Software Animates And Analyzes Fluid-Power Curcuits

Until recently, engineers designing fluid-power systems and electrical controls made schematics with high-end CAD packages, lowcapability 2D sketching software, or both. A component list in Automation Studio appears on the left and a library navigator on the right. A user is looking for pressure-control devices. The library shows at least four, any of which can be dragged and dropped onto the diagram. Calculation sheets make it easy to size just about every fluid-power component. To size a cylinder, users type in only a few of the characteristics and the software calculates the rest. During simulation, high-pressure lines turn red and lowpressure lines turn blue, valves shift, and cylinders push out and retract. The simulator also plots pressure versus time at user-selected locations. Automation Studio can also produce bills-of-materials. Users have to first learn to set up a template for company preferences. But few combinations of them worked well. Automation Studio, however, provides a user friendly and flexible way to draw schematics, document capabilities, and help size components. The software realistically shows pneumatic and hydraulic controls in operation. This improves the design process and gives users new ways to follow a machine's life cycle on issues such as training, troubleshooting, and maintenance. Libraries in the software hold many symbols, so users need not draw the basic ones or those less frequently used. The software also helps construct new symbols such as a valve with an unusual spool configuration, using a component-builder utility. These symbols go beyond 2D schematics because they are linked to mathematics that describe operating characteristics used in simulations. New symbols can be dragged into a custom library for reuse and to share with others. Engineers build circuits by dragging and dropping components onto the workspace. Pressure and pilot lines extend from one symbol to the next to connect them.