Built for industrial automation teams

Industrial Machine Design Glossary

Real definitions written for engineers who build machines — not marketers. Every term maps to a workflow step ClusterVise automates.

25
Engineering terms
7
Design categories
65%
Design cycle reduction
4 wks
Avg. SPM design cycle
Filter by category
Showing 25 of 25 terms
BOM & Procurement
Bill of Materials (BOM)

The complete hierarchical list of every component needed to build a machine — and a record of every design decision it contains.

Control & PLC
PLC I/O Sizing

Determining the exact channel count — DI, DO, AI, AO, safety, and high-speed counter — then selecting a PLC and expansion modules to match.

Power & Drives
VFD Selection

Matching drive output current, load type, duty cycle, braking, and fieldbus protocol — not just kilowatts — to the application.

Power & Drives
SMPS Sizing

Calculating total 24V DC demand across all panel and field consumers, with peak load, inrush, and temperature derating factored in.

Control & PLC
Control Loop Design

Selecting the correct loop type — on/off, P, PID, cascade — and the analog resolution required to meet the process accuracy specification.

Machine Architecture
Special Purpose Machine (SPM) Design

The end-to-end engineering workflow for custom machines — and why it is the most documentation-intensive workflow in industrial automation.

Pneumatics
Pneumatic Circuit Design

Sizing actuators, valves, flow controls, and air preparation units to meet cycle time while avoiding over-pressure and excessive air consumption.

Pneumatics
Solenoid Valve Selection

Matching valve type (5/2, 3/2, 5/3), Cv, fail-safe behaviour, coil voltage, and manifold compatibility to each pneumatic actuator.

Pneumatics
Actuator Sizing

Calculating the bore diameter required to generate sufficient force at working pressure, with back-pressure correction and safety factors.

Power & Drives
Servo Drive Selection

Matching peak torque, continuous torque, inertia ratio, feedback type, and fieldbus to the motion profile — not just motor nameplate kW.

Design Documentation
Machine Design Documentation

The nine-document minimum set for a CE-marked machine — and why they drift out of sync with each revision when produced independently.

Sensors & Safety
Safety I/O Architecture

Designing E-stop loops, guard monitoring, and safety-rated I/O to meet EN ISO 13849 Performance Level requirements.

Sensors & Safety
Sensor Selection

Choosing sensing technology, output type, range correction factors, and IP rating for each detection point on a machine.

Control & PLC
HMI Selection

Matching screen size, IP rating, processing capability, and communication protocol to the operator task and PLC ecosystem.

Power & Drives
Control Panel Thermal Management

Calculating heat load from drives, PLCs, and PSUs to select the correct cooling method and prevent the leading cause of machine downtime.

Power & Drives
Motor Protection

Selecting the correct overload and short-circuit protection for DOL-started and VFD-fed motors — which are not the same device set.

Control & PLC
Distributed I/O

Using remote I/O heads over PROFINET or EtherCAT to reduce field wiring on large machines — and the network design it requires.

Power & Drives
Motor Starter Selection

Choosing between DOL, star-delta, and electronic soft starter based on motor power, load inertia, and starting current constraints.

Design Documentation
CE Marking & Machine Directive

What the Machine Directive 2006/42/EC actually requires — Technical File, risk assessment, harmonised standards, and Declaration of Conformity.

Design Documentation
Machine Risk Assessment

The EN ISO 12100 three-step method — and why doing it at the end of the project instead of the beginning is both a compliance failure and a design failure.

Design Documentation
Control Panel Layout Design

Arranging components inside an electrical enclosure to meet clearance rules, airflow requirements, and cable routing logic.

Machine Architecture
Machine Cycle Time

How the primary performance specification drives every component selection — and why sizing all actuators for minimum cycle time is a waste.

Design Documentation
Cable Sizing & Selection

Selecting conductor cross-section, insulation class, and shielding based on current, installation method, voltage drop, and environment.

Control & PLC
Motion Control Architecture

Choosing between standalone drives, PLC motion library, and dedicated motion controller based on synchronisation requirements and axis count.

Sensors & Safety
Machine Guarding

Selecting fixed guards, interlocked guards, light curtains, or safety scanners based on hazard severity, access frequency, and safety distance.

No terms match that filter. Try a different category or search term.