According to Eplan, this development moves what’s long been standard in mechanical engineering into electrical engineering by creating a digital twin of the cabling. As depicted in Eplan Harness proD, this cable data source is usable in manufacturing, assembly as well as service and maintenance by combining electrical and mechanical engineering. One clear advantage to this approach is that every designer can work in their own way, each with their own view of the machine in question: mechanical engineering continues working with assemblies and electrical engineering with functions.
Eplan says that, with this software, it doesn’t matter if the mechanical engineer, rather than the electrical engineer, designs the cable routings because the electrical engineer will be able to know if the cables will fit through the intended pathways and the exact lengths required.
System-supported designing and routing
The process for cable planning involves an engineer planning for the necessary cables in the schematics using Eplan Electric P8. Next, the engineer defines the required devices for the cabling designs in Eplan Harness prod, which is where the common device databank for all the Eplan systems resides to provide for a consistent, uniform source of data. The engineer can then link the electrotechnical project with Harness proD and import the 3D geometry from mechanical engineering into the cabling tool.
Data from all devices such as motors, connectors and cables are available to form an exact starting point for field cabling.
Using this information, the external equipment can be placed into the 3D environment, with cabling pathways defined for routing. Once all devices and cables have been introduced, the user receives a digital twin of all the cabling.
This twin can now be provided to the mechanical design team as a 3D assembly or transferred to the electrical engineering team with the added cabling information.
Prototyping
Using this digital twin prototype means that changes to cabling routing can be handled with a few mouse clicks in the program. An actual physical prototype from manufacturing isn’t required. The digital twin is the medium for collaboration in engineering or for starting dialogues with clients during the specification phase, the development phase for design reviews, or even for marketing purposes.
