As we strive to outsource as much as possible to technology in the effort to be more efficient, productive and accurate, when it comes to designing hydraulic manifolds it is a question which part of the design process to hand over to a machine and which requires a human touch. Manifold expert, and HydroMan and HydroSym user Michael Carson of deltaP Systems in Australia sheds some light on the subject.
HydroMan Software for Hydraulic Manifold Design – Review by deltaP
Why would you want your manifold packed by a monkey?
by Michael Carson
Principal at deltaP Systems, the Hydraulic and Controls Systems specialists.
Well, that might be a little rough (on monkeys), though the hydraulic manifold business has a new buzz that is easy to get caught up in. Computer Automated Design.
Great concept, yet many people, not just the practiced one tied to a design desk ‘enter the requirements’ and voila, packed by a monkey. Out comes the design, including a schematic and model.
Sounds great, however, my colleague tells me he often needs to “run the monkey” six or more times before an acceptable “voila”. Yes, this is quick for a one cartridge design, however realistically four hours or more passes. So, the ‘ voila’ moment can take several days, and the schematic and manifold layout isn’t at all refined, unlike the human touch we are used to in logical fashion.
When deltaP’s engineering team evaluated the make for a schematic and manifold design tool, we looked deeper at what was driving this push. The conclusion was that the manual version is both too complex and expensive to have enough highly practiced engineers, high performance computer workstations, restrictive license servers and collaboration tools. So rather than fix the problem, pack them with a monkey!
Software created specifically for hydraulic design
Marc Paro and the team at Paro Software started fresh, designed and built an elegant and light weight dedicated solution to Schematic design and transfer to Manifold Design in a way that most hydraulic guys can learn easily, that doesn’t require a high horsepower workstation, and hosts a flexible license server to provide opportunity to many.
The real strength behind the concept is that the schematic, specification, datasheet, cavity, valve 3D file library is huge and growing every day. Paro actively encourages requests to add components for free. Almost any screw in, slip in, gasket mounted, accessory as it becomes standardized and available to all through the online library. So not only is the start-up learning curve quick, so is the technical library that for some is weeks or months of work.
Automatically generate intelligent Bill of Materials, integrate with PDM/ERP
Having the library’s details also allows the schematic to automatically generate Intelligent Bill of Material, including integration with PDM/ERP software. So, the pricing is pulled from your costing systems, and BOM’s are pushed to work instructions.
HydroMan’s dual view for easy visualization
HydroMan’s “dual view” of the manifold design is clean, easy to visualize and navigate. The checklist helps produce flawless results. The assistance tools encourage design for the less frequent, however for the practiced user, the extensive option of shortcut keys allow design at a speed level I’ve not experienced before.
When the 3D design is complete, then HydroMan can “push” the manifold design, and components to most any 3D modelling software to automatically be assembled and prepared for the client. For deltaP, based on our requirement for “cloud flexibility” and easy customer collaboration, the answer is easy, Onshape is the 3D design environment of the future and ideal for assembling all the components with the manifold to deliver the system.
Economical pay by month subscription model
Commercially, outright purchase or pay by the month with the license sharing make this easy for management signoff. If would like to know more about the premium hydraulic schematic and manifold design tool, or you’re not happy with the innovation or price from your current supplier for delivery anywhere in the world, please contact me at deltaP (that’s shorthand for Hydraulic Control) on mikec(at)deltaPsystems.com.au or dial +61 409 711148
About deltaP
“Hydraulically Focused” multi-disciplined mechatronic engineering company focusing on the mobile, marine, mining and industrial Hydraulics sectors, with parallel product sales and systems solutions based activities. DeltaP provide “engineered to order” OEM solutions. Contact deltaP experts HERE
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HydroMan is clear, efficient and very user-friendly. With HydroMan you will design quickly while the changes of mistakes is very small. HydroMan is a complete 3D software package for the design of complex as well as simple hydraulic manifolds.