Autodesk Acquires Technology For ECAD

Tag : Auto Electrical System

Autodesk has completed the acquisition of most of the assets ofElektro-CAE-Software GmbH (ECS), a premier solution provider ofelectrical computer-aided design (ECAD) software, including theECSCAD product line.

Autodesk announced its intent to acquire substantially all of theassets of Germany-based ECS from Mensch und Maschine DeutschlandGmbH, a member of the Mensch und Maschine group, on August 20,2008. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Mensch und Maschine Software SE (M+M) is a leading Europeansupplier of computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM)software with locations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France,Italy, UK, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Romania, USA, Japan and APAC.M+M's diversified product range includes CAD/CAM solutions indifferent price / performance areas for key industries (such asmechanical and electrical engineering, architecture, geography).The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Wesslingnear Munich. ECS was founded in 1993 and is located in Donzdorf,Germany. Formerly part of the M+M group of companies, ECS is one ofthe leading suppliers of database oriented ECAD systems for themechanical engineering, energy supply, and plant constructionmarket.

Further enhancing the Autodesk solution for digital prototypingwith software that relies on database-driven methods for controlssystem design, ECSCAD software complements AutoCAD Electricalsoftware, which is used to quickly create accurate schematic-baseddesigns. As both product lines are built on the AutoCAD platform,Autodesk will be positioned to enhance functionality andperformance for both ECSCAD and AutoCAD Electrical customers and tooffer even more powerful tools for a broad range of electricalcontrols designers.

"The acquisition of the ECSCAD technology extends Autodesk'sleadership in Digital Prototyping and will allow Europeanelectrical design engineers to integrate both mechanical andelectrical designs, offering the best of both worlds of databaseand drawing-based technology," said Robert "Buzz" Kross, AutodeskManufacturing Solutions senior vice president. "We welcome ECSemployees and customers to Autodesk."

Commentary By Jeffrey Rowe, Editor

This acquisition underscores a trend that has emerged and continuesto grow in magnitude and importance. That is, the continuingintegration of MCAD capabilities with electrical/electronic (ECAD)capabilities for mechatronics designs and applications. Is Autodeskthe first company to move in this direction? No, not exactly– PTC and SolidWorks, for example, are already there, aswell.

This announcement by Autodesk reinforces the increasing need forsimultaneous design and simulation of mechanical and electricalsystems. There was a time when mechanical systems and products werestrictly mechanical, however, the majority of today’sproducts continue to become more capable, and more complex,involving the marriage of mechanical and electrical subsystems.

A more comprehensive way to view mechatronics is the systematicintegration of mechanical, electrical, electronics, and embeddedfirmware (software) components. When all of the various componentsare combined the result is an electromechanical system. In thiscontext, mechatronics is characterized by software and electronicscontrolling electromechanical systems. This definition is widelyseen in automotive engines and other automotive systems, as well asproduction machinery.

ECAD is employed at virtually every machine builder and systemintegrator. These and other players in machine automation must havean efficient digital means of generating documents to compete,because the main issue today is time to market. The quickeraccurate documents are in place and materials purchased, thequicker machine construction begins. In essence, ECAD is abouttime-savings, especially when coupled with MCAD.

When first disclosed in August, executives from both companies hadsome interesting things to say about the then-pending acquisitionthat would give some insight into the reasoning behind it:

Robert ‘Buzz’ Kross, Autodesk ManufacturingSolutions’ senior VP, said that ECSCAD complements AutoCADElectrical software, and adds that, since both products are builton the AutoCAD platform, the company expects to create even morepowerful tools for electrical controls design. “The additionof ECS technologies enhances the Autodesk solution for DigitalPrototyping and helps a larger audience to create complete digitalprototypes that integrate both mechanical and electricaldesigns,” he said.

Guenter Manz, managing director of Elektro-CAE-Software, added,“Extending Autodesk electrical CAD with Elektro-CAE-Softwaresolutions opens the door to new and enhanced workflows, currentlyunavailable from either drawing-centric or database-drivenelectrical CAD software.”

In a nutshell, what the acquisition does is expand the designoptions for electrical controls, such as relays, regulators, andmore complex electrical components into the design arena thatAutodesk terms digital prototyping. It starts with 2D in AutoCADElectrical, and is moving up the chain to 3D with AutodeskInventor.

For at least a couple of years, on the electrical side, Autodeskhas incorporated a complete set of industry-standard symbols, andprovided automatic report generation directly from electricaldesign, including panel layout documents. AutoCAD Electrical 2007also expanded the symbol library to include libraries for creatingpneumatic, hydraulic and P&ID (adhering to ANSI/ISA S5.1standards) drawings.

“AutoCAD Electrical 2007 began bridging the gap betweenelectrical and mechanical engineers,” said Scott Reese,product manager at Autodesk. “Designers can now communicateelectrical designs bi-directionally between AutoCAD Electrical andAutodesk Inventor Professional.”

Also, Autodesk’s Productstream manages AutoCADElectrical’s bills of material by controlling the release andchange of designs.

“Autodesk delivers manufacturing solutions that bringselectrical and mechanical engineers together,” added Reese.“Until now, these two disciplines were forced to collaborateon incompatible systems. Our expanded symbol libraries for creatingpneumatic, hydraulic, electrical, and P&ID drawings enablemachine builders to increase productivity, and automate key controlsystem design tasks.”

These integrations and others will ultimately lead to completevirtual design, build before anything is physically constructed.Interfacing or adding kinematic modeling to ECAD is providing thenext logical step that is impacting machine builders.

Mechatronics is an interesting and complex synergistic combinationof mechanical engineering ("mecha" for mechanisms), electronicengineering ("tronics" for electrical/electronics), and softwareengineering. The purpose of this interdisciplinary engineeringfield is automatation from an engineering perspective forcontrolling advanced hybrid systems. Although it sounds (and is)complicated, mechatronics revolves around mechanics, electronics,and computing which, when combined and working together, actuallyprovide simpler, more economical, reliable, and versatile productsand systems.

So, while mechatronics is a reality today, I expect to see thedelineation of the various constituent disciplines that comprise itto continue to blur, so that they all virtually become one whendesigning, engineering, and manufacturing historically mechanicalproducts and systems.

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At MCADCafé we track many things, including the stories thathave attracted the most interest from our subscribers. Below arethe five news items that were the most viewed during last week.


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