cutter_comp_2d()

[Duckman]

I am trying to use cutter_comp_2d to offset a circle, but it always returns failure. Is there something inherent in the function? or am I doing something wrong?

 

Thanks,

 

Simon

[david b]

Is the cutter to big for the hole to move in?You will need to have a lead in and out,so the cutter comp will work on machine.Are you using wear or comp in control?

[Duckman]

actually this is from a purely c++ programming perspective...but perhaps you are right and something is conflicting with my cutter diamter...thanks!

 

nope, i checked, I set the radius correctly, but the function still returns an error. It works fine for lines and arcs, but for a complete circle, the function fails. ANy ideas? Thanks!

 

[ 07-22-2002, 06:20 PM: Message edited by: Duckman ]

[BernieT]

Sounds like you may have to break circles into 2 arcs. Just a thought.

 

This was required in older versions of Mastercam.

 

BerTau

[MATSSMan]

Duckman,

 

I admire your persistence with the C++ programming. To answer your question about zeroing out a gt_ent:

Check out the 'C' memset command. It is very useful for zeroing out values in ANY structure or array with 1 line of code.

 

ex. for a gt_ent:

gt_ent g;

memset(&g, 0, sizeof(gt_ent));

 

As for offsetting a complete circle, I believe that Bertau is right, and you must break it into 2 pieces first in your program.

[jenks]

This may not be the same problem, but I was getting the same error. I'm programming for Haas machines.

 

After a lot of head scratching I found the problems. They all (the problems) had to do with basic rules of using cutter comp.

 

1. Cutter comp. CAN'T be turned on in an ARC MOVE. This was the biggest headache. To fix it, I add a line in front of the Z move into the part before the arc. I add a line with a G91, G41 or G42, XO, YO, F300., this then turns on cutter comp. On the next line I put a G90 back in and I am running in cutter comp.

 

2. Cutter comp is being turned off prematurely. I remove the G40, and put on the line that has the G0 out of the part for Z. But, Cutter comp. does not work with a G0, so I change it to G1 and add an F300.

 

I don't know how to change posts, so this method works for me. It sometimes is a lot of work, but it is not dificult after you figure out what the problem was.

[chris m]

Pardon me, I didn't read the earlier posts closely enough; no help here...

 

[ 07-23-2002, 07:05 AM: Message edited by: chris m ]

[Duckman]

Thanks MATSSMan for the confirmation and for the encouragement! It's definitely appreciated! I am not a strong c++ programmer, and I am completely new t MasterCAM, but I've learned a lot during these projects that I've been doing.

 

Thanks again! (Now I have to figure out how to break a circle in the ctour array and insert two arcs...Right now the circle is part of the ctour array, if I had to split it into two parts, would I have to copy the whole array to insert elements?) - ah, I realized that the circle is the only element in ctour since it constitutes the entire chain...splitting was more painless than expected!

 

Just wondering: for cutter_comp_2d, what is the purpose of do_self_inters?

 

Thanks!

 

[ 07-23-2002, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: Duckman ]