Making the Most of Electrical Simulation in the MCAD/PLM World

ABSTRACT

Modern equipment such as automobiles, aircraft or robots can be thought of as complex electromechanical assemblies. Commercial imperatives of reduced time to market, improved quality and minimized total cost demand design processes based on virtual prototyping: creation of a digital product model whose characteristics can be understood and optimized. One key modeling aspect is electrical simulation, in which electrical behavior and performance is forecast using specialized software. But electrical simulation is tightly coupled with the mechanical domain: physical information is needed to calculate parameters such as signal attenuation. This article explores some of the types of electrical simulation deployed in leading companies and the technologies that robustly link the mechanical and electrical worlds. Challenges that must be faced include cross-domain integration and synchronization, data management, and design change management. With these issues considered some examples of electrical simulation that depend on mechanical data are described, including simulation-based component selection and CAN network signal integrity analysis. Last, methods for consolidating electrical and mechanical data within a PLM environment are considered.