Mechatronic
Concurrent Mechanical, Electrical & Electronics Design for Mechatronic Systems
Designing mechatronic systems such as industrial machinery, equipment, vehicles, or any device containing moving parts and electronically controlled actuators, is a challenging task.
Traditionally, mechanical, and electrical and electronic design processes were separate; design data was exchanged between MCAD and ECAD systems at critical stages. Limitations in the data exchange, and lack of co-design functionality, resulted in extra design iterations, driving up development time and cost.
Zuken, provider of CR-5000 and E³.series, the most advanced electronics and electrical design platforms available in the industry, partnered with the leading MCAD system suppliers to develop ECAD/MCAD codesign tools which facilitate the interactive integration of ECAD and MCAD systems, and enable true concurrent mechanical, electrical and electronics design. The need for re-design due to undetected 3D issues during ECAD layout is thus eliminated, making right-first-time products much easier to achieve.
Since mechatronic systems integrate multiple technologies in a single system and combine electronics with electromechanical functions, constant verification of design performance at PCB, subsystem, and system levels is essential. Design reliability needs to be assured prior to production. Design performance and reliability need to be improved while reducing development and production cost. Manufacturing yields need to be predicted.
Zuken partnered with leading suppliers of physical and system verification tools to provide platforms for concurrent mechanical, electrical and electronics design and verification. Virtual prototypes can be investigated under a full range of test and verification scenarios, and all variants at multiple levels can be verified. Engineering processes are accelerated and quality is enhanced.
Concurrent Mechanical & Electronics Design
With the integration of PCBs into ever more mechanically complex products, the trend to design and build products and PCBs on demand, and global product and PCB design and manufacturing, the traditional separation of mechanical and electronic design processes has become inadequate. To design first-time-right products, you need parallel and team-oriented ECAD/MCAD design processes. Interactive mechanical and electronics co-design of PCBs within a true concurrent flow is made possible by Board Interchanger, which integrates Zuken’s board layout solution, CR-5000 Board Designer, with each supported MCAD system. Zuken’s interactive 3D ECAD tool, Board Modeler, also enables true mechanical and electronics co-design of PCBs. Board Modeler provides an optimized environment specifically for concurrent electronics design and mechanical verification of PCB layouts, significantly enhancing efficiency and accuracy. Board Modeler also interfaces with any MCAD system, and with supported physical verification tools.
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CR-5000 - Enterprise-wide modular PCB Design
Concurrent Mechanical & Electrical Design
Zuken’s logic-orientated schematic solution for the cabling of devices and vehicles, E³.cable, facilitates the connection of functional modules using single wires, any shielded or twisted cables or cable bundles. The ability to display different views of cable connections or connectors on different sheets enables E³.cable to create assembly drawings or signal tables in addition to the block diagram. When changes are made at any place in the schematic all other views of the object are simultaneous updated. By using the automatic functionality within E³.cable you both save time and reduce the potential for human error. E³.cable enables the continuous and correct representation of cable harnesses. Physical information such as MCAD (CATIA V5, Board Interchanger) and ECAD (CR-5000 Board Designer) co-design work flow for PCB the definition of valid bending radii, length information, and attachment point, can be documented easily. The integration with MCAD systems is provided by the E³.3DRoutingBridge, which allows you to place cable harnesses within their mechanical environment.
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E³.series - Software Solutions for the Design of Electrical Wiring
Concurrent Design & Verification
The smooth integration provided by Zuken’s ECAD/MCAD co-design tools, Board Interchanger and Board Modeler also enables concurrent verification of designs through physical and system-wide simulation. In the concurrent PCB design work flow, board layout structures, together with all material properties and electrical constraints, can be exported into popular numerical simulation tools for mechanical, electrical or thermal verification, like Abaqus, Ansys, Cradle and Flomerics. Simulation results can be easily back-annotated into CR-5000 Board Designer for design modifications.
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CR-5000 - Enterprise-wide modular PCB Design