CoDesigner的新功能

 

Altium's MCAD CoDesigner technology connects the mechanical and electrical design domains, allowing the mechanical and electronic engineers to pass the loaded PCB back and forth between the two domains.

In your Altium design software, this is achieved through an extension that loads and extracts board and component data from the PCB editor, the MCAD CoDesigner extension. In the MCAD software the Altium CoDesigner Add-in performs the same function, loading and extracting board and component data from the MCAD software.

The ECAD and the MCAD software pass design changes through an Altium Workspace, which can be hosted in the cloud on Altium 365, or on your company network using an Altium On-Prem Enterprise Server. The Workspace acts as a bridge, with both the ECAD and MCAD software connecting to it. The Workspace holds the board and component data, allowing the ECAD and MCAD engineers to continue to work autonomously, Pulling and Pushing their changes when they are ready.

  • The updates are listed in reverse order on this page - you'll find the latest updates at the top of the page.
  • The videos on this page demonstrate CoDesigner features using Altium Designer. The process of CoDesigning between other Altium design clients and your MCAD software is essentially the same.
  • For the latest announcements and engaging conversation, head on over to the MCAD CoDesigner forum.
  • Refer to the Note in the right-hand pane for information on which features will be available in your installation of MCAD CoDesigner.
 
 
 
 
 

Supported Versions

CoDesigner is under continuous development, this page outlines the changes made in each version. Because the CoDesigner extension and Add-ins can be updated separately from the update cycle of your Altium design software, this page also includes information about supported versions of Altium software, as well as the supported versions of MCAD software.

Download and install the version of the Add-in you require for your MCAD software from the MCAD CoDesigner Plugins section on the Altium Downloads page.


New in CoDesigner 3.7.0

Released: 7 February 2024 – Version 3.7.0 Hot Fix for Autodesk Fusion 360
Released: 26 January 2024 – Version 3.7.0 Hot Fix (MCAD CoDesigner extension change to version 3.7.0.2033)
Released: 17 January 2024 – Version 3.7.0 

Feature Highlights

The 3.7 update to MCAD CoDesigner brings support for transferring countersink and counterbore definitions between ECAD and MCAD. It also sees the introduction of support for transferring the ECAD Route Tool Path to MCAD, where it becomes an extruded cut. The transfer of project parameters has also been improved, as well as the support for harness definitions. There are also a number of ECAD-MCAD component-linking improvements for MCAD engineers working with Siemens NX.   

Transfer Project and Variant Parameters from ECAD to MCAD

In ECAD, user-defined parameters allow the designer to include critical information precisely where it is needed. This update to CoDesigner brings support for transferring:

  • ECAD project-level parameters to the MCAD PCB assembly
  • ECAD variant-level parameters to the specific MCAD PCB variant assembly 1
  • ECAD multi-board assembly parameters to the MCAD device assembly 2
  • ECAD harness project parameters to the MCAD harness assembly

1 Not supported by Autodesk Inventor
2 Multi-board assemblies are currently supported in CoDesigner for SOLIDWORKS and PTC Creo.

ECAD parameters are now transferred to MCAD properties, for the board, variants, harnesses, and Multi-board assemblies.ECAD parameters are now transferred to MCAD properties, for the board, variants, harnesses, and Multi-board assemblies.

Transfer CounterSink and Counterbore Holes to MCAD

CoDesigner now synchronizes Countersink and Counterbore holes between ECAD and MCAD, in both directions. If the 3D Copper option is enabled in MCAD, the precise geometry of copper is built for these holes (note that CoDesigner for Autodesk Fusion 360 does not support building 3D Copper at this stage).

Countersink and counterbore holes can be transferred between ECAD and MCAD.Countersink and counterbore holes can be transferred between ECAD and MCAD.

