OT PC D-MIS

[Justin Beebe at Folsom Tool]

I was wondering if anyone knows of a way to orient and .iges model using PC-DMIS so it can be inspected on a CMM. Currently I am having to orient the models with mastercam before they are imported into PC-DMIS and with the amount of parts we run this is very time consuming. If not possible with PC-DMIS is there an inexspensive third party software that could accomplish this.

 

Thanks

[Kannon]

is there any kind of alignment tool after the import of the iges file?

dont know if the alignment part of this web page helps or not.

 

just tryin to find something..

[dforsythe]

Justin,

 

From the menu bar select

Operation

Graphics display window

Transform

Translate

Click on where you want to move the move the part from and to

(just like translate from point to point in MC)

We use PC Dmis for all of out 5 axis inspection while on our cnc. Im pretty sure it’s the same

If used on a cmm.

 

Damian

[Justin Beebe at Folsom Tool]

Thanks for the replies I'm going to give this info to inspection and let you know what happens.

[Ron Branch @ 5th Axis]

Are you using a B-Rep or can you bring the IGES directly in? Virtual DMIS allows you to attach the model the the active coordinate system based off how it was saved. Look for a assign coordinate to model and then see if you can change the matrix of it.

 

HTH

[Justin Beebe at Folsom Tool]

dforsythe,

 

The problem with "translate from and to" is that in PC D-MIS we can't snap on points. These are .iges files that are imported in as surfaces so there is no geometry to snap onto. Is there a way to bring in egde curves with the surfaces and or enable auto cursor to snap onto points.

 

Thanks

[P_Scott]

Justin Beebe,

 

Our inspectors here use PC-DMIS but they import SolidWorks models. Why are the inspectors there trying to manipulate an IGES? Get the best possible data you can. Solid models allow you to pick points directly from the model.

 

HTH

[Justin Beebe at Folsom Tool]

Peter,

 

I think our inspectors are under the impression that PC-DMIS will only import .iges files. We use solid works here reularly. Can you explain how to import a native solidworks file or parasolid into PC-DMIS.

[Goby-Wan]

Strange to see a Pcdmis question on the M/Cam forum! Don't know which version you are using, but in V3.7 it's Edit...Preferences... Setup...Part/Machine...Part Setup. Use Offsets to move, Adjust to rotate. BTW, I wouldn't cancel my M/Cam subscription just yet. Feeding CAD to Pcdmis is how I got into M/Cam, creating CAD from prints, verifying nominals, extending surfaces to verify fixtures, & a bunch of other things Pcdmis won't do. If nothing else, it's worth the price just to verify whether a CAD problem is the fault of Pcdmis, or the system that created it.

(Yahoo, a question I could answer!)

[Goby-Wan]

Whoops. I tried that in V 3.7 & it didn't work. Hope I didn't waste anybody's time but mine. If in V 4, try Operation>Graphics Display Window...Transform. Or better yet, just align the part using the original CAD, then rotate & offset your alignment.

[Justin Beebe at Folsom Tool]

Goby-Wan,

 

Thanks for the info I'll pass it on to our inspectors although I think they have it working correctly now. I'm not looking to cancel my mastercam subscription. Orienting models in mastercam for our inspection department can be very time consuming so as a company we are trying to have them become independant and be able to do this on there own. Also it is not very safe to have the same person program the part and give the model to inspection. For example I bring the part into mastercam and accidentlly mirror it instead of rotate it. Then I program it and give the mirrored model to inspection. They check it and everything appears to be good but in reality the part is opposite hand. Unlikely scenario yes but if two people are both getting the models independantly odds are something like this will never happen.