SW Routing

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Guide to 3D Electrical Systems Design

using SolidWorks Routing

SolidWorks® Routing software helps automate the

design of routed systems, including electrical cabling

The World’s #1 and harness systems, along with tubing and piping

Mainstream 3D Design

systems.

Software

Working inside SolidWorks 3D mechanical design

software, the SolidWorks Routing add-in application

provides powerful 3D parametric routed systems

design tools and a valuable fitting and electrical con-

nector library that enable you to develop varying

types of routes quickly and easily. Railcar braking system

This guide includes: Design data courtesy of

These designs traditionally relied on hard prototypes WABCO Transit Division

to be created so that the path and details of electrical of Wabtec Corporation,

• The Benefits of 3D Inc.

cable and harnesses could be determined.

Routed System Design SolidWorks Routing enables the designers to de-

velop these designs before any hard prototypes are created.



• Advantages of using This helps accommodate customer demand for clean-looking, compact, tightly

SolidWorks Routing packaged products and competitive pressures to shorten design cycles, reduce

development costs, improve product quality, and accelerate time-to-market.



• SolidWorks Routing in a Advantages of SolidWorks Routing for designing

typical electrical design electrical cables and harnesses

process



• Graphical examples of Using SolidWorks Routing software for 3D routed system design has many ad-

the design process vantages over traditional 2D approaches, including:

• Faster product design – SolidWorks Routing software streamlines routing

design tasks by enabling you to create then edit routes in the 3D product

model, as opposed to working with hard prototypes.



• Quick, easy parametric design changes – Because SolidWorks Routing

software is parametric, associative, and fully integrated with the base Solid-

Works 3D model, making design changes becomes a fast and simple proc-

ess. For example, changes to the overall product dimensions will automati-

cally adjust cable/harness and wire lengths, saving you time while maintain-

ing design intent.



• Flexible, time-saving assembly design – SolidWorks provides the flexibility

to design assemblies using either top-down or bottom-up approaches. For

example, you can create all of the parts for an assembly first, then assemble

them; or design just the major parts of an assembly then create other neces-

sary parts for the system, including electrical cable routes, as you refine the

design.



• Improved product design visualization – The ability to visualize how your

electrical routes integrate with your product enables you to check your design

from any angle, identify potential issues, and resolve problems early in the

SolidWorks Routing auto- design cycle. Unlike traditional 2D wiring diagrams alone, 3D routed systems

mates the development of designs provide the opportunity to view the entire product from any angle

elaborate routed system de- before it is built. Using photorealistic rendering techniques, you can specify

signs, such as the railcar the look and texture of materials, backgrounds, and bases, and create anima-

braking system shown here. tions, including product rotations and disassemblies.



Image courtesy of WABCO Transit • Interference detection – SolidWorks enables you to check for interferences

Division of Wabtec between parts and assemblies, including routed system components, before

Corporation, Inc. manufacturing a single part.









1

• Automatic drawing and documentation creation – SolidWorks automati-

cally generates 2D engineering drawings, including nail board drawings and

connector wiring instructions for electrical cables and harnesses to guide

manufacturing.



• Automatic bill of material (BOM) creation – SolidWorks can generate a

BOM automatically for all items in the electrical cable or harness design, such

as wire lengths or total electrical terminal requirements, and locates this infor-

mation on the drawing.







Step 1: Create the basic design of the Use of SolidWorks Routing in a typical electrical/electronic

product in SolidWorks prior to adding product design process

electrical routes.



Image courtesy of WABCO Transit Divi- Companies use different methods to design products that involve electri-

sion of Wabtec Corporation, Inc. cal aspects. The following process outlines how SolidWorks Routing can

play an import role in a generic electrical/electronic product design proc-

ess. This process will vary from industry to industry.



• Step 1: Generate your initial product design using SolidWorks

Engineers often begin the product design process by developing the general

electrical/electronic technology plan, along with the overall package or enclo-

sure design for the finished product. This includes beginning to add the ma-

jor components along with standard components to the product design.



• Step 2: Develop the electrical design, often working in parallel, using

electrical CAD tools (or other solutions)

The electrical detail design process may come before the mechanical proc-

ess, or in parallel with it. In either case the electrical design process typically

includes some PCB design (including 3D models of major components) along

with system-level electrical design. The systems-level design process typi-

cally generates a connection list (wire list) detailing how electrical compo-

nents are connected in the system throughout the design.

Step 2: Electrical design data is cre-

ated using electrical CAD tools or other • Step 3: Import electrical design details into SolidWorks using familiar

solutions (Sample systems-level sche- Microsoft Excel format

matic from ORCAD shown above). SolidWorks Routing is designed to import electrical CAD data, including

wire/cable libraries, component lists, and From-To connection information in

Microsoft Excel format.



• Step 4: Create desired electrical cable/harness route segments in the

SolidWorks-based systems design using autoroute, routing through

hangers/clips, route automatically on drop of clip, etc.

The electrical CAD data can be imported prior to creating 3D mechanical

routes or the information can be imported after the routes are “roughed in.”

This gives the mechanical engineer great flexibility in working with the electri-

cal/electronic design group. Importing the From-To connection information

along with the wire library information enables the software to automatically

size the outside diameter of cable/harness segments.



