The Problem
Kernex Microsystems, a pioneer in railway safety systems, relied on manual AutoCAD drafting to produce complex railway signaling and layout drawings. Creating layouts for tracks, turnouts, blocks, and signaling components was time-consuming and error-prone, limiting scalability and making it difficult to meet growing project demands.
Constraints & Challenges
- Complexity: Automating the generation of intricate railway signaling layouts.
- Standardization: Standardizing drawings for tracks, turnouts, blocks, and tags.
- Data Conversion: Converting structured engineering data into accurate CAD drawings.
- Scale: Supporting large, interconnected signaling projects with multiple drawings.
- Safety: Reducing manual drafting without compromising accuracy or compliance.
Our Approach
FDES developed a custom AutoCAD plug-in tailored to Kernex Microsystems’ engineering workflows.
- Use structured Excel templates as the primary input system.
- Parse signaling data programmatically within AutoCAD.
- Generate tracks, turnouts, blocks, and tags automatically.
- Introduce custom AutoCAD commands to control and validate generation.
- Support multi-drawing workflows from a single dataset.
What Was Automated
Automatic generation of railway track layouts
Creation of turnouts, blocks, and signaling components
Placement of tags, labels, and annotations with correct scaling
Parsing of structured Excel input data
Multi-drawing generation for interconnected railway systems
Validation to ensure error-free and consistent outputs
Impact
Time Savings
Drastically reduced time required to generate complex railway drawings.
Safety Critical
Eliminated manual drafting errors in safety-critical designs.
Standardization
Standardized deliverables across large projects.
Scalability
Enabled teams to scale signaling projects efficiently.