CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
17 September 2013
Product News
EMA Automates 3D STEP Models with EDABuilder Library Automation Solution
EMA Design Automation (ema-eda.com), a full-service provider of electrical and mechanical CAD tools, announced EMA EDABuilder® 3.0 with 3D STEP model automation. “Engineering models represent a constant challenge for PCB designers,” said Manny Marcano, president and CEO of EMA. “EDABuilder introduces an innovative approach for automating the complete library process flow. Starting with the data sheet and the industry’s most advanced PDF data sheet extraction, schematic symbols and PCB footprints are created in a fraction of the time. With the introduction of the 3D STEP modeling and automation of the mechanical models, EDABuilder provides a complete library automation solution.”
This approach enables customers to take advantage of a “single data sheet input source” for both automation and verification between the mechanical and electrical models. Consistency and verification insures a complete and validated set of engineering models for both the electrical and mechanical engineers. With the industry-standard STEP format and schematic symbols, and PCB footprints exported in multiple EDA formats, customers will realize the competitive advantage of EDABuilder, which supports the wide range of customer owned CAD system exports.
PCB footprint automation is supported across the full range of component families including 100% of surface mount parts defined in IPC-7351 as well as commonly used through-hole parts, and all have 3D model generation capabilities.
The process, driven by rules, settings, and form entered component dimensioning, accurately builds both PCB footprints and the 3D STEP models in a consistent and repetitive process. Users enter via the forms the PCB component dimensioning using the IPC-7351 or recommended manufacturer dimensioning. The mechanical dimensioning is entered on the same forms and displayed on both the front and side mechanical views.
Mapping and scaling is performed automatically based on the component type to an embedded 3D template. Using this template technology, fine levels of granularity and details are achieved. The 3D STEP models can be imported directly into the mechanical design tools, where additional details, graphics, or corporate styles may be applied. They may also be exported directly into Cadence® Allegro® and OrCAD® PCB Editors with origins, offsets, and alignments automatically assigned.
EDABuilder 3.0 includes a number of other enhancements including the ability to import symbol and footprint libraries from a number of popular schematic and PCB editing tools. This allows comparison between a schematic symbol and a PCB footprint to verify consistency between the components. Making these comparisons ahead of time helps engineers and designers find library problems earlier in the design process, reducing change costs and time.
“Providing the capability to create so many different 3D STEP models automatically will be a big help for any designer that wants to view a PCB design in 3D,” said Keith Felton, Product Marketing Group Director, Cadence Design Systems. “It also helps the MCAD team to start their work with a 3D board populated with correct models.”
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