May 2008 - ProSTEP iViP Recommendation for ECAD/MCAD Collaboration - Facilitating Interdisciplinary Cooperation in Mechatronics Engineering
May 2008 - Darmstadt - The integration of mechanical and electronic components plays an increasingly important role in the manufacturing industry. In practice, the development of such mechatronic parts most frequently happens with different CAD-tools (ECAD and MCAD) in completely separate engineering domains. The now released data schema and communication protocol for ECAD/MCAD collaboration (ProSTEP iViP Recommendation ECAD/MCAD, PSI 5), bridges the gaps between these two domains.
Traditionally, data exchange between ECAD and MCAD engineers has been cumbersome with large amounts of data transfer which can inhibit collaboration on a number of issues including IP security and time constraints. With the new data model, ECAD and MCAD engineers can collaborate within their own native environments over incremental changes enabling better design optimization and impact analysis. This level of collaboration will not only allow users to save time and costs, but also improves product design through the study of the effects of changes and how to maximize design opportunities.
The concept of facilitating interdisciplinary cooperation was first raised by Henry Potts, Vice President and General Manager of Mentor Graphics Systems Design Division, at the 2005 ProSTEP iViP Symposium. According to Mr. Potts, "With increasingly complex designs, existing methodologies are no longer sufficient for the modern development process. With the new collaboration model, it is now possible to exchange system-specific data in a neutral format. In addition, it directly supports the process of interdisciplinary cooperation and the synchronization of the tasks within the respective native CAD environments to facilitate accelerated time-to-market and enable more design freedom."
The XML-based data model used for the ProSTEP ECAD/MCAD Collaboration solution was developed from the concrete cooperation between domain experts in PCB (Printed Circuit Board) and Mechanical design. The data model will continue to build on the ISO 10303 AP210 and AP214 (STEP) standards. Another benefit of the ECAD/MCAD Collaboration model is its openness. It not only allows copying-in direct interfaces between development systems, but also enables realizations within service-oriented architectures (SOA).
The cooperation between users and system vendors (a key initiative of the ProSTEP iViP Association) in the Project Group ECAD/MCAD Collaboration also ensures the implementation of the data schema in software systems and therewith, a prompt realization. The release of first applications ready for the market from Mentor Graphics, Parametric Technologies (PTC), and other vendors, can be expected this year.
