E-CAD How Copilot Boosts Electrical Design

Related Vendors

WSCAD GmbH

FAULHABER Drive Systems

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

Artificial intelligence is making its way into electrical design: With Electrix AI, WSCAD has introduced an E-CAD solution that optimizes existing processes and makes the work easier for electrical designers.

Enormous time savings and significant simplifications to design steps: that's what the recently introduced AI Electrix solution from WSCAD promises. At the heart of the innovations is the AI Copilot—a small round switch button with three yellow stars and a subsequent chat field. It brings AI directly into everyday work: a single click, a simple input—and the software responds to voice or text commands, checks designs, corrects errors, and adapts individually to the user's needs.

Operation via voice command

Projects are analyzed in seconds, material lists are created at the push of a button, and macros are placed effortlessly. The AI Copilot thus becomes the interface for a new dimension of electrical design—simple to handle, precise, fast, and efficient. Via the configuration menu, users can choose whether they want to save learning results locally, on the company network, in the cloud, or not at all. The AI Copilot is enabled by default and can be disabled if necessary.

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Instead of having to tediously search for functions or go through click marathons through menu structures, occasional users and experts simply tell the new AI Copilot what they want. A simple "Do this" suffices, and the AI Copilot delivers the desired results and answers in just a few seconds. Here are some examples:

• Generating Material Lists: How many clicks are required to generate a material list from a circuit diagram? In a specific example project, 10 clicks were needed with the current WSCAD Electrix version without AI Copilot. Using the AI Copilot, the entire process requires just a single click plus the input "Create a material list" in the command line. In the specific example, the material list was generated 92 percent faster with Electrix AI compared to the software from competitors. A fraction of the previous time spent and over a day of construction work, it represents a significant time saving that the designer can use for more meaningful activities.

• Placing Macros: When multiple macros need to be placed, they no longer have to be manually searched for and inserted into the circuit diagram. Simply give a command to the AI Copilot specifying the macros to be placed, and the AI Copilot does the rest in a few seconds. Specific example: Enter the command "Place the macros CPU, PLC-DA, PLC-DE, PLC Potentials on a new page" in the AI Copilot. In the test, the process of setting the four macros took 15 seconds—compared to five minutes with traditional execution. Thus, the AI-supported process was 95 percent faster than before.

• Generating: A highlight of the Copilot is the ability to duplicate components. If a specific component is needed 12 times in the schematic, the command for the AI Copilot would be: "Find component XY and place it 12 times in the schematic." The relevant component is instantly searched for and displayed. If multiple are found, select one, then press "generate." The component is then placed 12 times in the schematic, including connections and markings. Or "Create a page with three power converters." The relevant power converters are searched for, the designer selects, presses "generate," and the schematic page is created. Need a terminal plan? Simply ask the AI Copilot again: "Create the terminal plan," and it is done.

For experts and occasional users

Experts usually know what they want and what to do. They use the AI Copilot to enter multiple commands, and in no time, the job is done. Even complex commands are executed in seconds—for example: "Place the macros CPU, PLC-DA, PLC-DE, PLC Potentials on a new page," followed by "Then create the material list with part numbers, quantity, and manufacturer," and finally "Create the terminal plan last and tell me in which project I have used component XYZ." All this now happens in just a few seconds.

But even casual users, who are less familiar with the software and its menu structure, use the AI Copilot, for example, with the question: "How can I turn the snap on and off?" Or "Place macro XY on page ZZ," and the subcircuit is immediately placed on that page. As a result, both casual users and experts can achieve time savings of over 90 percent.

Finds errors in the project

When a new project is assembled, for example via cut & paste from already existing projects, it may happen that the adaptation of one detail or another is overlooked. In this case, and of course after every construction, a correction run can now be started, and the software creates a checklist with irregularities. With the simple command "Find the errors in this project," the AI Copilot analyzes the entire schematic and identifies issues such as missing assignments, open connections, or symbols without assigned articles, or main elements that do not have assigned sub-elements.

Answers technical questions

Whether it's wire cross-section, material selection, or specific project details—Electrix AI knows the answers. What wire cross-section is needed for a 64-A copper conductor or perhaps an aluminum conductor instead? Instead of looking it up, simply click on the relevant wire in the schematic and say, "Give me a copper wire, color dark blue, 24 V DC, and 64 A," and a blue wire with a cross-section of 16 mm² will be attached to the mouse cursor.

Or if you're looking for a component that you've used in a project before, just a command in the command line suffices and the AI Copilot provides the name of the project and the date of the last modification.