In it together

Following last year's merger of the Vero and Planit software groups to create one of the world's largest CAM specialists and third largest CAD/CAM vendor, VISI and PEPS will be standing side by side with Alphacam, Edgecam and Radan at MACH.

On the stand in hall 5, major developments in the latest release of VISI include an updated GUI with improved user interaction, new blending capabilities, support for JT Open and a new Assembly Tool Manager to handle multi-level tool structures. For sheetmetal stamping, three new algorithms are available to manage complex springback based on results from CMM machines, third party FEA systems and bend section geometries. Each routine includes skimming capabilities to reduce point clutter and allows the operator to define an additional percentage to overcompensate for the springback deformation.

CAM development includes new machining technologies for very thin walls and electrodes (HM rib cutting) and deep cavity machining for the automated splitting of roughing and finishing toolpaths into separate Z ranges based on collision checking between the piece and tool/holder, providing greater rigidity, reduced vibration and increased tool life.

Developments currently being worked on to feature in Alphacam 2012 R2 include automatically optimising a rough/finish toolpath to only remove the area left by a previous sawing operation, minimising cycle times and increasing productivity.

There are also two simulation enhancements. Improved support for rapid moves come from an all new Automatic Rapid Manager, where rapid positioning moves between 5-axis operations and work plane operations will be automatically created by setting just one ‘safe level' value. Additionally, integration of MachineWorks 7.1 provides multi-threading support and significant improvements in speed.

Nesting improvements include enhanced zone support for limiting certain sized parts to a specific area of the sheet – ideal for keeping small parts away from edges where the vacuum could be weaker. Parts imported as DXF files and other formats which may contain ‘flat' work planes, will now also be supported for nesting.

Edgecam 2012 R2 includes improvements to the entry methods, optimised direction, ordering and calculation speeds for the Waveform Roughing Strategy introduced in R1. As well as the constant tool load path and smooth toolpath pattern improving the metal removal rate, Waveform Roughing also gives greater stability, more precise machining and improved tool life.

In addition, developers are working towards enabling quills (secondary Z-axis) to be included in milling machine calculations, so the user can switch between the Z-axes, control which one is in use, and see the quill movement in Simulator. The new advanced 5-Axis Simultaneous Milling license will also introduce new parameters to control the toolpath, along with a new dialogue and images to help explain the options available and the option to machine multi-blade components.

A second stand on the other side of the show in Hall 4 will feature the sheetmetal software Radan 2012 R2, which has new developments allowing multi-tools to be configured, manipulated and deployed more easily. To allow data to be repeatedly transferred between Radan and the pressbrake software Radbend, there will be a new way of storing face, edge and vertex details.

Another new function allows sheets to be automatically cut off on punching machines for offcuts. More functionality has also been added to the order mode tool list, including using colours to show whether the tool is not processed, partially processed or fully processed. ‘Preferred Tool Stations' will allow individual tool stations to be specified for each tool in the Master Tool File, meaning that if the preferred tool station is not available, the tool can be loaded elsewhere.

PEPS Pentacut Laser and Tubecut conclude the line-up. PEPS Pentacut Laser is a 5-axis laser CAD/CAM system developed specifically for the general engineering, automotive and aerospace industries. It offers an intuitive environment for the comprehensive programming of multi-axis laser or waterjet cutting machines.

PEPS Tubecut is a dedicated laser system for rotary and multi-axis cutting machines developed specifically for the tube cutting and manipulation industry. An intuitive programming system allows tubes or sections to be parametrically defined from a library of standard shapes into which cutting apertures and profiles can be defined. PEPS Tubecut contains a wealth of inbuilt features that optimise the laser toolpath. For example, by smoothing out the toolpath in areas around tight corners or small features, wear on the machine tool can be reduced, ensuring that feeds and speeds are maintained across the job.

Planit/Vero
www.planit.com/www.vero-software.com
Hall 5 Stand 5660 and Hall 4 Stand 4538

Most recent Articles

Renishaw highlights career pathways in engineering

There is not one singular blueprint that can lead to a career in the engineering industry. It offers a variety of roles, open to people from diverse backgrounds. To highlight the diversity of skills and experiences in engineering, global engineering technologies company, Renishaw, has created the ‘Employee perspectives’ series.
5 hours ago News

Login / Sign up