Panel Layouts
Accepted solution
Unfortunately, there isn't much out there in the way of tutorials. Most of us just jump in the water and hope we can figure out how to swim.
An important thing to remember is that the symbols and footprints that come with ACADE aren't meant to be all-inclusive. There will (frequently) be times when you are using a component that is not in any of the libraries or catalogs. It is just part of working with this software, and I for one don't think it's unreasonable. Manufacturers are free to change their product lines as they see fit, and it would be cost-prohibitive for Autodesk to run down each one and see what changes have been made to their products prior to each new release of ACADE (which is already expensive enough). In the end, it is our responsibilty as CAD operators to insure our drawings are accurate. Autodesk helps, but it's unfair to expect them to do our whole job for us.
With that being said, I can only offer some insight/suggestions. This is how I do things, they may or may not work for you.
The information presented in the catalogs is provided by the manufacturer, so you may find things listed in either metric or imperial. Since the blocks are drawn at true scale (or should be), their actual measurements will be right -- you'll just sometimes have to scale them up or down at the metric scale factor (25.4 or .0039370079).
I've never done a panel layout in which every component was already included in ACADE. In fact, I'm betting most of my layouts are about 5% prepackaged blocks; I draw the rest. Luckily, we use many of the same components repeatedly, so it doesn't really take long to do the layouts anymore. At the beginning, though, I spent quite some time making blocks.
Even if you do end up using a lot of prepackaged blocks, most will require some level of tweaking. At the least, you'll probably need to add wipeouts since most footprints don't have them. The terminals usually do, but not much else. So any time you need to use a packaged component that goes on a DIN rail, you'll probably need to add a wipeout manually. In short, doing layouts is going to require a good bit of block editing/creation no matter what you do.
Also, a large number of the prepackaged footprint blocks are simple rectangles or other basic shapes that don't have any kind of detail. We like our panel layouts to resemble as closely as possible what they will look like once built in the real world, so I want footprints that look real. I've also learned that many of the included footprints are drawn at the incorrect dimensions compared to current manufacturer specs. Therefore, I no longer use any of ACADE's out-of-the-box footprints (except for buttons, pilot lights, etc). I now draw almost every single footprint myself, basing them on whatever CAD files I can find online. I keep a separate folder for custom footprints. The attached image is of a mostly complete panel layout from a current project. It shows mostly I/O and some fuse blocks. The only prepackaged blocks I used were the DIN rails and wireways.
Our general workflow for interior panel layouts is to bring in the enclosure, set DIN rails and wireways, and then bring in components. I often do this piecemeal as the schematics come together. Finalizing the panel drawings occurs during the final phase of a project. Generating my terminal strip is also among the last things I do, followed by annotation adjustments.
My preferred method for placing a footprint in a drawing is to either insert from the schematic list or to insert manually. I only use the panel icon menu for wireways and DIN rails, usually it only goes so far before making you navigate the rest of the path to the drawing you need anyway. (If I have to manually navigate to its location anyway, then why use the icon menu at all?)
Inserting footprints via the schematic list helps you keep proper track of what's been laid out and what hasn't. It also prevents multiple catalog assignments from appearing on your BOM. Another thing to look out for is your item numbering. Don't assign item numbers during the balloon command; for some bizarre reason it can damage certain things in the drawing files (notably LINKTERM and terminal strips). This is documented in the forums, but AFAIK there is no solution yet. I resequence item numbers before inserting any balloons to prevent problems.
Most of what I learned about doing panel layouts in ACADE I taught myself through trial and error. However, Doug McAlexander's website proved very useful to me for this and many other things. You can find it here.
Good luck,
Jim
Jim Seefeldt
Electrical Engineering Technician
