My company owns a license of electrical routing. I havebeentrying to go through the process of creating an electricaldrawing,and I am extremely disappointed so far. Granted, Iamprobably approaching this a bit differently than most. Iwantall the wires in the connector modeled. Here aremyobservations so far:
-I spent WAY too much time troubleshooting my route trying togetthe route to not violate any minimum bend radius rules. Whycan't I shut this off?
-The "fix route" button only works for segments, notsegmentsthat join up in a non-tangential way, thus violatingmin-bend radiirules. I have to go through and select all thelittle splinesthat go into the junction point and make themtangent to the mainharness segment.
-The harness drawing creating tool has tremendouscapability. The wire cut-list has the potential to save hugeamounts ofengineering time once the drawing goes to the vendor.
-The connector end face block view is like taking a step backto2D. Why not allow a 3d view of the drawing, instead oflines,arcs, and notes?
-A more automated approach to terminal selection could savelots ofengineering time also. The biggest terminal selectionpitfallis usually selecting a terminal whose insulation crimp istoo smallfor the wire selected. Since the model has thisinformation,there could be a terminal library and a selectionwizard for eachwire involved. It could allow you to selectbetween bag orreel packaging part number, plating options, etc. It couldoffer you a drop down box which is populated onlywith theterminals that would fit on the wire you're selecting itfor.
-The harness drawing could be enhanced to allow you toflatten thecable, much like sheet metal. It could beinteractive,allowing you to drag the connector endpoints around,but instead ofusing blocks, use the actual model. This wouldallow thecreation of a much more professional looking drawing.
-The component library tool should provide a link to thedrawingview of the connector for use with the harness drawinginstead ofrelying on file names in a certain folder. Itshould have abrowse button, and allow you to use windows explorerto point toit.
-Part library management is crucial to the success of thispackage. If it is done well and intuitive, it makes all thedifferencein the world. Lots of good improvements in 2007. Arethere more to come?
I am an electrical engineer, and have picked up solidworksalongthe way to model my printed circuit board models andchassis. I have used some major ECAD packages, and thelibrarymanagement feature is so important. Some moreattention inthis area would really help things.SolidworksRouting
-I spent WAY too much time troubleshooting my route trying togetthe route to not violate any minimum bend radius rules. Whycan't I shut this off?
-The "fix route" button only works for segments, notsegmentsthat join up in a non-tangential way, thus violatingmin-bend radiirules. I have to go through and select all thelittle splinesthat go into the junction point and make themtangent to the mainharness segment.
-The harness drawing creating tool has tremendouscapability. The wire cut-list has the potential to save hugeamounts ofengineering time once the drawing goes to the vendor.
-The connector end face block view is like taking a step backto2D. Why not allow a 3d view of the drawing, instead oflines,arcs, and notes?
-A more automated approach to terminal selection could savelots ofengineering time also. The biggest terminal selectionpitfallis usually selecting a terminal whose insulation crimp istoo smallfor the wire selected. Since the model has thisinformation,there could be a terminal library and a selectionwizard for eachwire involved. It could allow you to selectbetween bag orreel packaging part number, plating options, etc. It couldoffer you a drop down box which is populated onlywith theterminals that would fit on the wire you're selecting itfor.
-The harness drawing could be enhanced to allow you toflatten thecable, much like sheet metal. It could beinteractive,allowing you to drag the connector endpoints around,but instead ofusing blocks, use the actual model. This wouldallow thecreation of a much more professional looking drawing.
-The component library tool should provide a link to thedrawingview of the connector for use with the harness drawinginstead ofrelying on file names in a certain folder. Itshould have abrowse button, and allow you to use windows explorerto point toit.
-Part library management is crucial to the success of thispackage. If it is done well and intuitive, it makes all thedifferencein the world. Lots of good improvements in 2007. Arethere more to come?
I am an electrical engineer, and have picked up solidworksalongthe way to model my printed circuit board models andchassis. I have used some major ECAD packages, and thelibrarymanagement feature is so important. Some moreattention inthis area would really help things.SolidworksRouting
