Systems, methods, and software for automated design and manufacturing of HVAC control panels
The present inventors devised, among other things, systems, methods, and software that radically simplify and reduce the time necessary to specify, design, manufacture, and document control panels and wiring harnesses for semi-custom and custom equipment, such as HVAC equipment. One exemplary system includes a computerized product configuration module that defines product family parameters from user input and outputs a product family data structure, for example, a coded character string, to a technical design module. The technical design module, which incorporates engineering design rules for control panels and wiring modules, automatically processes the coded character string, outputting detailed engineering drawings, component listings, and even assembly instructions to robotic manufacturing equipment. The exemplary system dramatic reduces the product specification and engineering time required for any custom control panel and makes it possible for OEMs to efficiently offering more options and shorter turn-around times to its customers.
1. A system comprising:
means, including at least one processor coupled to a memory, for receiving input from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), defining specifications for a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) product family;
means, responsive to the received input from the manufacturer and including at least one processor coupled to a memory and a display device, for enabling the OEM to select options for the HVAC product family;
means, responsive to the selected options, for automatically defining at least one HVAC control panel electrical schematic;
means, responsive to the at least one electrical schematic and including at least one processor coupled to a memory, for defining an HVAC control panel mechanical layout; and
means, responsive to data from the at least one HVAC control panel electrical schematic, for defining a bill of materials and outputting pricing information for manufacture of an HVAC control panel.
2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
means, responsive to electrical and mechanical design data from the at least one electrical schematic for automatically operating at least one piece of computer-controlled machinery for producing at least a portion of the HVAC control panel.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one piece of computer-controlled machinery includes a wiring machine.
4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one piece of computer-controlled machinery includes a laser cutter or milling machine.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for ordering parts and scheduling manufacturing based on the at least one electrical schematic.
6. A system comprising:
means, including at least one processor coupled to a memory, for receiving input from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), defining specifications for a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) product family;
means, responsive to the received input from the manufacturer and including at least one processor coupled to a memory and a display device, for enabling the OEM to select options for the HVAC product family; and
means, responsive to the selected options, for automatically defining at least one HVAC control panel electrical schematic;
wherein the means, responsive to the selected options, for automatically defining at least one HVAC control panel electrical schematic, comprises:
means for storing computer aid design (CAD) macros for a computer aided design tool; and
means for storing CAD macro attributes separate from the CAD macros, wherein one or more of the CAD macros are logically associated with at least two CAD macro attributes;
wherein each of the CAD macro attributes is associated with an HVAC product family, and
wherein the system further comprises:
means, responsive to the HVAC product family and to one or more of the selected options, for retrieving one or more CAD macros; and
means, responsive to the HVAC product family and to one or more of the selected options, for retrieving CAD macro attributes separate from the retrieved CAD macros;
wherein the means, responsive to the selected options, for automatically defining at least one HVAC control panel electrical schematic defines the schematic based on one or more of the retrieved CAD macros and the separately retrieved CAD macro attributes.