CAM for on machine programming

[gcode]

We are looking to start doing on machine probing.

The machines in question are VTL's, HBM's, VMC's and 5X gantry mills

Can anyone suggest a product that can program the probing routines inside Mastercam?

I know CNC is working on probing software, but as far as I know, it's currently Haas only

( and still in beta???)

[djstedman]

I Hear Cimco Edit works great for that.. LOL.. I shouldn't laugh except that's what I am always stuck using..

 

The only product I have seen is the Mastercam thing.. I haven't tried it.. but I didn't think from the demo I saw of it that is was only for Haas.. although I do remember them saying they had limited posts..

 

It looked like it showed a lot of promise.. we were considering trying it here since we do a lot of probing at the machine.. but I haven't had a chance to look into it further, I would like to hear what you find..

[GoetzInd]

G, we use custom drill cycles that initiate the Renishaw inspection plus macros. Very simple and works great. Post and go.

 

Mike

[Sticky]

We've been dying to get Productivity Plus added to our MC seat, but they basically want us to do all the troubleshooting for them. LOL

 

How much work is involved in setting up custom drill cycles to use inspection plus Goetz?

[Watcher]

Camaix reseller used to have a solution. Not sure if it works for okumas.

 

(Sent from my Moto X via Tapatalk)

 

 

[crazy^millman]

Verisurf has tools and so does CNC Software. I could never get the process in place to make it happen. Both have the pieces needed to make it happen and do a very slick job of it. Reinshaws tools are part of the process to make the routines, Mastercam is part of the process with the CAD and interface. Verisurf has the machine communication, ability to take MBD and use it, take CAD and make it something the probed Data and look to. Verisurf has the ability to take the collected data and tell you the the quality of the part. Basics like setting work offsets and adjusting machined features is one part of the equation. What the industry needs and what I have pushed and been called off my rocker suggesting is live feedback anyone can look at understand. Verisurf is such a product and Mastercam is the tool to give a programmer everything they need. Trick is getting all the sides to put what they have together and make it work. I gave it my best shot and failed at convincing all the parties involved it was something they should calibrate on. Maybe enough customers will keep asking and something will finally come of it. I feel like you could take something with all the parts and pieces and make it work, but would need someone who understands so many of the different parts and how to tie them all together. You guys have Verisurf, Mastercam and the other other most important part the need to get it done. Maybe those are all the right ingredients to make something happen with it. The company that finally puts all the parts and pieces together in my humble opinion will have the product everyone will be waiting and needing industry wide. Weird that so much of the work, parts and pieces needed are there, but the little bit of work needed to button it all up and bring them together is missing. Hopefully it will get figured out and brought together so your company and manufacturing as a whole finally gets the product and process is has so needed for very long.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Sticky]

Ron, I appreciate the knowledge you have in so many areas, but it is damn near impossible to read what you write half the time. You don't need to have amazing grammar, but at least breaking things into some paragraphs here and there would help

 

I don't really understand why its taking so long for Mastercam to get this working properly? They've been advertising they have it for almost 3 years.

[Mick]

I don't really understand why its taking so long for Mastercam to get this working properly? They've been advertising they have it for almost 3 years.

 

They've been advertising lots of things for years that don't work properly.... it is the standard MO... Heh, sorry, couldn't resist...

[GoetzInd]

How much work is involved in setting up custom drill cycles to use inspection plus Goetz?

 

Not too much. Especially since I just told my reseller what I wanted and they did it. I even have it set up so it uses P9810 protected positioning and the logic to update the currently used offset. It works so well I really don't see any major benefit of getting the integrated productivity plus. Especially since it outputs the long hand macros and not just inspection plus calls. Makes a real cluster F of your program.

 

Mike

[cincy k]

Can anyone expand on exactly how the custom drill cycles are used and implemented? If you have your geometry on screen and want to probe the mid point of a rectangular piece of material do do you just go to drill, use your probe as your tool and set your drilling cycle to whichever macro you want to call? Where do you input your information for the approximate size of your block and where the block is positioned in machine coordinates? Do you literally just load the program and hit go with no previous touch off or manually inputting approximate work offsets? Do you use G10 to set approximate work offsets prior to probing?