Transfer the ECAD Route Tool Path to MCAD

A popular technique for removing each board from its fabrication panel is to mechanically route a cutout around the edge of the PCB. In Altium Designer, this is defined as a Route Tool Path, created as a continuous path of tracks and arcs on the mechanical Route Tool Path layer. CoDesigner now supports transferring the ECAD Route Tool Path entity to MCAD, where it is represented as an extruded cut. If that entity is changed in MCAD, it is transferred back to ECAD as a board cutout.

The ECAD route tool path becomes a series of extruded cuts in MCAD.The ECAD route tool path becomes a series of extruded cuts in MCAD.

Siemens NX - Improved Component Linking

Component Linking allows the MCAD and ECAD engineers to each use native component models on their instance of the board design, by mapping references to each other's models in the Altium Workspace. Learn more about Linking MCAD and ECAD Design Components.

MCAD to ECAD Linking

MCAD model to ECAD footprint linking is defined by mapping an MCAD model property to an ECAD component parameter in your Altium Workspace. Previously, CoDesigner could only map ECAD parameters to a single Category of NX model Properties, limiting the options for component linking. With this release, CoDesigner now supports defining both the Teamcenter Category and the Property in the MCAD model property used for mapping and recognition field in the Workspace.

The format is: <CategoryName>::<PropertyName>

The linking Teamcenter Category and Property are mapped in the Workspace settings, using the syntax &lt;CategoryName&gt;::&lt;PropertyName&gt;.The linking Teamcenter Category and Property are mapped in the Workspace settings, using the syntax <CategoryName>::<PropertyName>.

ECAD to MCAD Linking

During pull into MCAD, CoDesigner can be configured to search the MCAD data management system for an MCAD model of that name. If native ECAD-to-MCAD component linkage is used in Siemens NX, the MCAD component reference must be defined in the ECAD component parameter so that it includes the Teamcenter path, with the parameter value in the form:

:root_TC_folder:subfolder1:subfolder12:model_name

The 3.7 update to CoDesigner improves this, adding support for mapping to the Teamcenter Part Identifier. If the ECAD component parameter value does not start with the : character, CoDesigner assumes that the parameter value is the Teamcenter Part Identifier, and will search Teamcenter for a part with that identifier. 

The ECAD component parameter can now be configured to search for the Teamcenter Part Identifier.The ECAD component parameter can now be configured to search for the Teamcenter Part Identifier.

Siemens NX - Support for Custom Template Configuration and Attributes

CoDesigner now supports custom configurations for templates with Siemens NX, which can include mandatory parameters with (or without) project properties. This is done through the template_parameters_mapping.xml configuration XML file. This feature works for assembly or part creation where a template is used.

  • The configuration file is located in C:\Program Files\Siemens\<NXversion>\ALTIUM_CODESIGNER folder.
  • Note that Units are not managed by the configuration XML, this setting is configured in the Altium CoDesigner Settings dialog.

Learn more about the XML configuration file

Support for Twisted Pairs in Harness Design

When you use CoDesigner to synchronize a Harness project between ECAD and MCAD, CoDesigner now synchronizes Twisted Pairs with MCAD as Cables, and calculates the physical length of wires considering the Twists per Unit Length and Thickness properties defined in the ECAD Twist object.

The Twists per Unit Length and Thickness are defined as parameters of the ECAD harness Twist object.The Twists per Unit Length and Thickness are defined as parameters of the ECAD harness Twist object.

The untwisted length of wire is calculated as:

Wire Length (untwisted) = Turn Length x Number of Turns

where:

  • Number of Turns = Twists per Unit Length * Cable Length
    • Twists per Unit Length = number of twists per unit length of cable, defined as a parameter of the ECAD Twist object
  • Turn Length = sqrt((Twist Pitch)^2 + (pi*Thickness)^2)
    • Twist Pitch = 1 / Twists per Unit Length
    • Thickness = outer diameter of the twisted pair, defined as a parameter of the ECAD Twist object

Learn more about Synchronizing a Harness Design Project (available for PTC Creo and SOLIDWORKS)

Versions Supported by CoDesigner 3.7.0

  • Altium Designer 24.0 (or higher) with MCAD CoDesigner extension version 3.7.0.2033
  • CoDesigner 3.4 (and higher) is not available for Altium NEXUS Client, CoDesigner 3.3.0 is the latest version.
  • CoDesigner 3.x is not available for Altium CircuitMaker; CoDesigner 2.10 is the latest version.

