Enhanced Electrical & Fluid Product Design Automation

By Anthony J. Lockwood

EPLAN Software & Services North America LLC (Farmington Hills, MI) announced version 2.2 of its EPLAN Platform technology for electrical product design and automation development. EPLAN Platform technology provides the core functions required in electrical CAE, electrical control, instrumentation and control systems, as well as in fluid and EMSR (engineering and managing software requirements) engineering. EPLAN Platform serves as the shared development platform for seamless and direct data exchange between different engineering disciplines in the EPLAN product portfolio, which comprises applications for electrical design engineering, fluid power control systems design engineering software, instrumentation and control design, and wire harness design. Additionally, EPLAN Platform technology interfaces with major mechanical design and other third-party enterprise systems.

EPLAN Platform 2.2 offers numerous enhancements for terminal engineering. Image courtesy of EPLAN Software & Services North America.

Version 2.2, says the company, offers functional extensions and a new field-cabling module. A new graphical macro selection, smart terminal analysis, and automatic termination points when copying sections of a circuit are among the other highlights the company reports.

Version 2.2’s new graphical macro selection is said to help designers implement standards effectively, while still being able to navigate comprehensive macro collections. Informative graphics and a clear structure make accessing defined circuit templates simpler, says EPLAN, while noting that rapid filters in the project data navigators, comprehensive parts data exchange, and extended terminal design ensure greater convenience and speed in project processing.

EPLAN says that it has replaced complicated clicking through directory structures with graphically supported navigation. This, explains the company, allows engineers to draw up the initial circuit documentation in dialogue with their customers as early as the initial project brief. The switching states of the terminals stored in the circuit diagram can be illustrated automatically in graphical reports. Once the terminal data has been stored in the circuit diagram, EPLAN can generate high-quality terminal documents automatically.

Termination points are now automatically set between connections that become separated when circuit sections are moved by copy and paste from one circuit diagram page to another. All electrical connections are now retained without the designer needing to do anything.

EPLAN says that its new EPLAN FieldSys modules enables engineers to design field cabling to scale, draw up routing, and document comprehensively and automatically. Image courtesy of EPLAN Software & Services North America.

The new EPLAN FieldSys module provides the ability to document field cabling of a machine or plant directly in an EPLAN project. With it, cables can be routed automatically through a network and the lengths calculated from an underlying 2D shop layout. Connections between controller and field components can be planned efficiently and documented sustainably in this way, the company says.

EPLAN Platform 2.2 also offers new technology for interfacing with ERP/PDM systems, additional PLC and bus extensions, the ability to use elements as your graphical background, and smart connect and terminal engineering improvements. Terminal engineering improvements also include optimized engineering and reporting of switching jumpers and isolating terminals; terminal-based definition of switching states; and representation of switching state within graphical reports.

For more information, visit EPLAN.

Request a 30-day EPLAN evaluation CD.

Click here to access both on-demand and upcoming webinars.

Download the current issue of eplanet, the EPLAN CAE publication.

Go to the EPLAN whitepaper library.

Read EPLAN customer stories.

See why DE’s editors select EPLAN Platform 2.2 as their Pick of the Week.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.