[GoetzInd]

Can anyone expand on exactly how the custom drill cycles are used and implemented? If you have your geometry on screen and want to probe the mid point of a rectangular piece of material do do you just go to drill, use your probe as your tool and set your drilling cycle to whichever macro you want to call? Where do you input your information for the approximate size of your block and where the block is positioned in machine coordinates? Do you literally just load the program and hit go with no previous touch off or manually inputting approximate work offsets? Do you use G10 to set approximate work offsets prior to probing?

 

Yep you've pretty much got it. It omits variables that are set to zero.

 

[Joe788]

Especially since it outputs the long hand macros and not just inspection plus calls. Makes a real cluster F of your program.

 

Mike

 

That was the deal breaker for me on Renishaw's OMV or whatever they were calling it a couple years ago, when it was their own standalone system.

 

I've seen the PC-DMIS NC, and it looks pretty awesome. But as everybody here knows all too well, when it comes to software - looks can be a tiny bit deceiving.

 

Skip to 2:10 in this video:

 

[cincy k]

Do you have all of your fixturing drawn and know roughly where a part is in machine coordinates? And you output G10 prior to running your probing and part programs?

[cincy k]

So the productivity plus outputs all of the macro programs long hand?

[Sticky]

From my understanding you can actually get the MC Productivity + to use your on machine inspection plus macros now if you like. The trick is finding a reseller that can actually get it going for you.

 

Does anyone know if Mastercam is working towards getting this wrapped up and adding Renishaw CNC Reporter? http://www.renishaw....-reporter--8479

 

And yes I use G10's to post the approximate or should be locations of the part, then use the probe to inspect, verify, update the position etc.

 

Right now I just drill cycles set to subprogram and I write out the commands long hand.

[Guest]

It works so well I really don't see any major benefit of getting the integrated productivity plus. Especially since it outputs the long hand macros and not just inspection plus calls. Makes a real cluster F of your program.

A Productivity-Plus program from MC is damn near impossible to read compared to a hand written or CAM assisted probing cycle.

 

I just want it clean. Seems like using the MC Post to do the cycles has always been the best for me.

[Guest]

Does anyone know if Mastercam is working towards getting this wrapped up and adding Renishaw CNC Reporter?

I use a "W1." on my probing cycles and it automatically dumps out a report to my Memory Card/USB Stick for get this... FREE!

[GoetzInd]

Do you have all of your fixturing drawn and know roughly where a part is in machine coordinates? And you output G10 prior to running your probing and part programs?

 

Yes.

 

So the productivity plus outputs all of the macro programs long hand?

 

Yes

 

I use a "W1." on my probing cycles and it automatically dumps out a report to my Memory Card/USB Stick for get this... FREE!

 

+1

[Sticky]

I use a "W1." on my probing cycles and it automatically dumps out a report to my Memory Card/USB Stick for get this... FREE!

 

That isn't even kind of the same thing?

[cincy k]

Those using custom drill cycles- do you use these for just setup or do you use them for in process adjustments as well?

[taperlength]

I'd like to see a "dry run" option on the probing macros so the probe cycle can be run without a part in the machine. As it is, it will just alarm out from overtravel if you try that.

[Guest]

 

 

That isn't even kind of the same thing?

Have you ever seen what gets created when you use W1.?

[Sticky]

Have you ever seen what gets created when you use W1.?

 

Yes, it isn't making a nice excel spreadsheet with the feature names, deviations etc though. If you have tomsbtone with 80 parts, with 20 features each, and you need to do 100% inspection CNC reporter is going to save you a boatload of time

[Sticky]

For you guys that are using drill cycles instead of productivity plus, how are you handling things like re running a tool once you've had the probe measure a surface and update the tool offset? Do you guys have some sort of trick for adding statements?

[Mick]

I use a "W1." on my probing cycles and it automatically dumps out a report to my Memory Card/USB Stick for get this... FREE!

 

Foghorn showed me how to do this. It works real well. By using this, and then feeding the results into a spreadsheet, we could track the machines movement over a period of months using a master tombstone. It is a great function.

 

I like the idea of using custom drill cycles for the probing cycles. Nice and clean output, like Foghorn says, is preferable

 

I'm going to set this up in our Okuma post, rather than plonk down for Productivity Plus, inside or outside of MC.