Challenges of Industrial Design

Hardware Documentation Challenges of Industrial Design Rebecca Firestone Senior Technical Writer – Applications Engineering Group Zep Solar, Inc.

© 2013 Zep Solar, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL

Solution Example: ZS Comp™ For Composition Shingle Roofs

Additional solutions for Tile, Corrugated Metal, Standing Seam Metal, Trapezoidal Metal, Commercial Flat Roof – more always in development


Hardware vs. Software

Software documentation focuses on text Graphics, if present, are screenshots or flowcharts

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Image: clker.com

What if one part in this picture changes?


Mechanical Hardware

No computer components or EE diagrams Must convey specific, gestural qualities of installation technique A picture is worth 1000 words… But only if it’s the right one

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“Make it like Ikea…”


For Example…

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How many words would it take to explain these three pictures?


The Zep Compatible™ Platform

Hardware mates without fasteners Value prop: speed, efficiency, standardization

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PV Module with custom extruded grooved frame

Leveling Foot Interlock

Rockit


Plug and Play

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Plug and Play

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PV Modules “drop in”

Self-installing, auto grounding

Rockit inserts Next module drops in behind


PV Modules Form Structural Matrix

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This is very different from conventional rail-based PV installations

Front Back


Well, So What?

How’s this so different from software docs?

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Let me count the ways.


1: Change Management

Software: Text, paragraphs and words may change Hardware: Within a single composite graphic, any part may change

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850-1184 Leveling Foot, v2

850-1397 Leveling Foot, v3


2: Measuring Software Docs Quality

Accurate, no missing bits, helpful hints, user-tested First-time user can successfully use the product Explicit, about the right things

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Quality Hardware Documentation

Hardware: As short and simple as possible. No words. Graphics must match current part designs… EXACTLY.

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“… But, I’m a WRITER! Who ever heard of a document without any words?”


As It Turns Out…

We couldn’t get rid of ALL the words Some things just didn’t make any sense

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I have an idea! Let’s just cut out every third page!


Trial and Error

Legacy efforts Adobe Illustrator: longer lifespan, time-consuming Contract Writer: no budget for fine-tuning

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Low resolution JPEG No source files

Adobe Illustrator Inspirational quality

Image by A. Hernandez Image by J. Brown


Historical Aside… Female installer started out life as a man Not an exact trace

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Finding Good Examples I needed a vocabulary and a bag of tricks… a “style” Google searches for “technical illustration”, “perspective”, and other similar items turned up a wealth of images and sites Rare to find someone who’s equally good at both writing and drawing

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Left Brain Right Brain

8 Steps to Victory


Technical Illustration Styles and Standards

Basic CAD or line drawings

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Direct render, no enhancements Typical manual illustration



Shading, line weight, simplification

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© Jim Hatch Illustration

Lots of great examples to learn from



Spot color Limited palette

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© James Provost



Slick Illustrator stuff takes upwards of 600 hours per image

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© Jay Montgomery


168 SolidWorks exports up to 55MB each 224 imported graphic images 4-8 weeks, mainly sequencing SolidWorks takes 3 days Localization Repeat for 6 product families

One Manual Contains…

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Yellow = universal Orange = varies by family Fuschia = product version(s) Cyan = localization Purple = doc and revision Red = datestamp

Change Points

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Process

SolidWorks Export to 3D PDF Open PDF and zoom/pan to desired shot Screen Capture as .PNG Edit .PNG in Photoshop Occasional detours into Adobe Illustrator Save final as JPEG, GIF Import into FrameMaker at specified DPI

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Demo

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Step 1 – Set Up the Shot

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3D SolidWorks assemblies

Save out of SolidWorks as a 3D PDF file

Open in Acrobat X

Roll, pan, zoom

Screen capture

.PNG file


Step 2 – Screen Capture

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.PNG file

… but it’s kinda … gray… We want the hardware to stand out more.

Cam Foot

Spanner Bar

Tile Hook

Roof Tiles


Use Lasso tool to define and save selections Save in native Photoshop format including alpha channels (selections)

Step 3 – Open in Photoshop

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Selectively lighten each piece of hardware to enhance visual contrast Roof is lightest Use Levels dialog

Step 4 – Lightening

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Step 5 – Add Outlines

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Load selection Select inverse Expand by 1 pixel

Paintbrush 12 pixel Soft round

Outer edges Inner edges

Process is very subjective!


Save Photoshop file for import JPEG, GIF or PNG seem to work on my system Import into Frame by reference Set DPI manually for easier swap-ins later

Step 6 – Import into FrameMaker

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For complex outlining Better undo/redo Lighten in Photoshop as usual Import PNG, GIF or JPEG into AI Add outlines in AI and save in native Illustrator format Import the AI file into Photoshop and save out again in raster format with “outline” in file name

Sidebar: Outlines in Illustrator

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Process Summary, Part 2

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.PNG file Edit in Photoshop

Contrast or highlight elements

Add outlines

Complex outlining done in Illustrator


Process Summary, Part 3

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Save in .GIF or .JPG format

Other formats don’t always print.

.PNG also works

Set DPI 300-1500 depending

Thanks!

Date post:	13-Feb-2022
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Challenges of Industrial Design

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