Assessment of the CAD file prior to running CAM Assist or, “pre-run checking” is used to check that the part and setup information is appropriate for CAM Assist.
Contents
The Assess stage provides an early assessment of the machining scenario provided to CAM Assist. Any issues with the scenario are presented in a list with a severity assessment and potential steps for resolution.
Workflow
An assessment is automatically triggered when CAM Assist is launched and is performed while the user interface is loading. Issues are listed as they are discovered by CAM Assist and a summary chart is provided on completion.
Progress through to the Prepare stage is available once the assessment has been completed, either by clicking in the active stage indicator; clicking on the hyperlink in the card; or clicking the Go to Prepare button.
Assess phase
When a part is initially loaded into CAM Assist, the Assess phase will be run.
While the part is loaded, CAM Assist will examine it for features that might not be machinable. The Assessment screen provides a contextual display on the left of the screen with a large visualisation of the scenario on the right. The contents of the display automatically update as the assessment progresses and include a summary of the results as a circular chart when complete.
Part analysis panel
The Part analysis panel provides a quick view of how acceptable the part is to CAM Assist. If any issues are detected with the part then the card changes and the results chart displays the number of severe and warning messages. A list of issue types is also displayed at the bottom of the card.
If there are no issues, the assessment chart will be fully colored green (as above), and the messages will indicate that the part is ready for the Prepare phase.
If there are issues, the number of detected issues will be presented, along with an indication of severity.
In the example shown here, there are three (3) detected issues, one of each category.
Examining issues
There are different categories of warning CAM Assist may indicate:
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Yellow - These are minor issues that may be expectations of the user, or may not have serious consequences for machining. A common warning in this category is if the stock is aligned to the face of the part (CAM Assist requires a margin of material between the part and the stock to create an operation).
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Orange - These are major issues. If not addressed, there is a high likelihood that CAM Assist will produce unsatisfactory results. An example of this is an unmachinable surface.
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Red - These are severe issues. If not addressed, CAM Assist will not produce any results. A simple example of this is if the stock is not completely surrounding the part. Generally, if there are severe issues, it is recommended that CAM Assist be closed, and that the issues are addressed in the CAM package before retrying.
The Show breakdown button will provide details on all of the issues.
Selecting each issue will provide more details, potential actions and highlight the issue in the 3D view. Clicking on any issue in the list will show additional information and potential steps to resolve it in the card. The visualisation will also change with all bodies becoming translucent and the affected faces highlighted in red. The scene can be rotated and zoomed to understand the full context.
Progress to the Prepare stage is blocked until all severe issues have been removed or dismissed.
Dismissing issues
Issues can be dismissed by selecting the dismiss button.
Dismissing an issue is the equivalent of accepting the information, but choosing to proceed.
Dismissed issues can be retrieved by selecting the Show dismissed button, and then selecting the retrieve button.
Otherwise, dismissed issues will not be presented in the main Part analysis panel.
Show breakdown will return to the full listing of issues.