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New AutoCAD Electrical blog

48 REPLIES 48
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Message 1 of 49
PatMurnen_Adsk
9222 Views, 48 Replies

New AutoCAD Electrical blog

There is a new Autodesk blog which will focus on AutoCAD Electrical and AutoCAD ecscad. I am going to be a regular contributor on AutoCAD Electrical topics and so will Jared Bunch who has also been with AutoCAD Electrical for many years.

 

Check it out at http://autodesk.typepad.com/systemsdesign/

 

Also, if you have any suggestions for future topics add a comment to any of my blog articles that are already posted.

 

 



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

48 REPLIES 48
Message 2 of 49
CAD-ICE
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

Dear Pat,

we use Nate Holts PLC tool he contributed some years ago on Forums (se attached). We would like to apply this tool on parent/child PLC symbols such that we can reference more than one connection point between the symbols.

Could you pherhaps look into this ? Also some conciderations regarding feference between pcl symbols would be appreciated. For instance when designing a PLC system we make an overview drawing showing the PLC rack with the powersupply, CPU, communication modules as well as I/O module position in the plc racks. I´m not referring to the panel dwg but instead we use this overview to show the system configuration with minimal wiring. Sometimes we show the powersupply to the system and communication network (ethernet etc..)

What would be the correct procedure in cases as this. Some of these modules such as the powersupply and cpu´s would be appointed as main/parent symbols while the I/O symbols shown on other pages are the main symbols and the one´s shown on the overview would be child symbols right?

I´m looking forward to your answer on this topic.

Regards, Gary

Message 3 of 49
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: CAD-ICE

Gary,

 

I am assuming you are not suggesting future blog articles but looking for some actual programming updates to the lisp function. I would suggest looking for someone with some lisp programming expertise and maybe hiring them to extend the functionality of the lisp program. I am afraid this is out of my area of work as a technical writer.

 

Regarding the overview type drawing that you want to relate back to the schematic components like the PLC, power supply, etc., :

 

I would suggest either relating them as peer components or using the Insert Panel from Schematic but with the Wiring Diagram option and symbols. This would require some setup at your end to create the symbols and update the footprint lookup tables. But, I would need to see some images of what you are trying to achieve to know if either of these would work.

 

There are people on this discussion board that probably do this already and could provide some guidance on things that have worked for them. That is the great thing about this discussion board is that you get advice from people using the product every day. So maybe log a new post, provide some detail on what you want to achieve and even include some images.

 

Regards,

Pat

 

 

 

 



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 4 of 49
CAD-ICE
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

Hi Pat and thank´s for your reply.

What I was indicating in my post was that I would like see a blog article that covers tools and methods required sometimes when designing plc systems. The method that Nate introduced in his blog some years ago is in that direction that is when the plc child I/O´s are distributed on various drawings. This way of design is wery common in some industries in Europe. I haven´t seen the Beta version of ACADE2013 nor what new tools will be introduced but I hope that some effort has been put into to software on that issue.

Thank´s again,

Gary

Message 5 of 49
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: CAD-ICE

Gary,

 

thanks for your suggestion on the blog. I will add this suggestion to the list of potential blog articles.

 

Also, I have verified that this "distributed" PLC" idea was already logged as a request for an AcadE enhancement. If you can post the actual .lsp and any related .dcl file here I can attach it to the logged item as further information. Also, if you can provide detail on what functionality it does not provide that you would like I can add that as well.

 

Regards,

Pat



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 6 of 49
CAD-ICE
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

Hi Pat,

attached are files that i have regarding this tool that Nate Holt supplied some years ago.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Gary

Message 7 of 49
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: CAD-ICE

Gary,

 

I added this information to the logged wish list item for possible future enhancements.

 

Thanks,

Pat



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 8 of 49
jacobmeo
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

The method that Nate introduced in his blog some years ago is in that direction that is when the plc child I/O´s are distributed on various drawings. This way of design is wery common in some industries in Europe. I haven´t seen the Beta version of ACADE2013 nor what new tools will be introduced but I hope that some effort has been put into to software on that issue.

Message 9 of 49
syrust
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

Hi

 

I am new to this forum.

I have a question about being a drafter

 

I would like to be a drafter but i have no idea how do i get in and where to start.

 

I have done electrical engineering.

 

Please suggest me do i have to go to some drafting course in some school or i can learn autocad by myself and get into as a drafter?

