Smoke Detectors and CO Detectors are also additional common ceiling mounted devices that are typically included in electrical plans.  I will need to give this one some more thought, whether to include it in the light fixture module or create a separate module for specialized items such as smoke detectors, fire alarms etc...

I'm leaning toward creating a new module called Safety Devices which would include but not be limited to:

- Exit Signs
- Emergency Lighting
- Smoke Detectors
- CO Detectors
- Horn/Strobe Unit
- Fire Alarm Pull Station
- Nurse Call
- Intercom

I received my copy of John Brock's new book right before Christmas. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119484006/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0

I haven't had a chance yet to thoroughly review it from cover to cover but at a cursory glance it appears that it is a fairly complete text.  I was actually quite surprised to the level of detail that John models his homes.  I didn't expect to see all of the electrical outlets and switches however the major duct work for the HVAC does seem like an excellent idea so as to avoid clashes with other building elements.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Truss plugin was included in the text.  Of course the wall plugin was released probably after the book went to press so it did not get any coverage but hopefully it might find its way into the 2nd edition.

I've got to say though, those Lumion renderings are something else.  At first glance I thought I was looking at the actual completed residence.

I think I would have liked to see a more in depth treatment in Part IV (Construction Documents) with regards to Layout and more examples of actual construction documents but overall I think this book will be a good reference and earns a spot on my bookshelf.

In an effort to garner more visibility I have duplicated most of the threads in this forum on other forums (eg. SketchUp, Sketchucation etc...)

However, the downside to this additional effort is the amount of time it takes me to post an update on any given topic.

I'm now balancing the development of four different plugins as well as my other engineering tools on the website.  In order to conserve time and energy I will now only be posting on this forum when there is a new update.

I am still working the bugs out of the Wall plugin and adding new features.  Once the primary architectural elements are complete then work will begin on the structural engineering elements.

Its funny how some of my best thinking is done when I am doing totally unrelated tasks.  While I was cleaning out my garage and mini-van on Sunday afternoon I slowly started working out how to handle ceiling mounted light fixtures, almost unconsciously before I was aware that I was working on the problem.

After giving this topic a rest for a few days and then revisiting it again this evening it is now clear to me that in order for this to work properly I really need a "Story" or "Levels" module or plugin that actually works across all of the plugins.  This Levels module is also needed for the other plugins in the mdkBIM suite, especially in relation to estimating.

This becomes critical for the electrical plugin because when you start placing fixtures into a ceiling you need to know where the floor is in relation to that ceiling.  Or to be more precise you need to know which floor to assign the light fixtures to so that the 2D symbols are drawn at the appropriate Z height and hopefully are at the same level as the rest of the electrical symbols for that level (ie. wall mounted electrical fixtures), regardless of the ceiling height.

If the absolute Z height of the Level is changed then the 2D symbols assigned to it will need to move up or down to make the adjustment.  The easiest way to do this is to place all of the 2D symbols (ceiling light fixtures only) in an over arching group that is separated from the separate light fixture groups themselves.  When the Level Z height changes you only need to move this main group and not each 2D symbol.

The potential downside with this particular system is that if you manually move one of the light fixtures in the X-Y plane or laterally then the 2D symbol does not follow it and is out of sync (out of position).  The way around this problem is to possibly setup an observer so that if a ceiling fixture is moved the 2D symbol is simply deleted and redrawn.  When a ceiling fixture is deleted a similar situation occurs, however the symbol will always belong to the appropriate main group and have a tag (instance name) that matches the ceiling fixtures so that it can be easily purged from the main group.

The draw tool will not only be looking at the group (ceiling group) but also at the face when placing the fixture.  The exact point selected on the face will determine the actual placement of the fixture.  The height parameter (fixture to floor distance) as it is currently defined has no meaning and will be greyed out however for certain suspended fixtures it can be used at the "suspended height" thereby determining the height above the fixture to place the junction box within the suspended ceiling.

There is quite a bit to consider when it comes to ceiling mounted fixtures, I'm sure I haven't considered every possibility yet and there may even be a fatal flaw in some of the organization explained above but at least I wanted to get some of my thoughts down in writing before they evaporated away like a morning mist under the noon-day sun.

It might be useful to have a button somewhere in the global settings that allows one to reset all of the settings to the initial installed settings, essentially reset the entire plugin with a single action.

