RhinoElectric 26.10 – Cabinets in 3D, single-line diagrams, wire colours

[tahirhan]

Dear All,

If you design machines, boats, tiny houses or buildings in Rhino, the electrical side usually means a second CAD tool, a second model to keep in sync, and a parts list typed by hand. RhinoElectric keeps that work inside Rhino. Here is what has been added since the June update (current version 26.10.1).

1. Cabinet layouts, straight to 3D

Draw the enclosure, wiring ducts, DIN rails, devices, terminal strips and name plates in real millimetres, at any drawing scale. The parts list is collected from the layout itself, and eGenerateCabinet3D turns the same layout into solids with the doors swung open. The drawing, the parts list and the 3D model always agree.

Commands: eDrawCabinet, eDrawDuct, eDrawInstallationRail, eInsertCabinetDevice, eDrawTerminalStrip, eInsertNamePlate, eCabinetPartsList, eGenerateCabinet3D

2. Wires that know their phase

Draw a wire from a busbar and it takes that phase’s colour right away. The colour carries on through breakers, switches, fuses, contacts and terminals down to the load, so you can see at a glance which phase feeds which device. For drawings made with an older version, eColorWires colours everything in one go. This feature came straight from a user request.

3. Single-line diagrams

• eDrawBusway for bus duct runs
• A feeder schedule with feeder tags: eFeederSchedule, eAddFeederTag, eDrawFeederSchedule
• eGenerateSingleLineDiagram builds a linked one-line view from your connected symbols
• A One-Line Diagram category in the symbol library

Full walkthrough, from an empty file to a finished sheet:

Draw a Complete Single Line Diagram in Rhino 3D | RhinoElectric

Smaller improvements

• eDrawWire adds T-nodes and line corners by itself where a wire taps into another wire or bends
• eEditSymbol edits several symbols at once
• Ctrl rotates a symbol while you insert it, Shift places it off the grid
• Cable specification text in eAddWireInfo

Getting started

1. Download RhinoElectric from food4rhino or the website
2. Load it in Rhino and enter your email and company name to start the free trial
3. Type eHelp to see every command with a short description

The goal is one Rhino file from schematic to single-line diagram to cabinet layout and 3D model. What should come next for your projects? Most of the features above started as a request, so feedback and feature requests are very welcome.

Kind Regards,

Tahirhan

[tahirhan]

Dear All,

A short follow-up to 26.10 with three changes for working with symbols.

1. Match the pin pitch with eScaleSymbol

The library symbols are not all drawn at the same pin pitch, so a residual current device placed under a switch can have its pins a few millimetres off, and the wires between them end up crooked or drawn by hand. eScaleSymbol scales a symbol about its first pin until its pins line up with its neighbours: type the pin pitch you want, pick it off the drawing with two points, or let Grid put every pin on the drawing grid. Pins that now line up are wired automatically in their phase colours, and the label and pin texts keep their size.

2. Move, Rotate, Scale and Mirror keep labels, pin texts and wires

Moving a symbol with Rhino’s own commands used to delete its label, pin numbers and wires. Now they come along: the texts move with the symbol, and the wires stretch to stay on their pins, keeping their colour, number and wire data. Undo puts everything back.

3. The gumball too

Dragging a symbol with the gumball now works the same way: it moves, turns or scales exactly as you drag it, with everything attached. Dragging the symbol itself still drops it on the grid by its first pin and re-docks its wires, as before.

Download from food4rhino or the website. Feedback and requests are very welcome, here or at info@rhinoelectricplugin.com.

Kind Regards,

Tahirhan