Parametric part programes

[strawson]

When will mastercam catch up and have parametric part programing

[mayday]

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When will mastercam catch up and have parametric part programing

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when will Parametric catch up and have solid modeling

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

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When will mastercam catch up and have parametric part programing

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Parametric is only good for 2D stuff any way. But check this... Moldplus a few years back had a Parametric C-Hook called Paraplus. It was phenominal, I used it for a few parts driven off an excel spreadsheet and it was the shizzle! For the life of me I can't figure why they stopped development. Granted, it had some limitations, but if you worked within the system... it was awesome. They need to bring it back IMHO!!!

 

Anubu... you listening???

[Greg Williams]

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Parametric is only good for 2D stuff any way

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That is interesting.

James I respect your knowledge and I know that you are always keen to help those in need.

So without trying to upset you, I am curious as to why you say this and what it is based on.

 

As it seems that all major players are fully parametric.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

DOH!, should have clarified myself a bit better. I had two things in mind at the same time.. (hate when that happens). You are correct in that the Modelers are fully parametric. I elaborated a bit about the Parametric stuff that was done by the Moldplus people, it was only good for 2D. It was excellent at it though. Perhaps this is why development stopped. Too hard to get the third dimension..

 

My sincerest (sp?) apologies. Thanks for calling me on it Greg.

[Joels]

I used to cnc program with software called APT. It was great. I wish Mastercam had some of the features of APT like parametric programing for a family of parts.

[Glenn Stephens. from CCCS]

Basically the Mastercam philosophy is (and always will be as far as I can tell) "toolpath a part and cut it." Leave the parametric modelling to the programs that deal with assemblies, etc. With VB scripting, you can do some parametric part creation, but you have to build a new script for each part type. The ATP will allow you do 2D milling to a certain extent, but you still have to create each part seperately. I've written a post processor that did multiple programs based on a text file with parametric data in it. It really comes down to the fact that the toolpaths are all associated with the geometry and when you parameterize the geometry, what's it going to be associated with?

I personally like the "1 part at a time" philosophy. Use your parametric modeller to get the 25 different iterations of the part, but use Mastercam and import in the job setup, or use toolpath libraries to get the toolpath info into the new part , re-select the geo. and regen. Not that much time, and you have traceability for EACH part...very important.

[Karl Oram]

James, You were right Jimmy Glover's Paraplus was something of some promise, unfortunately the product was frozen because of certain aspects required CNC to release more feature control. I also believe it was his young nephew or something who wrote during his summer vacation from school, What a shame it didn't go further.

I like the way you could modify your dimensions with a Parametric calls on the Fly.

 

Cheers

Karl