VUTRAX Application: Research

Versatile Software Matches Complete Design Requirement for Scientific Equipment

Mechanical ECAD?

Consideration of mechanical design is overlooked by most of the ECAD systems available on the market ...frequently a separate mechanical CAD/CAM package is required.

VUTRAX surpasses the competition by providing easy-to-use tools for engineers to not only design the circuitry, but also to consider the mechanical issues ...resulting in a more efficient design process and enabling manufacturers to bring products to market in a timely fashion.

If a job can be done using VUTRAX, then at Cairn Research Limited that's exactly how the job is done. VUTRAX has been the preferred design system since shortly after Kent-based Cairn became a full-time business in 1989.

Cairn specialises in the design and manufacture of scientific equipment for medical and physiological research. These products are in use worldwide by universities, teaching hospitals and pharmaceutical companies ...and the Cairn Spectrophotometer System is recognised as the most versatile fluorescent measurement equipment available in its field. The flexibility of the Cairn system is a direct result of its modular nature, with end-users being able to choose the specification to suit their individual needs. It is the same modularity that makes VUTRAX such an appealing choice for Cairn Research, as they have been able to expand their range of software options dynamically as the company has grown ...and can avoid duplicating important (but rarely used) facilities on different systems.

A key part of Cairn strategy has been to design and manufacture most of the system components themselves. According to Jeremy Graham (the Research Manager at Cairn), the company is totally reliant on the VUTRAX system:"At Cairn, all design is done in-house and we use VUTRAX extensively. In fact, if there is a task that VUTRAX can do then we will use it."

The software's ability to cope seamlessly with mixed mode electronics is highlighted by the design team as one of the key strengths of VUTRAX. "In some of the more complex combined analogue and digital circuits, the placement of components and tracks is critical, in order to avoid interference coupling into highly sensitive signals. Our product range stretches from high power illumination systems (with peak currents of hundreds of amps) at one extreme, to picoamp current measurement systems for cell membranes at the other. Such varied PCB layout considerations make either automatic routing, or sub-contracting impracticable. In other simpler projects, such as backplane design, the automatic placement and routing facilities continue to save valuable design time."

Once the design has been completed, the fully automatic physical and logical PCB checking routines within VUTRAX ensure that all tracks are correctly connected with adequate clearances. This is particularly important in designs incorporating many hundreds of components. Managing Director, Dr.Martin Thomas highlights a keystone of the Cairn philosophy as the flexibility to ignore conventional design rules when they prove to be restrictive. "VUTRAX is perfectly suited to this approach, as it ensures that the designer is aware that he or she is breaking the rules, but does not prevent them from doing so. For example, it is sometimes useful to place small components such as resistors and diodes underneath larger devices to save on board space. VUTRAX will flag this as an error, but will not take any unwanted corrective action itself unless asked."

Cairn are constantly upgrading their designs to meet ever more diverse and versatile specifications. According to Andrew Hill, Electronic Engineer "Customisation and upgrading are made easier when using the VUTRAX software, as a result of the excellent housekeeping routines. The software makes it effortless for us to introduce small design changes and allows the designers to modify existing circuits at will, confident in the knowledge that the system will automatically log and control all of the resulting administrative tasks. Modifications are easy to carry out and control at any point during or after design"

In addition to using VUTRAX for their circuit design work, Cairn also use the software for the majority of optical component designs. "Although we have other dedicated technical drawing packages, we find VUTRAX to be quicker and easier to use" explains Mechanical Engineer, Adrian Hawkes. "The VUTRAX system handles all of the design issues in an integrated fashion, resulting in a common database."

The VUTRAX system is available across the network to all the employees at Cairn Research. Production and sales staff less familiar with the system find the Graphical User Interface (with its context-sensitive menus) promotes ease of use, even for the inexperienced user. The design team tend by-pass this menu system and use the Command Line to increase the speed at which they perform their tasks.

As Cairn Research continues to grow and to bring new innovative products to market, the dependence upon an effective and robust ECAD system with both electrical and mechanical design expertise will continue. Their VUTRAX system meets these needs in the present ...and will continue to serve Cairn Research in the future.