Analyze

The Analyze stage provides feedback on an active CAM Assist run and the opportunity to refine the strategy before it is sent to the CAM package. 

Contents

Workflow

Layout

Machinability tab

Program tab

Comparison tab

Technical notes

The Analyze stage provides feedback on an active CAM Assist run and the opportunity to refine the program before it is sent to the CAM Package. Informative progress information is shown on the screen and key metrics for the program are displayed on completion.

A structured view of the program is available as soon as CAM Assist has calculated the first set of operations. A comparison tab is also available to compare performance of the selected tool libraries with an alternative

Workflow

Feedback on the active run is automatically shown when CAM Assist is started. Similar to the Assess stage, any issues experienced are shown in the Strategy Analysis panel and can be reviewed by clicking on them. The Send to CAM package button is enabled once all operations have been generated; clicking this button will close the CAM Assist user interface and send the program to the CAM package.

The Program tab is enabled as soon as the first set of operations are generated by CAM Assist. This provides a structured view of the program and an editing capability for each operation.

The Comparison tab is enabled once all operations have been generated and provides a side-by-side visualisation of two programs: one generated using the selected libraries; and an alternative generated using either a theoretically complete library or a set of alternative tool libraries defined in the My Tool Libraries page.

Layout

The Analyze screen provides a contextual display on the left of the screen with a large visualisation of the scenario on the right. The contents of this display automatically update as the active CAM Assist run progresses and is split into the following tabs:

• Machinability - Feedback on the active CAM Assist run, including cycle time and finished faces.
• Program - Structured view of the generated program.
• Comparison - Side-by-side comparison of the requested program with an alternative.

• The Program tab is enabled when the first set of operations are generated by CAM Assist
• The Comparison tab is enabled when the full program has been generated by CAM Assist

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Machinability tab

The Machinability tab contains the following information: Estimated cycle time - Total cycle time of the program across all selected setups. See here for a technical note on cycle times. Total cycle time increases each time a set of operations is generated by CAM Assist Tools used - Total number of tools used in the program across all selected setups. Total cycle time increases each time a set of operations is generated by CAM Assist Total faces - Total number of faces detected in the part. The chart automatically updates as CAM Assist works and faces move between the following states: Finished - Total number of faces finished across all selected setups Unfinished - Total number of faces that have not been finished across all selected setups. See feedback panel for an explanation of why some faces could not be finished. In progress - Number of faces still under consideration by CAM Assist.

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Machinability feedback

Issues encountered by CAM Assist during program generation are listed in the feedback panel underneath the overview. These extend those shown in the Assess stage as they are specific to the setups, tool libraries and parameters requested - for example, accessibility issues are now identified for the chosen tools and issues with stick-out can be surfaced. Issues are grouped by type and listed in the panel. Clicking on an issue will turn the part translucent and highlight the affected faces in red.

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Program tab

The Program tab provides a structured view of the generated operations grouped by setup and type. The following information is shown for each operation: Color indicator - Unique colour assigned to the operation used for displaying the removal volume and faces finished on the part. Operation name- Unique name given to the operation. The toolpaths generated in the CAM Package use this name. Tool assembly - Name of the tool assembly chosen for the operation. If this is empty the tool has not changed from the previous operation. Faces - Number of faces finished by the operation. This is expected to be empty for roughing operations as these operations do not finish faces. Tool axis - Orientation of the tool axis Estimated cycle time - Cycle time estimated for the operation, see this technical note on how this is calculated. Enablement switch Enabled - Operation sent to CAM package Disabled - Operation not sent to CAM package

Clicking on a setup or operation group highlights all faces finished or volumes removed by all operations in the group.

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Technical notes

Cycle time calculation

Operation cycle times calculated by CAM Assist are an approximation of the achievable cycle times that are calculated from first principles. Physical machine properties such as accelerations are not considered, nor are leads or linking moves.

For roughing operations, the cycle time is calculated from the volume of material to be removed and the material removal rate of the selected tool, using cutting parameter values.

For finishing operations, the cycle time is calculated from the estimated cutting distance and the feed rate from the selected tool’s cutting parameters.

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