PTC and Altium Streamline Electrical, Mechanical CAD Integration

In an effort to streamline collaboration between mechanical and electrical engineering teams, PTC and Altium have announced a new integration between PTC's Onshape CAD and product data management (PDM) platform and Altium's electronics design software. The new Onshape Altium Connector will allow users to bring Printed Circuit Board (PCB) designs directly into Onshape and keep changes synchronized across both platforms.

The Onshape Altium Connector removes creates a direct connection between the companies' platforms, bringing PCB designs from Altium into Onshape so teams can assess fit early, track changes in real time, and stay aligned as designs evolve, according to a press release.

“This collaboration marks an important milestone for cloud-native engineering. By expanding our direct ECAD-MCAD CoDesign technology, we are enabling a truly cohesive connection between leading cloud-based design platforms,” said Nikolay Ponomarenko, Vice President of Altium R&D. “In a complex, fast-paced industry, cloud data enables engineers to collaborate in real-time within a unified workflow across design domains. This eliminates all risks imposed by manually sharing files. This level of synchronization keeps teams aligned from the very beginning of the design process and lays the foundation for even deeper collaboration in the future.”

According to the companies, key benefits of the Onshape Altium Connector include:

• Works entirely in the cloud — no file conversions, downloads, or manual data transfers required
• Keeps electrical and mechanical designs in sync — changes made in either platform are automatically reflected in the other, eliminating version mismatches
• Enables identification of design problems earlier — teams can verify that circuit boards fit correctly within their enclosures before issues become costly to fix
• Built-in version control — detailed electrical history lives in Altium, and mechanical history lives in Onshape, connected in real time so teams always trace and manage what changed and when
• Accessible from any browser — stakeholders can review, comment on, and markup designs from anywhere, with no software installation required

The same PCB design in MCAD, left, and ECAD, right. Image courtesy: PTC and Altium

“Connecting electrical and mechanical design in real-time is a critical step toward fully digital product development,” said David Katzman, General Manager of Onshape and Arena at PTC. “By bringing these workflows together in a single cloud-native environment, we give teams continuous access to a shared, real-time product definition so they can move faster, stay aligned, and focus on building better products.”

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.