30 November 2001, Fast and accurate checking of printed circuit board (PCB) placement within a mechanical enclosure is provided by CADSTAR 3D, a design solution derived from Zuken's Electromechanical design tools.

Aimed at PCB and mechanical design engineers who need to validate the interaction between electrical/electronic components and mechanical components/enclosures, CADSTAR 3D enables designers to view the heights of all components and see potential overlap problems that could occur in manufacture. It also highlights potential placement sequences. Mechanical enclosure data can be imported directly for easy identification of potential placement errors and placement of mechanical components mounted on the enclosure, such as switches, connectors, and fans. CADSTAR 3D is compatible with most mechanical design file types including ACIS, STL, SAT and STEP AP203.

Interactivity means that component placement errors can be quickly and easily cleared, modifications then being transferred back to the PCB design system for final processing. Adherence to design rules can be checked without the user having to access the mechanical design system. The need to create 'right-first-time' placement to avoid unnecessary design iterations is driving demand for solutions that include 3D checking. Eliminating mechanical clashes early in the design process means that design changes can be tested before financial commitments to enclosures are made. As the use of custom enclosures often involves high tooling costs, so early 3D checking can help avoid expensive errors.

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Note to editors:

Zuken is one of the world's leading providers of professional software solutions for the design of PCB/MCM/IC packages and systems. These advanced tool sets facilitate schematic capture, placement, routing and analysis, and manufacture and test. Used by the world's top 30 electronic product manufacturers, the solutions operate under both UNIX and Microsoft Windows. Zuken is the market sector leader in Japan and has offices throughout Europe and the USA. It is a global organisation employing over 1000 people and the company is listed on Level 1 of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
For more information, visit http://www.zuken.com.