Electrical & Wire Harness Design Blog

Having been a technical specialist with Mentor Graphics for a little over 7 years now.  I work with a great group of people and we have had some great successes.  I was recently asked after our latest account win what made the customer choose Mentor Graphics? This is a question I was unable to answer straight away.  On the surface we have products to sell that they want to buy, but that is really too … Read More

ECAD, Electrical Design, Capital Harness Systems, Mentor Graphics, Wire Harness

I like going to trade shows - usually I am one of the many people doing “booth duty” - standing in the booth chatting with people and doing demonstrations.  Often I get to talk to some fine folks that have nothing whatsoever to do with electrical harness design and just want whatever trinket we are giving away - but you meet some interesting people and sometimes learn a little bit. This year the general … Read More

Wire Harness, ECAD, Electrical Design, Aerospace Design, Electrical Wiring Interconnection System, Mentor Graphics, Electrical Distribution System, Electrical Engineering

I read an interesting article at http://www.physorg.com/news183361139.html by Lin Edwards that describes a new single person electric aircraft that and hover like a helicopter and fly like a plane.  As quoted by Lin: The cruising speed of the Puffin is expected to be 240 kph, with spurts of 480 kph possible. The engine does not require air, which means its flight capabilities are not limited by thin … Read More

Model, Mentor Graphics, ECAD, EE, Aerospace Design, Electrical Engineering, Electrical Wiring Interconnection System, Electrical Design, Electrical Distribution System

Often when we are creating wiring diagrams we are limited by our page size for content - sometimes as small as 8.5″x11″ often 11″x17″.  I have designed using both - and used both in the field.  I can tell you I prefer to draw on 11″x17″ but when I am in the field troubleshooting I would rather handle and carry a smaller stack of paper. A helpful construct now in Mentor Graphic’s Capital Harness System … Read More

Electrical Wiring Interconnection System, Electrical Engineering, Wire Harness, Automotive Design, Capital Harness Systems, Aerospace Design, EE, Electrical Design, CHS, ECAD

The differences in documentation standards for electrical design are as vast as the number of stars in the sky.  No two are alike, no matter what the claims - there is always “something” different.  If your company provides documentation to more than one customer then the problem is even greater.  The problem is lies with the tools being used to create the drawings.  Typically I see companies trying … Read More

Model, Mentor Graphics, Wire Harness, Automotive Design, CHS, Aerospace Design, Electrical Distribution System, Electrical Engineering, ECAD, Electrical Design

What is EWIS?  EWIS stands for Electrical Wiring Interconnection System which can be defined as at set of electrical connections and signals between devices and modules and all of their associated termination parts which are necessary for their installation.  In other words, this defines the set of electrical diagrams and cable harnesses that are installed in an airplane or a helicopter that make all … Read More

Electrical Wiring Interconnection System, Electrical Engineering, EWIS, Capital Topology, CHS, Aerospace Design, Wire Harness, Electrical Design, Electrical Distribution System, ECAD, EE

Standards inject certainty into your working life. Last week I wrote about how the development of standards and the easiest pathway to adoption of them. Adherence to standards is an integral part of successful engineering. The most attractive standards: lack complexity - are easy to understand - clear and straightforward for a person like you turn out to be robust for the niche in which you operate - … Read More

DSI, Design System Interface, ECAD, Automotive Design, Formboard, Capital H, IESF, Aerospace Design, Wire Harness, EE Standards, Capital Harness Systems, Electrical Design, CHS, Electrical Distribution System, Capital Harness Bridges, Electrical Engineering, Capital Harness Classic

Back in the day when I was a design engineer one of the more difficult things we had to keep track of were wire colors.  Capital Harness Systems provides several mechanisms for automating this task. When designing electrical systems, mostly for automotive designs, the color of each individual wire is very important.  The color provides visual feedback for the technicians as to what system the circuit … Read More

Wire Harness, EWIS, CHS, ECAD, Automotive Design, Electrical Distribution System, Electrical Engineering, EE, Electrical Design

Continuing the series of posts related to the most efficient way to formulate an RFQ or tool evaluation process for electrical interconnect/systems integration cabling and harness tools, here we’re going to look at the third of four roughly equal “must have” categories of requirement.  CAD artifacts - schematics, blueprints, drawings, whatever you habitually call them are absolutely central to the … Read More

RFI, RFQ, CHS, Schematics, Capital Harness Systems, ECAD