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CHAPTER 16 / 33

Connect named pins on the draggable wiring canvas

Drag, magnetically snap, reconnect and diagnose real electrical pin connections.

Named power, ground and signal pins connected across the Sentinel inspection rover wiring diagram.
Drag a named pin near another pin, or select two endpoints with the keyboard. Snap distance affects the diagram interaction, while pin roles drive supported diagnostics. View full size ↗
  1. Open Wiring. Every electrical component in the project has a card with named pins. Card banks put inputs/ground/buses on the left and outputs on the right. Drag card headers to arrange them; use Arrange or Fit to navigate.
  2. Drag any pin toward another pin, from either direction. Snap defaults to a 24-screen-pixel magnetic reach, with Off, 12, 24 and 40 px choices. The reach stays consistent as you zoom. Release near a highlighted target to create a logical wire.
  3. Blue targets have a suggested role match, amber targets need review, and red targets have a known role conflict. Role colors are advice, not circuit certification. Electrically wrong connections can still be created so diagnostics can explain their consequences. Same-pin and duplicate wires are rejected.
  4. Click a wire to select it. Drag its larger endpoint circle to a different pin, or use First pin / Second pin and then click a destination. Edit pins provides exact selectors. A successful reconnect keeps the original wire ID; one Undo restores its old endpoints.
  5. A cancelled or invalid drop preserves the old connection. Escape, Cancel, leaving the window or changing editors cancels an unfinished gesture. Click two pins, or focus pins and use Enter/Space, to connect without dragging. Connected pins can accept additional branches.

Adding a component with electrical pins automatically creates its wiring card, including generic layout-only electrical parts. Missing supply/ground paths and unwired cards are visible. Expand the live check bar for diagnostics; it refreshes after every connection, disconnection and model swap. Red connections/diagnostics flag modeled conflicts; a clean check is limited to the supported rules, not a datasheet or SPICE certification.

Open Wiring and choose Canvas. Each electrical component is a draggable card with its real named pins. The diagram is an editor for the same logical wires used by validation and simulation. Moving a card changes only its saved diagram position; it does not move the physical part in 3D.

  1. Drag a component card by its header to arrange the circuit. Choose Arrange for an automatic layout of the visible cards.
  2. Drag from the small colored pin circle on one card to a pin on another. Release on the target circle to create the connection. A click on one handle followed by another is also supported.
  3. Use the mouse wheel or trackpad and canvas controls to pan and zoom. Choose Fit for an overview; zoom in to read pin labels. The minimap helps navigate a larger circuit.
  4. Click a wire to highlight it and show its exact component/pin endpoints. Choose Delete wire to remove it. Undo restores it. You can also drag a highlighted wire endpoint to reconnect it.
  5. Use the Power, Ground, Signals and Motor legend buttons to show or hide connection families. Filters change the view, not the project wiring.
  6. Switch to List for a textual connection reference and individual remove buttons. Expand Connect using pin selectors for a keyboard-friendly alternative to dragging.
  7. When a group is open, Show external connections displays labeled cards outside the group only where a wire crosses its boundary. Turn it off to see only internal group members and wires.
  8. After electrical edits, open Test bench to review diagnostics before Run. Shorts, incompatible voltages and missing paths still matter even when the diagram looks tidy.
Wire colorMeaning
RedPower supply connection
SlateGround / return connection
BlueSignal or bus connection
AmberMotor connection