Wire routing

[Spursman]

After creating an assembly I am trying to create inside that assembly wires and cables running from the various devices. Some of them are at different heights depending on where they rout to. What would be the best way to handles this?

Tim

 

[MrPickles]

Not sure what exactly you are needing, but sounds like you can create parts that are incontext to the assembly. If not familiar, read about it in the SW help file under "Creating a Part in an Assembly"



-----------
Mr. Pickles

 

[MadMango]

Look into 3D Sketches and Sweeps. This is what I have been using to create electrical cables and hydraulic hoses in my assemblies.

MadMango
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[SBaugh]

You have in insert a new component, then while editing that component in the context of that assembly use 3d sketches and profiles. Once you have those 2 things you can use sweeps to make your wires. I done this for many years.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376
When in doubt, always check the help

 

[ctopher]

SBaugh is correct. Also when you start your 3DSketch, you can hit the TAB key to change direction (plane) to run the wire.

 

[JNR]

We do this type of thng quite frequently also and have found the 3D sketch/sweep method to be the best over all.

However we do not use in context parts. That's a PDM (SmarTeam in our case) issue. In context can be great if it works for you. If you are using PDM systems it may be wise to limit your use of in context work. It can have rather unpleasant or at least inconvenient consequences if you use too much of it. If you are using a PDM system, I suggest making some simple test parts (just blocks and cylinders) and test out the logic of the in context methodology, then try to reuse some of the parts the parts on another project/assembly. See if there are any nasty ramifications of entire projects getting copied or checked out when you got to get some of these parts for the new job. It probably depends on the PDM system and the way its options are set up.

3/4 of all the Spam produced goes to Hawaii - shame that's not true of SPAM also.......

 

[MadMango]

After I have the "routed" form of my hoses/cables, I always go into the assy and break the in-context relations. Then I take that hose/cable and create a new configuration with all the swept sections modeled straight. This is the configuration I use for 2d drawings. If things move in the assembly, it's easy enough to adjust the 3d sketches to correct the problem.

MadMango
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[sojouner]

maybe a silly suggestion, but why not use the piping ability that solid works has ??.
have only seen piping used once for about 5 mins so I don't know much about it !
it is just a thought!

 

[Arlin]

> However we do not use in context parts. That's a PDM (SmarTeam in our case) issue.

I thought one of PDM's primary functions was to help track and manage in context relationships? (I've never used any PDM)

 

[RawheadRex]

"I thought one of PDM's primary functions was to help track and manage in context relationships? (I've never used any PDM)"

Arlin,

Just FYI, you are correct in your statement. However if an item designed in-context of one assembly is used with a different assembly then there are ramifications related to the use of in-context features that become evident. It generally happens in SmarTeam (as I recall) that the entire assembly where the harness is initially created comes along for the ride when using the harness in a new/different assembly (i.e. all of the files of the original parent assembly are opened in SW when the harness is used elsewhere...this is because the harness derives part of its intelligence from the parent). This caused headaches for some people at my former company when they attempted to use in-context features.

To avoid this, I use in-context features in the early steps of creation and definition of my geometry and replace them later as suggested by MadMango.

Hope this info is useful.


Chris Gervais
Sr. Mechanical Designer
Lytron Corp.

 

[SBaugh]

The piping is way differnt than wiring. Wiring is usually small and has not only insulation on it but it also has the wire in the middle. Piping only comes with large library parts like 2"-4" diameter pipes. I don't think I have seen a wire that large before... I have seen about that many stacked on top of each other or in one large bundle on today's cars .

The piping IMO is not at all the best way to do this Embassy works may have been a better way around this but since they were bought up by AutoCAD (I believe) it's not worth it.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376
When in doubt, always check the help

 

[MadMango]

FYI, SolidWorks is releasing Routing in the next few weeks. It is suppose to be able to handle harnesses and cables as well as piping.

As to why not use Piping, my company hasn't sprung the cash for that add-on.

MadMango
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[SBaugh]

Well that's information to me. I'm glad to see that they are not dropping the ball on this since Embassy works went bye bye.

Thanks for the FYI Madmango!

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376
When in doubt, always check the help

 

[EdDanzer]

I just finished a project with several wires and steel lines. All were created in contest as subassemblies, so the wire ends, and tubing nuts were able to be used for manual purposes. It helps to start the wire as a part that has a short straight with an axis and planes at each end. The connection points should have reference geometry also to speed creation. The wire ends and tube nuts were mated in the assembly before creating the in context wire / tube geometry. A subassembly was created with the starting part inserted, then the subassembly mated to reference geometry of the first part of the main assembly. The wire subassembly was set to flexible mates, then the wire part mated to the wire end, then the in context wire was created and then the wire ends were reordered into the wire assembly. The down side to this method is it takes ½ hr to 1 hr per wire. In the assembly I just finished there were 17 items created this way and took about 14 hrs to complete. Then there has been some instability when reopening the drawing page before the assembly.

 

[JNR]

I personally asked the SW rep. (not the VAR) about wiring capabilities hooked to "routing" in SW2004 - 'cos it looked suspisciously enticing. I was told "Look for about SP2" - an actual quote, by the way. By which I suppose they meant expected SP2, not bug fix SP2, so it may go out to a higher SP number ;-)

3/4 of all the Spam produced goes to Hawaii - shame that's not true of SPAM also.......