Medeek Electrical
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@juju said:
I've probably asked this in the past, or I may be confusing myself with a query directed at another electrical extension dev in the past...
Say we would like to use our own 2D and/or 3D components, do you have a guide how to integrate this within your extension? Also, once this has been set up, I wouldn't like to overwrite it with any of your future updates, is this do-able?
You bring up a good point. Currently all of the component libraries are stored within the plugin folder itself so if you were to uninstall the extension and then reinstall it would remove all of custom components you placed within the library sub-folders.
I previously solved this problem for custom materials and presets with the other plugins by moving the content outside of the plugins' folders. I guess I probably should do the same thing for the electrical plugin but on a much larger scale.
Currently you can integrate your own 3D components for certain types of fixtures (not all) however I do not have a system in place yet for customizing 2D symbols. I do like the idea of being able to add your own 2D symbols, that would certainly take some work load off of me in having to create these however I need to devise an efficient system for this sort of thing.
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To be perfectly honest I didn't think this plugin would be widely used or adopted, kind of niche thing for a few electrical contractors or guys like myself who like to show a lot of details in their models. I actually got the initial idea from reading through John Brock's book and I really liked how he was placing electrical components into his models. It seemed like too much work to have to place pre-made components into the model at the right depth into the walls and also the height, hence the plugin was born, which automatically sorted out these details for you.
As with my other plugins as I have continued to develop them they have garnered more interest and I've tried to make them more flexible to accommodate more users and standards. I'm currently working to release the British Standard upgrade which will include some typical UK outlets and switches (and boxes). However, a lot more remains to be done to truly make this flexible enough for a worldwide audience.
Keep sending in the feedback, it ultimately helps me fine tune this plugin to better meet the needs of you the user.
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Surface mounted MK Logic Plus switches:
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Version 1.1.7 - 08.13.2020
- Created the Medeek Electrical UK (British Standard) toolbar, with two additional functions/tools: Draw Switch, Draw Outlet.
- Enabled the Draw Switch (UK) tool with the following switch types (MK Logic Plus): single pole, dimmer, blank.
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Since I am using manufacturer's part numbers to specify the switch and box with the new UK module I thought it made sense to provide a thumbnail to aid in the selection process:
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Version 1.1.7b - 08.13.2020
- Added preview thumbnails to the draw and edit menus of the UK switch tool.
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After some further digging about on the internet I really only came upon three or four reference documents for UK outlet symbols. Based on those examples here are my proposed symbols:
Please provide feedback or suggestions.
I planning on using the abbreviation "SW" for switched since I am trying to keep the length of the text in the legend to a manageable length, or I could spell it out in full.
There will probably be other outlet types (ie. fused outlets or connector outlets), but this is all I have for now.
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Version 1.1.8 - 08.15.2020
- Enabled the Draw Outlet (UK) tool with the following outlets types (MK Logic Plus): unswitched, switched, switched w/ USB, weatherproof, blank.
- Added preview thumbnails to the draw and edit menus of the UK outlet tool.
- Added UK outlet (2D) symbols to the Legend tool.
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Editing a UK outlet:
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As opposed to choosing the outlet by a code (and having the visual reference appear then), can we do the search for the outlet module by scrolling through a visual reference as well?
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Tutorial 4: UK Toolbar
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Version 1.1.9 - 09.10.2020
- Added optional metadata parameters for outlets: description, circuit.
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Custom Wiring Feature:
I've been getting some requests for the ability to add in wiring.
After giving this some additional thought I think I can add in a rudimentary wiring module that will allow the user to create their own wire types. The basic parameters would be:
1.) Name: NM-B_14/3, NM-B_8/3 etc...
2.) Shape: RND or RECT
3.) Dia.
4.) Width
5.) Depth
6.) Color
7.) Bend Radius
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The second toolbar will include a new icon for wiring:
Additionally the wiring assemblies will not be embedded into any other assemblies (ie. wall, roof, floor etc...), this way they can be edited and regenerated. I will have two context menu items for wiring assemblies: edit and regen.
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The bend radius is the parameter that is the most unique feature of this tool. One could easily use a tool like profile builder to generate the wiring but with the bend radius the tool will introduce another level of complexity.
In some cases the line segment(s) will be too short to allow for the bend to occur, in these cases the radius will not be applied, the segments will simply be followed as is.
The wire types can be configured in the global settings of the plugin.
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First look at the Custom Wire Library tab in the global settings:
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Version 1.2.0 - 10.11.2020
- Added a "Refresh Licensee Data" button within the License tab of the Global Settings.
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Version 1.2.1 - 10.14.2020
- Added a Custom Wire Library to the Global Settings which allows user defined rectangular or circular cross section wires/cables/conduit.
- Enabled the Wiring Tool with three additional context menu functions: Edit Wire Assembly, Regen Wire Assembly, Edit Wire Path.
- Added a 4th dimensioning layer specifically for wire callouts in the Layers tab of the Global Settings.
- Added the following parameters to the General tab of the Global Settings: Wire Label Callout, Wire Label Prefix, Circle Segments.
I think I need a few additional tools to round out this wiring module and make it more intuitive and efficient to use:
- Move Segment Tool (rather than having to edit the wire path directly)
- Integrate the Estimating tool with the wiring statistics
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Quite impressive, though it didn't occur to me someone would model house wiring. Gotta be more fun than actually running it though.
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Note that the wire callout gives the name of the wire, the type and the length.
I would tend to agree with Pbacot, I didn't think people would want to go to the trouble of modeling wires but I've received enough features for this request that I decided I should include it as part of the plugin.
For round wires I have the "circle segment" parameter which allows ones to decrease the number of segments in order to keep the polycount down in the model.
The draw tool needs a feature or switch which allows one to simply select a pre-drawn polyline (of edges) rather than picking points.
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