reference multiple symbols and as a rule of thumb the circuits of a symbol must match the circuits of a manufacturer part. We can keep adding symbols to a component as long as we simultaneously add parts with the right amount of matching circuits.

Learn more about SOLIDWORKS Electrical

Attend a SOLIDWORKS Electrical training course either in a Canadian classroom near you or live online. For more information about electrical software and training solution call 1-877-219-6757.

The post What is a SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic Component? appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

Welcome back readers! Previously on Mechanical Engineering Meets SOLIDWORKS Electrical  I discussed my project to design and build a new home theater. Last time I covered the components I would be using and set them up with information and symbols in my SOLIDWORKS Electrical library. In this episode I will put my components to the test by creating SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2D Drawings to design the wiring and connections for my system!

To the Drawing Board!

Before inserting any symbols, I first needed to insert the parts they would represent in my home theater. It was very straightforward to use the Insert from Manufacturer Component command to insert components with all the correct information applied. I grouped these components into several locations to provide me with more information when it came time to wire the whole system. The symbols could then be inserted directly from the component context menu, again automating all the necessary linking. At this point, it was simply a matter of re-positioning my components and drawing location outlines to create a detailed representation of the physical system.

Location outlines are an easy way to provide context and organization

No Connection Left Behind

The final step in my SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2D Drawing design was to connect all the components. SOLIDWORKS Electrical continued to make this process as easy as possible by allowing me to set up custom cable types representing the different cables I would be using. I was able to customize a wide variety of options for these cables, such as manufacturer, number of cores, bend radius, actual colour, and line style for my drawing.  With that done, all I had to do was draw the connections between components and select the cable information to apply.

With all the cables in place, the Detailed Cabling manager made it a breeze to associate the cable and component terminals. This process reminded me of creating mates in 3D CAD, allowing me to specify exactly how my components go together. The manager then clearly indicated how my components were connected, allowing me to ensure that no connections were missed.

The detailed cabling manager allows terminals and components to be connected to each other, thus specifying exactly how the system goes together

While the line diagram contained all the information needed to route the cables, it did not indicate where each connector would be plugged in. SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2D Drawings provides users with several different formats for conveying this information, such as schematic drawings or reports; I chose to include the information as a connection table. This was done by simply creating a connection table symbol for the AV Receiver and including references to the relevant properties. I was able to insert this table anywhere in on my line diagram, giving me all the information I needed to wire my system, all in one convenient drawing.

This connection table provides all the information needed to hook up the system

For the moment, the “Wire Length” column of the connection table is not providing meaningful information. Although I could manually estimate the wire lengths for these cables, this detail will be left to a future part of the series. Once the wires are routed in 3D, their exact lengths will be communicated back to my drawing, taking the guesswork out of purchasing/cutting cables and wires.

Final Thoughts

As a user of SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD, the transition to SOLIDWORKS Electrical was seamless, regardless of my minimal knowledge of electrical design principles. The intuitive tools for applying manufacturer part information to components will feel natural for almost any 3D CAD user, and allow easy standardization within and between projects. The process of associating symbols to components, cables, and their terminals is fluid and allows users to fully capture their designs with ease. SOLIDWORKS Electrical provides a powerful platform for designers to create not just drawings, but complex digital representations of their physical systems. With a mechanical background, I was certainly thankful for this link back to the physical world!

The finished 2D Design

Until Next Time

Thank you very much for joining me on this journey through 2D electrical design with SOLIDWORKS Electrical. Stay tuned for future blogs detailing the continued design of this project with SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us and discuss how SOLIDWORKS Electrical can assist your ongoing and future projects.

The post Mechanical Engineering Meets SOLIDWORKS Electrical Episode 2 – 2D Drawings appeared first on The Javelin Blog.

In this blog, we will be discussing the cause of a blank BOM by book in SOLIDWORKS Electrical. I’ve seen the issue come up a few times, where users open their bill of materials reports that are supposed to feature one report by book, only to find that some of the reports are blank. There are a few key steps to getting these reports to behave properly, but at its core, the issue comes down to one word: Locations.

SOLIDWORKS Electrical: Location and Report Settings for BOM

Let’s start by examining the locations within our project. Having our locations organized properly will be crucial to avoiding some headaches while generating our reports. This menu can be found within our Electrical Project tab.

Electrical Project Tab – Location

After getting our locations in order, we can work on ensuring that our books, as well as our components, are properly assigned to the necessary locations.

Location tab by book

Now that our books and components are assigned to their appropriate locations, we need to ensure that our report is configured correctly to allow one report for each individual book. Within our report properties, we can navigate to the Layout tab, and ensure that the “One report by book” checkbox is checked.

Location tab by book

Layout Tab – “One report by book” checkbox

With that setting selected, we can apply our changes and take a look at our results within our bill of materials reports and ensure that they are populated with the manufacturer parts.

BOM reports by book

Our reports are now properly sorted by each book, and the manufacturer parts that take place in each location are present on their respective reports.

Want to learn more about SOLIDWORKS Electrical?

Attend a SOLIDWORKS Electrical Training Course live online to learn about schematics and 3D features.

The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Blank BOM by Book appeared first on The Javelin Blog.