Virtual Systems Engineering (VSE) focuses on software for visualizing, coordinating, and integrating various aspects of printed-circuit-board (PCB) design and analysis.
- Capabilities that fit seamlessly into customers’ workflow
- Products that are both easy to use and capable of solving complex problems
- System integration for advanced manufacturing and PCB manufacturing
- Dedicated to customer service and innovative solutions
The flagship product is PREVIEW (Predictive Environment for the Visualization of Electromechanical Virtual Validation).
- A single platform for both mechanical and electrical engineers to evaluate and test their products using a common protocol
- A platform for system integration, useful for both technical analysts and high-level program managers.
- Enable data compatibility and analysis coordination/visualization
- Reduce circuit board costs, prototype development cycles, and physical validation testing for PCB manufacturers
- Improve efficiency and time to market for PCB design and fabrication
- Reduce design and manufacturing costs
Responding to Industry Challenges
With today’s increasing rate of technological advancement and adoption, electronics manufacturers and PCB manufacturers in particular are simultaneously challenged to develop increasingly complex products over increasingly shorter development timelines. Creating virtual models of these products for testing and design significantly accelerates the development process. This increases quality and reduces time and costs required to bring products to market for custom PCB fabrication and assembly, custom PCB printing, and prototype PCB services.
PCB and printed circuit assemblies (PCAs) are widely used in all types of devices. Consequently, as devices that use electricity get “smarter”, they involve a growing number of circuit boards, so improving the PCB and PCA design process has a significant effect on the bottom line.
VSE is responding to industry challenges…
- modeling and simulation
- visualization
- product testing
- reliability analysis
- system integration
Implementation of integrated modeling-and-simulation capabilities can improve product performance, with the potential for an almost 50% reduction in cost and time, including a reduction in time to market in the design, development, testing, and deployment of PCAs. In addition, ManTech International, one of the United States’ government’s leading providers of technologies for national securities programs, issued a report that deficiencies in modeling and simulation can cost the Department of Defense as much as $70 billion per year.
Even with the advancements in modeling and simulation capabilities, visualizing and integrating mechanical CAD and electrical CAD in an intuitive 3D environment can be a challenge. Yet, component visualization is an increasingly significant component of the design process as well as the testing process.
PCB and PCA testing can comprise approximately 60% of labor costs for manufacturers. Consequently, the electronic design automation industry is moving toward the increased use of virtual testing as a means to save companies time and money. In fact, everything made by the nearly $1 trillion electronics industry involves use of EDA tools.
The life cycle of electronic parts averages approximately 5 years, but for avionics and military systems, electronic products can have warranties covering as many as 20 years. Thus, reliability is critical. Technologies are needed to support end-of-life evaluations of ubiquitous components, as well as prognostic evaluations to allow maintenance personnel to identify and resolve system failures quickly, thus ensuring continuity of service delivery.
One of the largest challenges to aligning information technology and operational technology is interoperability and data incompatibility. Imperfect interoperability can impose costs on the order of $1 Billion per year in the U.S. automotive industry.
Providing Solutions
VSE is systematically addressing industry challenges with a suite of products centered on PREVIEW:
- A software package that not only bridges the gaps between currently available software packages but also provides new testing capabilities that were previously unavailable for virtual PCB analysis
- An intuitive 3-D virtual environment, making it easy to use
- A platform for coordinating 1) system visualization, 2) system and component data, and 3) physics-based analysis capabilities.
Use of computer-aided design and simulation tools is minimal with respect to the physical testing of PCBs and PCAs. Yet, PCB and PCA testing can comprise a significant portion of labor costs for PCB manufacturers.
- VSE helps to automate the testing process virtually and can conduct virtual tests under various conditions, thus helping to determine the exact root cause of a failure more efficiently.
With respect to visualization, electromechanical systems are 3D, while many current design tools involve only two-dimensional 2D analysis. In addition, although some virtual tools are available for visualizing PCBs, there are few tools available for visualizing and/or analyzing multi-board systems, which constitute the majority of electromechanical systems.
- VSE provides innovative tools for visualizing PCBs/PCAs and analysis results.
There are few integrated tools for concurrently considering multiple aspects of PCB prototypes and electromechanical systems in general. Thus, users rely on different disconnected tools and PCB design software systems, detracting from efficiency.
- VSE develops software that is easy to use and fills the niche of system integration for PCB/PCA design and analysis.
The design process for printed circuit assemblies, especially multi-board systems, is labor-intensive, repetitious, and expensive.
- VSE helps reduce the number of design cycles and provide significant savings with the design of every new PCB design.