 

Thanks

Message 10 of 49
jbender
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

We are inputting company specific information into the database under USER2 Field.  All has been going well until just after lunch when the edit screen will not allow me to input information in the USER2 Field. What is the problem?  I have closed out Autocad Electrical 2013, rebooted my computer, and suffered from Cad Rage.

Message 11 of 49
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: jbender

Can you provide more information, i.e. the steps and options you are selecting within AutoCAD Electrical? Did you make a back-up copy of the catalog that you could copy in and see if it then works? This would indicate some issue with the new records added. Make sure to fill in the first (catalog), second (manufacturer), fourth (for example type), and fifth (for example) fields in new records. These fields, that are marked as required on the Add Catalog Record dialog, cannot be blank.

 

By the way, you might want to start a new post since this is not related to the blog thread you posted under.

 

 



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 12 of 49

Does AutoCAD Electrical do wire routing like Solidworks Electrical 2012 does?

 

And if AutoCAD does, can it also do wire lengths on a panel design?

Message 13 of 49

AutoCAD Electrical outputs a data file in XML format that its sister product Inventor imports and Inventor handles the wire routing and length calculations.  There is a field available in a wire list from Electrical that allows you to key in wire lengths, say from a prototype build, but there is no automatic calculation inside Electrical, since Inventor handles routing and lengths.



Doug McAlexander


Design Engineer/Consultant/Instructor/Mentor specializing in AutoCAD Electrical training and implementation support

Phone and Web-based Support Plans Available

Phone: (770) 841-8009

www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mcalexander-1a77623




Please Accept as Solution if I helped you. Likes are also much appreciated.
Message 14 of 49

But will Autodesk Inventor do panels like Solidworks Electrical.

 

 

with routing wires.                    Panel-Layout1-150x150.png

 

Message 15 of 49

Inventor can model panel, components, and wires



Doug McAlexander


Design Engineer/Consultant/Instructor/Mentor specializing in AutoCAD Electrical training and implementation support

Phone and Web-based Support Plans Available

Phone: (770) 841-8009

www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mcalexander-1a77623




Please Accept as Solution if I helped you. Likes are also much appreciated.
Message 16 of 49
johnq
in reply to: dougmcalexander

Autocad Electrical performance.

 

Hi All

 

In another life I was a mainframe fixer fella for a computer comapany, that still exists, in a lesser form.

 

I had some great training.   Some of it was how their  operating systems worked at bit level.  I studied two different in house systems and UNIX.

 

When a file tree is created in the above, the O/S needs to build a table as to where the location is of the next directory is located on the disk.

 

And so it goes on until the first request is fulfilled.

 

This takes time and slows the cpu down.   Now, granted cpus are faster but it still needs to happen.

 

Have I missed somthing in Win7?

 

There is a rule of thumb in XP & Vister of 10 levels, other wise the search can time out or get lost.  I have had this happen intermittantely.  It is noticed when it is necessary to click a second time to get a folder. Microsoft are coy about this problem.

 

With  ACE, in my humble opinion, tmany of the tree legs are too long and there are too many of them.   Some of the folders in the legs are empty.

 

Why cant these empty folders be removed?   But not my me.

 

I find that if I do not use an instruction for a while, the next time I excicute that instruction there si a delay but the repeate use of that instruction is instantanious.

 

I feel that  there is a lot of overhead in this programme that is un-necessarly smothered by the ever need for a faster cpu.

 

Just my impression.

 

Cheers  john q

Message 17 of 49
renu_a
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

what is the difference between autocad electrical and autocad electrical multiseat band?

 

In autocad electrical is there any educaional ver. availabel for institutes

 

Please explain and is there any difference in product between the educational & commercial ver. of autocad electrical

 

Pleas reply & oblige at earliets

Message 18 of 49
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: renu_a

I am not sure what you mean by "multiseat band". You can get information about network licensing at this site - 

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=18270004&siteID=123112

 

You can download as a student at this site -

http://students.autodesk.com/

 

Regards,

 



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 19 of 49
johnq
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

Hi

 

May be Pat can clarify my past experience with AutoCAD.

 

I learnt on AC R14 and AC 2002.  From time to time some of these versions would print a banner around a drawing stating that "this drawing had been done on a student version.'  Or words to that effect.   This banner was, with our experience, impossible to remove.   It would be on every drawing that was created using the "infected" drawing as a seed.

 

I have not used an student version since.

 

Cheers  John Quigley

Message 20 of 49
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: johnq

John is right about the "watermark" on the education version. Sorr,y I was misinformed. I am not involved in the education versions.

 

Sorry for any confusion,

Pat

 



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

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