We received a lot of wonderful feedback after Matt Varian's write-up on Hackaday - thank you to all who took the time to reach out.
Here's what's new, improved, or fixed, along with our roadmap.
New Features
WireViz YAML and JSON Export
You can now export your harness design to WireViz, Daniel Rojas' excellent utility for visualizing wire harnesses.
Access the WireViz YAML export via the Download menu at the top of the Harness Builder.
Note: Connector graphics are not yet included but will be supported soon. We're also working on importing WireViz YAML files into Splice.
You can also export designs as JSON. See the documentation section for details on the JSON schema.
Design Notes and Tables
You can now add notes directly to the harness canvas:
- Right-click to add a note
- Double-click to edit
- Resize horizontally using the vertical bar
- Right-click and select delete or press Delete key to remove
Bridged Pins
Bridged pins—pins electrically interconnected (e.g., bus bars or distribution blocks)—are now visually indicated with a central line and circular nodes at each pin.
- Signal names automatically propagate across bridged pins
- Connections update automatically with any changes
Support for bridged pins on custom connectors (Connector Creator) is coming soon.
Clone Harness Designs
You can now clone harness designs directly from your account page using the copy icon. For harnesses with multiple revisions, select which revision to clone.
Library Additions
We've added DIN-mount terminal blocks from Phoenix Contact's PTFIX series.
Improvements and Bug Fixes
Support for unit preferences
Set your preferred units for wire/cable diameter (AWG or mm²) and lengths (Imperial or metric). Access these preferences via the Settings menu in the Harness Builder.
Engineering drawings and BOMs now reflect your chosen units.
Enhanced Metric Wire Gauge Support
Improved fuzzy search in Wire and Cable Libraries supports searches like '1 mm2' or '0.75 mm2' when filtering by wire diameter. The Cable Creator now displays both AWG and mm2 when adding cores.
Cable Shield as Pin
Cables with shields now represent shields as pins, allowing connection similar to other cores.
Bug Fixes and Updates
- Fixed color rendering for Grey (Grey now standardized over Gray). 'Silver' has been removed and 'Pink' has been added to the options for jacket color in Cable Creator.
- Added domains (lapp.com, us.rs-online.com, uk.rs-online.com, www.distrelec.com) to the approved list for datasheet and image URLs.
Expanded Documentation
Documentation for Harness Builder UI and data schema has been expanded:
- Dedicated documentation section on our website
- Detailed pin representation guides
- Comprehensive documentation of our data model
Roadmap Preview
Near-term Goals
- Addition of common schematic components: circuit breakers, fuses, switches/pushbuttons, power supplies
- WireViz YAML import into Harness Builder
- Inclusion of connector graphics in WireViz YAML exports
- Expanded terminal library: crimp ferrules, ring terminals, blade terminals
- Addition of Harness Builder convenience functions: copy/paste and dragging multiple elements
Medium-term Goals
- Gerber file parsing for automated harness creation
- Export support for wire labels compatible with heat shrink printers