New Post Language

[byte]

44 minutes ago, Colin Gilchrist said:

I have written several dozen of them over the years. Most of the ones I've developed were "mechanical kinematics", where the machine does not use Dynamic Codes. The Dynamic Codes allow you to adjust the machine to track the Rotary and Tilt axes, zero points, and offsets.

For a "purely mechanical" 5-Axis Post, I can set one up in about 20 minutes, and they usually require 1-2 days of back-and-forth testing, or less.

But the problem is: these posts rely heavily on being able to take precise measurements at the machine. And you must move your geometry in Mastercam, relative to the "center of rotation" on the actual machine. In other words, you must completely configure your virtual world, to match your physical world. That means you must actually measure at the machine, any time your physical geometry is not oriented perfectly at the machine, and you must repost your NC Program for any changes at the machine. Or, alternatively, you must take the time to "dial in your part perfectly" at the machine, and any error in the setup is translated into errors on the part as you move and rotate the tool and/or part in 5-Axis.

I've written several 5-Axis Posts that support Dynamic Codes, and to do this right can take days or weeks of effort, depending on exactly what support is required. Dynamic Work Offset, Tool Center Point Control, and Tilted Work Plane, are the "heavy lifting".

Now, couple all the Dynamic Code support, with adding Inverse Kinematics (for driving Machine Simulation from Post Processor output), and you are talking a ton of development time, unless you've already developed a "framework" (like In-House Solutions has done with their IKE Posts), for supporting all these codes.

Now, throw all of that development and architecture away, and start over with MP.NET, from the ground up...

Very interesting, thanks for sharing Colin, I seem to find myself with more free time, maybe I will finally take the dive..

[Jobnt]

On 8/18/2023 at 8:12 PM, byte said:

Fusions not so bad, I'm just too used to Mastercam and the way the interface is all resizable, the api with logical units, although you have to do the conversions yourself, fusions use of centimeters as a unit is pure nonsense. The toolpaths aren't bad, I tried it out when I was shopping for cad systems, I went with mastercam because it's what I knew, and they have been really great with addressing my concerns and issues.. I would say the big advantage is the perpetual licensing.

I'm curious if you have written a 5 axis post before and if so, how long would you say it takes?

Good programmers are not graded by how well they can write a program (or post). They are graded by how quickly and efficiently they can get someone else's code to work in their application. 

[cncappsjames]

On 8/18/2023 at 12:14 PM, crazy^millman said:

Not in a million Years I will revert back to Pencil and Paper first.

For the majority (if  not all of) the work you do, Fusio360 isn't an option. Totally get it. But, not everyone does Defense/ITAR work. For those that don't, it's an option worth consideration. Personally, I loathe subscriptions. I think there will be a special place in Hades for the people that came up with software subscriptions. That being said, I've got a lot of scustomers that are just getting started, AND are doing FULL 5-Axis work with it and save for a few issues that CAMplete solves, it's working well for them. Full featured parametric assembly modeler.... for $500-$600-ish a year.

[Alex Kellerton]

Thanks for the beefy responses! I shall continue to dive deep into learning it.

 

Much appreciated!