Layout Equipment and Optimize Cable Routing

How are you currently racking equipment, laying out cable trays and selecting and routing cables? Are you using a combination of homegrown applications and drawing tools? Are you leaving decisions to onsite installers? If so, you're probably experiencing:

• Job quotation based on incomplete information
• Lengthened onsite installation time
• Variability in solutions and costs based on installer knowledge and preferences
• Higher costs due to non-optimal cable routing

Racking and Cabling Apprentice

We provide a set of integrated tools that help you rack and arrange rooms full of equipment, specify the required connections, and optimize the cabling between system components. Cables can be manufactured and labeled prior to installation, and accurate costs will be available for quotation.

Figure: Rack equipment and route cables quickly and easily in 2D and 3D.

Features and Benefits

• Pulls specified equipment from your database
• Provides an easy drag-and-drop interface for racking equipment and laying out floor plans
• Creates an interactive 3D environment from your 2D drawings
• Facilitates specification of required connections between equipment and selects cables
• Automatically calculates the optimum routes in 3D and stores cable lengths
• Provides 2D schematics and a detailed bill of materials
• Interfaces seamlessly with MS Office tools

Microsoft Visio^TM For 2D Visualization

The user interface and system schematics are based on Microsoft Visio 2002, making the interface easy-to-use and the solution affordable for broad deployment. No CAD system required.

Your Rules - Your Databases

The Racking and Cabling Apprentice can be taught your rules for connecting equipment and selecting cables. Racking preferences can be captured in an Auto-racking Agent.

The Apprentice integrates easily to any ODBC database, incorporating stored components into a design and saving completed solutions. A persistent model of the solution can also be stored as a Visio diagram. 2D shapes of your equipment can be added to your database by using the Apprentice Content Creator, or you can use existing CAD drawings and Visio shapes.

Interactive 3D Visualization

The solution can also be rendered in an interactive 3D model using DirectX or OpenGL. 3D visualization can be a powerful design tool.

Current Customers

The Racking and Cabling Apprentice is currently being used by Motorola for the design and installation of 911 public safety systems. 

Contact Us

Call us to learn more about how the Racking and Cabling Apprentice can help you generate more accurate quotes and cut on-site installation time and costs.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

• How does the Apprentice find the optimal cable route?

  The Apprentice uses established operations research algorithms, similar to those used in Microsoft MapPoint^TM and other driving directions software. The algorithms are applied after legal pathways have been built in the 3D modeling environment. The Apprentice calculates the shortest legal path from point to point in a fraction of a second.
   

• Can I customize it with my own equipment and racking rules?

  Equipment can be easily and quickly added using the Apprentice Content Creator. Our basic racking algorithm uses a weighting system to determine the placement of components. Modifications can be made either by using the Apprentice Product Modeler^TM, or by having Apprentice Systems create a custom agent.
   

• General FAQ's