Instrumentation drafting is an essential part of many invention and design processes. While the average person on the street may think of drafting as something only necessary for macro projects, like buildings, instrumentation drafting focuses on creating and engineering solutions on a micro level. Instrumentation drafting lays out the designs for various instruments, panels, and other small projects. These small projects use many of the same technologies and techniques as the larger, traditional engineering and drafting programs, but also have unique needs. Good drafting helps you build the right product the first time, from a microchip all the way to a city’s water plans. The following are 12 different types of projects that use instrumentation design procedures.
Electrical Panels
Electrical panels are in any building with power, on street corners, and in various other locations. With how many panels there are available, people often think that designing an electrical panel is a simple matter. Electrical panels are not simple, even though they are sometimes standardized. A complicated electrical system has to manage different types of cords carrying different wattage, voltage, and amps to various parts of a building. Many panels require their own transistors and transformers, and have to be engineered well to make certain that power constantly gets to where it is needed.
Control Boards
Control boards vary in size from a computer’s motherboard to the large steel-grey cabinets used for controlling industrial processes. While they may fall under several of the other categories in this article, control boards are designed with an interactive purpose. A control board needs to be engineered and drafted first to ensure that there are no overlooked functions in the control system. Good control boards manage electrical output, industrial machines and factory lines, communication and storage, and even a building’s operations and hardware. This diversity means that each control board needs specific, custom design in order to work well.
Data Center
There are many great data centers around the world, most businesses do not need their own. But, if your business is one of the few which need to create and manage your own datacenter, then it will need to be drafted first. Without drafting and design, a datacenter may not be the right size, may not place the servers in an ideal location for access, cooling and power, etc. Data-centers include servers, power distribution networks, physical racks for storing materials, access space for individuals, communication distribution and more. This variety requires careful planning or runs the risk of causing data loss and loss of service.
Signal System
Signal systems can be part of a control board, waterworks, or any other interchange. They can also be part of a larger issue like traffic management. A signal system takes elements of the control board and uses them to make certain that information is brought from one area to another with accuracy and precision. Drafting signal systems beforehand gives an engineering team a clear understanding of the UE before starting the project.
Security System
Security systems use a variety of technology to secure various areas, from something as small as a desk to entire estates. While many people understand the need for mapping out the physical aspects of the security system, they often forget to use drafting to analyze the entire distribution system of their security. A good security system will thoughtfully distribute power, electronic communication, and more. Security systems often include the additional resources of control boards, electrical panels, communication systems, IT networks, and even water works if the fire suppression system is included. With so many working parts, a custom-built security system must be planned before it is implemented.
Water Works
Whether building a water flow system for a city or town or just a large home, many water systems need specific design and drafting to avoid expensive issues with plumbing later. Water flows in a system like electricity and information, this is why a waterworks system uses the same instrumentation drafting techniques as the other products defined here. Putting the plumbing into the building is an architectural design issue, planning the water flow is an instrumentation design issue.
Switchboards
An electrical control board manages power distribution, a switchboard manages communication distribution. Although many switchboards are now virtual, the design processes are still the same for creating a custom-built communication system. Whether you manage a business with multiple phone lines, a small town, or a network of people, switchboard drafting will help you guarantee your communication system works.
Electrical Interchanges
An interchange is larger than a control board or panel; however, great interchanges need the same attention to small details. Whether a public utility creating a power interchange or a green company utilizing multiple power sources, electrical interchanges need proper design at the micro level.
Radio Tower Routers
Radio towers use electrical and communication controls to manage multiple antennas for multiple customers. From cell signals to FM radio, there are multiple businesses who need to use a radio tower. A tower owner who wants to provide the best resources to ensure constant tenants on the tower will need to carefully plan and draft how power and information lines will go to the tower. With proper design, the router can ensure that power is delivered to each antenna, that each satellite dish is in a good location to send and receive information, and that the infrastructure housing unit has space for all the servers, power supplies, and other hardware necessary to run the antennas on the tower.
IT Networking Systems
Do your servers work in series or parellel? Do your computers need access to certain parts of your network and not others? What about firewalls? All these questions are important parts of designing a network for a business or residence. For more complicated networks, an instrumentation draft gives the network administrator tools to plan the layout.
Internal Electronics for A Product
In this article, we have covered everything from the largest of products needing instrumentation drawing down to the smallest. Many products have small internal electronic systems that need detailed design work in order to perform well. From electrical motors to change AC to DC to processor design for smart objects, instrumentation drafting sets the process and flow for internal electronics well.
Virtual Systems
All of the systems discussed so far can be built as virtual environments as well. Whether this is for virtual modeling and rendering, or for use in a completely virtual environment depends on several factors. Many systems like switchboards, control boards, and security systems are created and managed virtually. This saves people the money of physical infrastructure, but it does not reduce the need for proper physical design of the system. Even though a phone call may be routed through a virtual switchboard, it still targets a physical recipient at some point in the line. Whether you need to engineer large projects or small, great drafting ensures that a custom-built product does what it needs to do. Rather than spending money trying out various approaches for intricate instrumentation, distribution, or control systems, use the services of a professional drafting and engineering team to get the best design from the start and save money long-term. Please feel free to ask us if there are any projects that we might be able to help you on through high quality design.