n TECHNOLOGY SIEMENS HAS ANNOUNCED AN electrical design package that it claims is the first in the IEC market to incorporate electrical knowledge and standards expertise, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming research and complex manual work. The Electrical Designer software – a free addition to Siemens’TIA Selection Tool Cloud – simplifies main circuit design by selecting components automatically, verifying shortcircuits, sizing cables, and creating documentation in a single process. Siemens suggests that tasks that used to take hours, can now be done in less than half the time. The software also avoids errors, thus improving planning quality. “Electrical Designer is a quantum leap in electrical planning,” says Andreas Matthé, CEO of Electrical Products at Siemens Smart Infrastructure. “It’s the world's first browser-based tool to combine standards compliance, short-circuit analysis, and automatic dimensioning. It cuts planning time in half, eliminates errors, and provides specific standards knowledge. For us, this is the future of engineering.” According to Siemens, electrical planners often encounter limitations when designing electrical equipment for machines. A combination of caution and time pressures can result in them adopting old plans, including outdated or inefficient concepts. Frequently, it adds, mechanical design data and documents cannot be processed in the electrical design and have to be reworked. This offers enormous potential for savings and quality improvement. The new software selects the components for the complete main circuit automatically in accordance with IEC 60204-1, provides short-circuit verification, allows precise cable sizing, and creates the necessary documentation, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual calculations. Users can collaborate on projects via the cloud and always have access to the latest planning data. The software offers: n End-to-end short-circuit analysis It is “the first and only” electrical design tool to offer end-to-end verification of short-circuit resistance in accordance with IEC standards, from the individual load to the feed point in the machine. n Complete machine design instead of individual calculations If the software knows a machine’s loads, it selects suitable switchgear, controls and network components automatically, and generates parts lists and documentation. n Up-to-date knowledge of standards The software checks the requirements in the relevant standards (currently IEC 60204-1) automatically. n Cloud-based operation The browser-based software does not need installation or updates. It offers deviceindependent access at any time using the latest software, allowing easy project transfer, and helping users to halve planning times, increasing scalability. n Load limit testing and simulation Planners can simulate different short-circuit scenarios to adapt the electrical system to local grid conditions. Electrical Designer is available freeof-charge to all TIA Selection Tool Cloud users. www.siemens.com Siemens says electrical design software is ‘a quantum leap’ Wireless real-time servo control achieves 1ms cycle times over 100m January 2026 www.drivesncontrols.com 20 AT THE RECENT SPS exhibition in Germany, the Chinese industrial automation manufacturer Inovance previewed a real-time servo controller with built-in wireless communications. The Ino Air servo is aimed at cabinet-free automation applications using servomotors with integrated drives, as well as at servomotors mounted on rotating parts. The system is claimed to deliver microsecond-level synchronisation and a reliability figure of better than 99.99%, for smooth, accurate, repeatable performance. The built-in wireless communications offers flexibility, as well as easy installation and diagnostics. Inovance says it will slash the installed costs of machines because there are fewer components, and because the control wiring between servos and controls are much simpler, resulting in lower labour costs. The EtherCat-compatible servos has already been used in wireless labelling applications, eliminating hundreds of metres of cabling, and achieving 1ms bus cycle times and 1μs jitter over distances of up to 100m. At, SPS, Inovance was also demonstrating its MD630 AC drive that made its debut at the previous year’s exhibition, as well as its SV680N single-axis servodrive with Fail Safe over EtherCat (FSoE), and the matching MS1 servomotor, which has a battery-less encoder. The company also demonstrated an articulated robot. “We plan to continue expanding our range of both wired and wireless solutions to remain at the forefront of technological innovation,” says Marcus Finkbeiner, leader of Inovance’s German business. Inovance is a $5.2bn industrial automation group with headquarters in Shenzhen, China. Its portfolio includes AC drives, servos, PLCs, motion controllers, HMIs, I/Os, CNCs, industrial robots, and associated software. www.inovance.eu Siemens new software offers standards-compliant dimensioning of electrical equipment from switchgear to cables
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