CAD
Available nowThe panel drawings, on the same project.
A drafting tool that opens on a finished sheet rather than an empty one. Eleven working templates numbered the way a control package is read, thirty-four typed commands, object snap, dimensions, and DXF both ways.
Open CADIn short
Is there CAD software for control panel and PLC schematic drawings?
LADX CAD is a drafting tool that opens on a finished sheet rather than an empty one. Eleven working templates numbered the way a control package is read, from cover and index through power distribution, PLC digital and analogue cards, safety and the panel general arrangement, with typed commands, object snap, dimensions and DXF in both directions.
The problem
The schematic set is half the deliverable and it lives in a different application from the code, on a different machine, with the project number typed into the title block by hand on every sheet.
What it does
It opens on a drawing set, not a blank sheet
Cover, index, legend, power distribution, 24 V control supply, PLC digital in, digital out, analogue I/O, safety circuit, panel general arrangement and termination schedule. Each is a working sheet with the rails and conventions already drawn.
Typed commands, the way drafting is actually done
L, REC, C, TR, EX, O, F, CO, M, H and the rest, thirty-four in all, with aliases. Coordinates take the usual forms: absolute, relative, and distance with an angle.
The editing tools that carry the work
Trim, extend, offset, fillet, rectangular and polar array, mirror, rotate, scale, hatch. Dimensions, leaders, and a measure tool that works from the pointer or from typed coordinates.
The title block fills itself
Project name, number, client and date come from the project the drawing is filed against. Change the project and every sheet on it follows.
Your background, your drawing
Black, slate, grey, paper, cream, or a colour you pick. Entities drawn in white flip to black on a light ground the way AutoCAD does it, so a sheet stays readable either way.
What it doesn't do
Listed because you would find out anyway, and finding out later is worse.
- DXF R12 ASCII is the interchange format. A DWG has to be exported to DXF from whatever wrote it.
- Two-dimensional only. There is no 3D modelling and none is planned.
- It draws what you tell it. It does not check that a breaker is rated for the load.
Questions
- Can I import and export DXF?
- Export works today. Import is on the plan, and it matters because it is what lets a panel builder start from the drawing they already have rather than redrawing it.
- What drawing templates are included?
- Eleven: cover sheet, drawing index, symbol legend, power distribution, control supply, PLC digital inputs, PLC digital outputs, PLC analogue, safety circuit, panel general arrangement and terminal schedule. They are numbered in the order a control package is read.
- Does it work with the PLC tag table?
- Not yet, and it is the single most valuable thing to add. The tags exist, the I/O drawing templates exist, and the line between them is currently drawn by hand.