Patent ID: 7725846

Claim:
A method to convert a three-dimensional representation of a wire harness to a two-dimensional representation, comprising: receiving the three-dimensional representation of the wire harness including multiple branches; and automatically detecting electrical disconnects in the wire harness by detecting at least one sub-harness that is electrically disconnected from the wire harness; in a computer, automatically converting the three-dimensional representation to a two-dimensional representation with the branches arranged perpendicularly so that the branches are easier to visualize; wherein automatically converting includes: determining a first backbone of the wire harness and representing the first backbone as a straight line having a first angle; changing angles associated with branches coupled to the first backbone to 90 degrees relative to the first angle of the first backbone; determining a first backbone of at least one of the branches coupled to the first backbone and changing an angle of a sub-branch coupled to the at least one branch to 90 degrees relative to the at least one branch; determining a second backbone for the detected at least one sub-harness that is electrically disconnected from the first backbone and representing the second backbone as separate from the first backbone.