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Nearly 20 items of new and enhanced functionality have cropped up in Edgecam 2017 R2, from the Vero Software stable, covering turning, milling, simulation, and wire EDM.
The headline new feature is a new turning cycle, which includes B-axis movements while machining on a turning centre, allowing greater accessibility when machining complex profiles, by dynamically positioning the insert.
This new cycle can be used with all types of turning tools, and for both roughing and finishing operations; while the toolholder stays gouge-protected during deployment, the user can have additional control over the toolpath by deploying over-ride angles.
The 2017 R2 release continues Edgecam’s evolution of updating cycle dialogs with pictures and context sensitive help.
“In this instance Slot Milling, Project Flow Curves and Project Circular Pattern cycles have all been updated. This feature not only assists regular users to easily interpret infrequently used commands, but it also aids less familiar users to quickly understand fundamental functionality,” said Edgecam brand manager John Buehler at the product launch.
The Inspection Module offers what Buehler describes as ‘unparalleled ease of use and sophisticated probe path generation’ for both in-process and end-item part inspection.
“It provides a robust environment for on-machine probing, supporting a wide array of feature types, path creation and report generation,” adds Buelher.
Responding to the growing need for offline inspection and probing, Edgecam caters for CAM programmers, and utilises CAD models, using a set of easy to use commands the user can create a set of inspection features which are then converted into a toolpath and simulated. This means the machine code macros are created via Edgecam’s postprocessor.
Amongst the additional updates, when using the Fixture Database it is now possible to measure fixtures and other workholding devices.
“It’s essential to be able to accurately measure the exact position and size of the fixture, as well as clarifying its relationship to components, stock and any other workholders,” explains John Buehler.
Regarding Feature Finding, information transmitted by CadLink has been enhanced where ‘Limits and Fit’ data is now passed to the Edgecam feature. This support covers CREO, SolidWorks and Inventor files.
As well as showing the characteristic of the feature, this information also empowers strategy manager authors to capture and use the data when creating machining routines.
The Live Job Reports function was previously run as a windows service. Edgecam 2017 R2 swaps it to a desktop application, improving reliability when altering user profiles.
“With so many software tools available in Edgecam it can sometimes be difficult to judge which commands to permanently fix on the interface, but the latest release overcomes this with a new Quick Search function,” says John Buehler. “Less common functionality can be easily located and deployed by simply searching the command library.”
