CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
16 November 2004
Product News
Surfware & FARO Provide 'Design-to-Reality' Solutions
Surfware, Inc . has collaborated with FARO Technologies to provide cutting edge solutions for Computer-Aided-Manufacturing (CAM). One of many new features in its latest service pack, SURFCAM now supports USB FaroARM products. Surfware actively pursued developing this specific enhancement to further augment SURFCAM's design-to-reality solutions.
"The SURFCAM and FARO alliance provides a seamless part digitizing to machining solution," said Shaun Mymudes, Director of Product Management at FARO Technologies. "Using SURFCAM to capture dimensional data, FARO portable measurement arms provide our customers with a direct interface to a very high-end CAM program."
The FaroARM interface for SURFCAM allows use of any FARO 6-Axis or 7-Axis portable digitizer as an auxiliary pointing device to input 3D coordinate data into an active SURFCAM session. It also allows SURFCAM users to freely intermix digitized input with all other input modes. This facilitates model creation, tool path generation, and material removal simulation in a single environment, continuously displaying the FaroARM probe tip for graphical verification.
"Users can create, edit, generate and simulate toolpaths, then machine complex surface models all in a single setup without any file transfers," said Don McKillop, President of CAM/CAD Technologies.
"The SURFCAM FaroARM interface is uniquely suited for reverse engineering of complex 3D objects," continued McKillop, the author of the FaroARM USB interface and a Surfware Sales Partner.
This interface now supports both serial and USB connectivity, enabling the system to work with legacy and current FARO equipment. It includes a variety of convenient coordinate alignment techniques, probe calibration, probe changing within a session, system diagnostics, and a series of convenient digitizing modes. Digitizing modes include discrete point input, lock-plane input, streaming-coordinate mode input, and project-onto-plane input.
"We are proud to work with FARO Technologies to provide state of the art 'design-to-reality' solutions," commented Joe McChesney, Product Manager at Surfware. "We will strive to continue offering enhancements to SURFCAM that deliver the latest cutting edge technologies to our customers."
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