MACH coincides with the planned issue of Edgecam, VISI, and WorkNC, so the show at the NEC in Birmingham, will be the first opportunity for manufacturers to see a preview of the software’s latest releases. Visitors to the joint Hexagon/Vero booth #5710 will see the very latest new features designed to improve cycle times and product quality.
Edgecam: Edgecam 2016 R2 delivers a number of new features and milling, turning and wire EDM users will benefit from over 30 important new and enhanced items of CAD and CAM functionality, with developers working on more for display at MACH. User experience developments include super-fast file loading for large assemblies, auto indexing when moving between features on different planes, and colour filter selection when selecting geometry and features. A number of machining cycles have been enhanced, including the ability to support a number of sharp corner profiling methods such as loop, break-corner, chamfer and others with significantly reduced code output. In addition, support for probing cycles has been enhanced with direct solid picking and full associativity to the parent geometry.
VISI: Major graphic enhancements include an updated GUI with quick access toolbars, live icon combinations on the mouse, improved hidden line removal and geometry selection by ‘free-shape’ brush. In addition, CAD translators have been updated to support the latest 3rd party CAD formats including Inventor 2016, layer categories for NX and attribute hole mapping for Catia V5.
User efficiency continues to be a focus and major CAD developments include significant picking and sketching enhancements, associativity improvements for 3D dimensions, the ability to combine both solid and surface geometry in the same Boolean operations, and multiple plotview updates.
VISI Mould developments include improved cooling channel management with support for solid groups, CAD transformations and updated catalogue components such as plugs, connectors and baffles. Additional enhancements include a new tool to produce lubrication grooves and a re-written database tool to manage and edit the 3D standard element libraries. A new ‘Part Definition’ process provides a step-by-step workflow which helps the user evaluate the moulding feasibility of a part, resulting in a HTML report that details the part thickness and volume, and filling, packing and cooling times – essential information during the quoting stage.
Work NC: WorkNC 2016 benefits from the Vero best-practice technology sharing concept and also introduces Waveform Roughing into the latest release. Sharing proven software code will free developers to work on other applications, significantly improving the rate of product enhancements.
In version 2016, the Auto 5 technology is now available as a standard module. Using Auto 5, operators can automatically generate 5 axis toolpaths based on existing 3 axis toolpaths while also taking into consideration the kinematics of the predefined 5 axis CNC machine. Engineers can convert 3 axis and 3+2 axis toolpaths into simultaneous 5 axis toolpaths. The intelligent toolpaths are automatically checked in order to avoid collisions and manage the linear and rotational limits of the machine. The Auto 5 technology allows the use of shorter, more rigid cutters allowing most of the part to be finished in one single operation.
WAVEFORM: The Waveform technology, developed over several years by Vero Software, significantly improves standard roughing strategies by removing a consistent amount of material while preserving machine and tool service life. In order to maintain a constant load on the cutter, the strategy consists of machining from the stock material towards the part geometry. This approach results in a reduced number of intermittent cutting movements, especially in the outer areas, meaning that the tool stays engaged in the material for as long as possible and leads to fewer retracts and air cutting periods. The stepover distance automatically adjusts in order to maintain a constant load on the cutter, making it possible to maintain optimal feed rates during the whole cycle, which can achieve machining rates of up to 5 times faster than traditional roughing strategies.
Radan: The latest release of sheet metal software, Radan, contains a number of major technological steps to improve Radan, Radbend, Radm-ax and Radtube functions. Radan 2016 introduces a new interactive auto-tooling concept which allows users to specify which areas of the parts and nest, to automatically tool, including individual variations of the parameters, such as the settings for a complicated aperture. This means you can be much more creative with the automatic tooling routines.
Product Manager Olaf Körner says: “Radan is actually a whole suite of connected products. For example, there is a major connection between 3D in CAD/CAM and the Radbend press brake software. When manufacturers unfold a model they need to know how the bend process will be affected further down the production line. And when we bring in a 3D file we don’t know what’s in it; there might be a tube, or something that needs to go to the Radm-ax 5-axis laser system. So technologically it made sense to bring the products much closer together.”