Developing a route is as easy as using the autorouting capability or sketching

in space. You can define routes by their relationships to other surfaces,

edges, or components, such as parallel or perpendicular, so that if a related

parameter changes, the route changes with it. You pre-place mounting clips

or hangers, then run the route through them or drag and drop the clips and

have the route automatically follow the clips. Adding a split entity point any-

Step 3: Import electrical design data where along the route enables you to add a branch of a harness segment.

into SolidWorks Routing using familiar The locations of a branch can be dimensioned or initially left floating until the

Microsoft® Excel format — available design is finalized.

from most electrical CAD tools.









2

• Step 5: Edit the route designs as needed as the mechanical or electrical

details are refined

Changes to the mechanical design of the product (e.g., increasing the overall

length of the product) automatically change the length of the cable/harness

segments and length of individual wires in each segment. Revisions made by

the electrical design group can be re-exported to SolidWorks Routing (and re-

imported) which result in changes to the electrical segments (e.g., increases

in the number of wires in a segment will increase the O.D. of the 3D model of

the harness).

Step 4: Next, create desired electri-

cal cable/harness route segments • Step 6: Create manufacturing documentation for the cable/harness

in the design using autoroute, rout- routes, including harness board drawings, wire cut-lists, connector in-

ing through hangers/clips, route stallation details, and more

automatically on drop of clip, etc. After creating a harness or cable route in the 3D model, a 2D drawing of the

route can be created to detail the design for manufacturing. This 2D draw-

Image courtesy of WABCO Tran- ing, or nail board drawing, shows a flattened view of the 3D route and in-

sit Division of Wabtec cludes manufacturing details including bill of materials for the cable/harness,

Corporation, Inc. wire cutting lengths, wire summary, connection wiring details, etc. Changes

made to the 3D cable/harness route automatically change this nail-board

drawing documentation to ensure the documentation is consistent with the 3D

model of the electrical route.







Fitting and Connector Library parts and use of 3D component

models from industry sources



SolidWorks Routing allows you to use parts from the library of components in-

cluded with the product along with 3D parts from other sources. In addition, the

user can build his/her own parts. The

built-in library includes more than 2,000

Step 5: After creating your routes components and covers a wide range of

using SolidWorks Routing, you can basic electrical connectors and tubing

easily edit the design by drag & drop and pipe components. These parts are

of the route segment or re-importing built using Configuration Management

electrical design data, which resizes techniques, which SolidWorks offers for

the segments automatically. both parts and assemblies, unlike other

mid-range CAD products.

Image courtesy of WABCO

Transit Division of Wabtec Corpo-

Another great source for 3D parts,

ration, Inc.

ready for use with SolidWorks Routing,

is 3D ContentCentralSM

( www.3dcontentcentral.com ). This is Using SolidWorks Routing, electrical parts

accessible on the web or directly from can be equipped with intelligent informa-

the Design Library inside of SolidWorks tion including one or more connection

2005. points with required strip length for each

wire.

Electrical component manufacturers

frequently offer 3D models of components from their web site in generic CAD file

formats. These are generally easy to equip with necessary intelligent points to

take full advantage of the capabilities of SolidWorks Routing.



New versions of library parts can be generated easily by simply inserting addi-

tional records in the design tables for existing library parts. When you create new

Step 6: Complete the design by

creating manufacturing documenta-

components to meet your needs, you can also leverage configuration manage-

tion for the cable/harness routes, ment techniques to create variations of parts — of varying sizes, add options,

including harness board drawings, dimensions, etc. — from your original file. The powerful top-down assembly de-

wire cut-lists, connector installation sign techniques of SolidWorks software enable you to design these parts to fit

details, etc. between other parts, including routes that are sketched around existing compo-

nents. SolidWorks Routing enables these parts to be positioned automatically

Image courtesy of WABCO and mated in place when designing routed systems. Examples of custom parts

Transit Division of Wabtec Corpo- include terminals, cord clamps, plugs, receptacles, or any part that has

ration, Inc. wires/cables connected to it. These custom parts are typically created early in the

design process and saved in libraries for future use.







3

Summary



More and more of today’s products require some sort of routed system. If your

product designs include electrical cabling subsystems, tubing, or piping,

SolidWorks Routing software provides the automated capabilities you need to

bring products to market faster and more cost-effectively, helping you to meet the

demands of an increasingly competitive market.



For additional information about SolidWorks products, check out the online

SolidWorks Routing enables the SolidWorks Express newsletter at:

designer to add all the routed sys- http://www.solidworks.com/swexpress/index.html

tems to the design which improves

BOM accuracy and design com- SolidWorks Corporation

pleteness. 300 Baker Avenue

Concord, MA 01742 USA

Design courtesy of WABCO Transit

Division of Wabtec Corporation, Inc.

Toll-free: +1-800-693-9000

Outside the US: +1-978-371-5011

www.solidworks.com

info@solidworks.com









Recent Industry Awards



CAD CAM Germany:

Innovator of the Year 2003



NASA Tech Briefs:

Product of the Year Award

(2002) (second time winner)



CADENCE magazine:

Editor’s Choice Award (2002)



CADALYST magazine:

National Design Engineering

Show — Best-of-Show Award

(2002)



CADENCE magazine:

National Design Engineering

Show — Show Stopper Award

(2002)









SolidWorks is a registered trademark and

3D ContentCentral is a service mark of

SolidWorks Corporation. All other company

and product names are trademarks or

registered trademarks of their respective

owners.



© 2004 SolidWorks Corporation. All rights

reserved. This information is subject to

change without notice.



MKRSWPENG0904 V3





4


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