Eplan eView Free: A better overview for service and maintenance

A simple viewer is nothing special in everyday electrical design work. But when integrated with AR technology and therefore enabling a control cabinet to be virtually placed in the real world, it is an extraordinary tool. This AR function is directly accessible through EPLAN eView Free. In addition, the new 3D engine ensures more comfort in service and maintenance as individual areas of a control cabinet can now be shown and hidden - and the cabinet can be rotated freely in space. Thanks to the enhanced 3D graphics a further benefit of the new version is that the navigation of the project is much easier.

Tobias Kratz explains how the service employees in particular gain much more flexibility from the updated solution: "EPLAN eView Free supports the service team during maintenance by allowing them to visualise the 3D digital twin with in-depth information. With the new 3D graphics engine, entire areas of control cabinets can now be shown or hidden and individual components can even be highlighted.” What's the advantage? If a service technician hides side walls or doors, for example, all components can be easily viewed and at any time and regardless of location - simply via Internet browser.

EPLAN eView Free, presented at the SPS in Nuremberg, includes innovations such as a 3D engine with which projects can be better visualised.

Visualise control cabinet? Simply log in, register, and get started!

Users can register for a free account in the EPLAN Cloud and then can upload their current projects to EPLAN eVIEW Free. The project documentation is then available in 2D as a circuit diagram or in 3D as a virtual image of the control cabinet. The newly integrated split-screen technology gives you extra freedom as the circuit diagram and AR model can now also be displayed next to each other. This means that when the machine is down, error can be quickly tracked and the faulty components in the control cabinet are highlighted. If the service technician needs more information, they can open the 3D model of a component directly from the circuit diagram in EPLAN eView Free. Further to this, equipment lists, parts lists, cable overviews and other evaluations such as topologies can be accessed via a cross-reference.

Using split-screen technology, the circuit diagram and AR model of the cabinet can now also be displayed side by side - so that, for example, when the machine is down, the error can be quickly tracked and the faulty components in the control cabinet can be highlighted.

Collaboration: Easier with EPLAN eView Free

The service technician can use the redlining function to note the change in the circuit diagram, which is then passed on to engineering. This results in the documentation being up-to-date, for any future maintenance or service cases. In addition, set point values, for example, can be noted directly in the circuit diagram via green linings. The fact that the entire documentation can be viewed at any time and anywhere in the world when it is stored in the EPLAN Cloud makes collaboration across departmental boundaries easier.

3D control cabinets positioned freely in space? AR makes it possible!

The virtual control cabinet is superimposed via AR and projected into the real, real world.

With the enhanced version of EPLAN eView Free, the options for placing control cabinets in virtual space have also been simplified. A control cabinet can be positioned anywhere in the room using the camera of a tablet or smartphone. Using AR technology, it can be projected into any desired virtual space as an overlay of the real world. Access to AR functionality via PTC's Vuforia app has also been simplified. Users of the free application can now call up the AR function directly in the viewer with just a click. The software then generates a QR code or link that can also be shared with other project participants. If the Vuforia app is not installed on the end device, the eView Free software will suggest the installation process.

You can find more information about EPLAN eView Free, including the download, on our website.