Any thoughts on this?

I think a few settings such as the serial number one would not want to reset.

Version 0.9.1c - 02.19.2019
- Enabled the ability to draw low voltage outlets, load centers and light fixtures with any wall geometry (removed the dependency on the Medeek Wall extension).

The plugin is now fully independent of the Medeek Wall extension and can function as a standalone extension.

Version 0.9.1b - 02.19.2019
- Enabled the ability to draw outlets with any wall geometry (removed the dependency on the Medeek Wall extension).

There is always more that can be done. Just remember though I am juggling four different extensions now, single handed and each one is very deep (and broad). So my time to devote to any one plugin or request is becoming much more selective.

If you would like to have a feature added I need more details:

1.) Most common configuration and manufacturer.
2.) Some indication of how much this feature would be used (does it fit the 90% rule).
3.) Commercial or Residential application.

Tutorial #1 - Extension Overview:



Footnote:  The bug encountered at the 16:00 min. mark has been identified and corrected.

Version 0.9.1 - 02.16.2019

- Enabled the ability to draw switches with any wall geometry (removed the dependency on the Medeek Wall extension).

I've been blasted with emails the last couple of days requesting that I make the plugin work with any walls, so I figured I might as well see if I can make this happen.

This is largely experimentally at this stage since dealing with random (walls) geometry can be a bit tricky.

I've only enabled this feature with the Draw Switches tool for now.  Once I am satisfied with its performance I can easily migrate it to all the other tools. 

The wall must be a group, and its faces must be only one level deep, not nested group within group.

Please download this latest release and attempt to break it, let me know your findings.

Version 0.9.0b - 02.15.2019
- Added additional Carlon and Raco octagon boxes into the Light Fixture module.



Per customer request I've added some additional electrical boxes. 

The full list of junction boxes available for light fixtures is:

Junction Boxes: Carlon (B518, B520, B620H), Raco (111, 112, 119, 128, 146, 164, 175, 177)

The reason I have to add these boxes in is because I need to hard code in the dimensions so that the plugin knows what the width is when the box justification is toggled to left or right.  Its not a big deal, it only takes me a couple minutes to add in a new box and its dimensions.

If you have a particular box or light fixture you would like to see added please let me know.

As far as other international standards (British, France, South Africa etc...), I would be excited to add these in as well but I don't have the time or the energy to model up quality, low poly models of typical boxes, faceplates and electrical components.  If you would like to see these added to the plugin I would need to have low poly models provided to me.

There are a couple issues with embedding electrical components into unknown walls:

1.)  The Z height problem:  Since I am trying to track the height of the switch or outlet I somehow need to know where the floor is located, not absolute as much as where is it inside of the group that contains the wall geometry.  The reason for this is that the edit menu will allow the user to change this height and without knowing where the floor height is there is no way to know the height of the switch or outlet.

2.)  The other issue is rotation about the Z-axis, so that the electrical component is facing outward regardless of which side of the wall it is on.  With my own Medeek wall panels this problem is easy because the groups origin and axis are always positioned a certain way with regards to the wall, hence I am able to determine or specify a "wallside" for a given electrical component and then offset it accordingly based on the wall construction (stored attribute library).

Version 1.0.4 - 02.14.2019
- Added logic to the final assembly routine to allow for electrical components (Medeek Electrical) to be retained within wall panels.

Previous versions of the Wall plugin will not be compatible with the new Medeek Electrical plugin.  You will be able to create electrical components but as soon as you rebuild or modify a wall it will blow away all of your electrical components.

*** BETA RELEASE ***

Version 0.9.0 - 02.14.2019
- Created the Medeek Electrical Plugin, utilizing SketchUp's Ruby API.
- Added tools to create switches, outlets, low voltage outlets, load centers and lights.

Download the BETA version here:

http://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekelectricalplugin.pl


Just a reminder that this plugin is currently dependent on the Medeek Wall extension to function.  Also a new version of the Wall plugin is required in order to retain the electrical components within the wall panels.  The upgraded version of the wall plugin will be released later tonight.

Items needing further attention:

- Ceiling light fixtures.
- Parametric ability (edit menus for all fixtures).
- Combo switch/outlets 
- Estimating
- Ability to use the plugin with any wall geometry (non-plugin dependent)
- Link to purchase plugin within Account Manager (currently only a TRIAL version is available)