Streamline Model-Based Harness Design for Complex PCB Systems

Designing complex PCB systems is challenging when multiple boards interact, harness requirements are intricate, and collaboration should be seamless. Engineers frequently juggle various tools and processes that create bottlenecks within their workflows. Altium Designer, coupled with Altium 365, flips this on its head by consolidating PCB, multi-board, and harness design into one fluent solution. This blog explains how this integration makes model-based harness design more straightforward and shifts how engineers approach complex systems.

Why Model-Based Harness Design Matters?

The harness design is vital to PCBs' functionality and reliability since their complexity and interconnectivity are growing. A well-designed harness means proper connectivity and ensures no expensive-to-produce mistakes during manufacturing and assembly. The challenge, though, is to manage how the harness design interacts with other factors like PCB layouts and multi-board systems without these processes being supported by disparate tools.

What Is Model-Based Harness Design?

The model-based design is creating, in the fullest sense digitally, the complete wiring harness system from schematics through the physical layout. This, among other benefits, is the assurance of valid connectivity; therefore, validation of the connection with all documentation generated right from the model and with absolute completeness of accuracy. Conversely, there can be a traditional approach many still adopt that involves a lot of creation by hand using disparate tools to create one component for the first step in designing a given entity of the harness. In a model-based harness design, this process links all the information together with elements of the harness within an overall system.

Key benefits include:

• Improved Accuracy: Automatic error-checking ensures that all the connections meet the system requirements.
• Faster Development: The interlinking of the logical and physical designs enables smooth propagation of updates throughout the system.
• Less Complex Manufacturing: Detailed, automatically generated documentation reduces errors in the production phase.

The Pain Points of the Traditional Design Approaches

Traditional design workflows for PCBs, multi-board systems, and harnesses use separate tools, which makes the process disconnected and prone to errors. Engineers often switch between software, update designs manually, and manage collaboration.

Common pain points include:

• Fragmented Tools: Users jump between software for PCBs, multi-board systems, and harnesses, causing inefficiency and errors.
• Limited Collaboration: Outdated or siloed design files make life tough for remote teams.
• Error-Prone Processes: Updates from the manual process across various platforms increase the likelihood of mismatched connectivity and invalid designs.

Altium Designer: All-In-One Solution for Your Needs in PCB and Harness Design

Altium Designer eliminates these problems by providing a single environment for PCB, multi-board, and harness design. It lets engineers design a single board or a multi-PCB system while being confident that every aspect of their design is current and error-free.

Main features include:

• Logical-to-Physical Workflows: Seamlessly move from Multiboard Schematic to Wiring Diagrams and physical harness layouts.
• Connectivity Validation: Check and validate the connections between PCBs and harnesses, thus saving time by reducing errors.
• Dynamic Synchronization: Automatically propagate updates from logical to physical designs, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors.
• Production-Ready Documentation: Generate Wiring Diagrams, Layout Designs, BOMs, and assembly instructions directly from the design, simplifying manufacturing and reducing turnaround times.

Improve Collaboration with Altium 365

Today, collaboration in engineering knows no borders. Altium 365 amplifies the functionality of Altium Designer to include real-time collaboration, secure access to files, robust version control, how teams collaborate effortlessly, and ensuring all project stakeholders are on the same page.

Other benefits of collaboration include:

• Cloud Workspace: Allows design files to be kept secure and accessible from any device.
• Real-Time Feedback: Share designs with your team for comments and approvals instantly.
• Versioning Control: Keep track of the changes in design and, if necessary, revert to earlier versions.

The Integrated Advantage for Complex Systems

The combination of Altium Designer and Altium 365 unlocks a new dimension in PCB and harness design, providing engineers with a unified environment to streamline their workflow. By consolidating all design elements into one platform, engineers can focus on innovation rather than juggling multiple tools and processes. Automated workflows reduce errors and ensure consistency, while collaborative features let teams work seamlessly from anywhere in the world.

Key advantages:

• Efficiency: All design elements are combined into a single solution, maintaining a streamlined workflow.
• Accuracy: Automated checks run smoothly, minimizing errors and ensuring consistency.
• Scalability: Projects ranging from single-board to multi-board interconnected systems are achievable.
• Collaboration: Teams remain synchronized, even when working across different locations and time zones.

Application Across Industries

This integration is highly suitable for industries involving precision and complexity. It is very applicable in aerospace, automotive, and industrial automation.

Use cases include the following:

• Aerospace: Lead harness design activities for advanced avionics.
• Automotive: Simplify the wiring and connectivity in Electric vehicles and Autonomous vehicles. 
• Industrial Automation: Providing perfect communication between control systems and machinery.

Revolutionize Your Design Workflow

Altium Designer and Altium 365 are not the only means to perform your design; these two provide solutions for engineers who confront some of the most puzzling challenges in modern PCB systems. This tool enables teams to offer unparalleled innovation and collaboration and deliver error-free designs through a seamless, unified PCB, multi-board, and harness design process. 

Ready to take your workflow to a whole new level? Experience the power of wire harness design in Altium Designer and take advantage of the collaboration features of Altium 365!