This update has been tested on the following MCAD platforms and Add-in versions:

MCAD Version MCAD Add-In Version
Autodesk Fusion 360® (Note 1) 3.7.0.7
Autodesk Inventor Professional® - versions 2022, 2023, 2024 3.7.0.6
Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKS® - versions 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 3.7.0.9
PTC Creo Parametric® - 7.X, 8.X, 9.X, 10.X 3.7.0.12
Siemens NX® - version 1953 - 2312 (Note 2) 3.7.0.22

Notes:

  1. Altium CircuitMaker only supports Autodesk Fusion 360.
  2. Siemens NX is only available to designers as part of an Altium Enterprise Solution. Note that newer versions of Siemens NX may show a warning that the difference between the current version and the signed version is too great. Siemens NX has been tested up to v.2312, this warning can be ignored. Alternatively, the Show Warning when Loading option in the Customer Defaults dialog in Siemens NX, can be disabled (show image).

Release Notes for CoDesigner 3.7.0 Hot Fix for Autodesk Fusion 360

Release Notes for CoDesigner 3.7.0 Hot Fix

Release Notes for CoDesigner 3.7.0


New in CoDesigner 3.6.0

Released: 2 November 2023 – Version 3.6.0


New in CoDesigner 3.5.0

Released: 17 August 2023 – Version 3.5.0 – Hot Fix (no change to Altium Designer CoD extension)
Released: 27 July 2023 – Version 3.5.0


New in CoDesigner 3.4.0

Released: 29 May 2023 – Version 3.4.0.1859 – Hot Fix for GovCloud
Released: 10 April 2023 – Version 3.4.0.1792 – Hot Fix

Released: 23 March 2023 – Version 3.4.0


New in CoDesigner 3.3.0

Released: 21 December 2022 – Version 3.3.0

There are no new features included in this release.


New in CoDesigner 3.2.0

Released: 17 November 2022 – Version 3.2.0


New in CoDesigner 3.1.0

Released: 4 October 2022 – Version 3.1.0


New in CoDesigner 3.0.0

Released: 18 July 2022 – Version 3.0.0


New in CoDesigner 2.10.0

Released: 25 May 2022 – Version 2.10.0


New in CoDesigner 2.9.0

Released: 22 Mar 2022 – Version 2.9.0


New in CoDesigner 2.8.0

Released: 8 February 2022 – Version 2.8.0.6 - Update for Autodesk Fusion 360
Released: 18 January 2022 – Version 2.8.0.4 - Hot Fix for SOLIDWORKS
Released: 29 December 2021 – Version 2.8.0

There are no new features included in this release.


New in CoDesigner 2.7.0

Released: 19 November 2021 – Version 2.7.0


New in CoDesigner 2.6.0

Released: 3 September 2021 – Version 2.6.0


New in CoDesigner 2.5.0

Released: 13 July 2021 – Version 2.5.0


New in CoDesigner 2.4.0

Released: 12 May 2021 – Version 2.4.0


New in CoDesigner 2.3.0

Released: 22 March 2021 – Version 2.3.0


New in CoDesigner 2.2.0

Released: 13 Jan 2021 – Version 2.2.0


New in CoDesigner 2.1.0

Released: 20 Nov 2020 – Version 2.1.0


New in CoDesigner 2.0.5

Released: 18 Sep 2020 – Version 2.0.5


New in CoDesigner 2.0.4

Released: 24 June 2020 – Version 2.0.4


New in CoDesigner 2.0.3

Released: 22 May 2020 – Version 2.0.3

 

可用的功能取决于您的 Altium Designer 软件订阅级别

Content