Basic MP Posts corporate training course

[kcham]

I am considering taking this course.  I'm wondering if anyone out there has taken it and has recommendations about how to prepare.  I see in the description of the course @ mastercam.com that there are several knowledge/understanding prerequesites required, and I don't think those would be a problem.  Just looking for some advice from someone who has gone through it as far as what to expect from myself as well as the training provided in the course.  Thanks in advance for your submissions.

[Orvie]

I have taken these classes at CNC.

Colin Gilchrist was the instructor at the time. He did a very good job at explaining how powerful the post processor is.

You might be better off taking his post class on eapprentice. The material will always be available to you this way.

Plus, you could start today if you wanted.

[nickbe10]

I have known Colin for over 10 years now, and in fact he was one of 2 people that did my initial training in the Mastercam system itself.

1) His knowledge of the system as a whole is encyclopedic. This includes the Post stuff and everything else....

2) He is a natural born teacher

I am now doing my post training with him.....I don't know who is doing the training now at CNC Software but I know a couple of people who have been on the course and let's just say, I am doing my post training with Colin.....(this is not necessarily a comment on their instructor's abilities)

[motor-vater]

Is there a link some where to Colins Post class?

 

Nevermind found it... DUH!!! 2 more weeks of second shift and I get my life and mind back!!!

 

[kcham]

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 3:49 PM, Orvie said:

The material will always be available to you this way.

Orvie,

Were there not helpful materials sent home with you from the corporate training class?  I had heard that there was a massive book available somewhere which had detailed information for future reference.  With things like post processors (and, let's face it, programming in general) the most valuable instruction is not the initial training, but the hands-on experience and solving of problems that happens thereafter.

Thanks,

kcham

[nickbe10]

 

31 minutes ago, kcham said:

I had heard that there was a massive book available somewhere which had detailed information for future reference.

I believe you are talking about the MP documentation which is available (or should be) from your reseller.

The thing about the e-mastercam class is that you can refer to the worked examples, by reviewing the modules.

The MP documentation is extensive and recently improved (greatly) but is still more of a reference than a teaching guide / aid.

[kcham]

Thanks for the replies so far...  OK, my superiors are sending me to the corporate training course on Basic MP Posts.  Any advice for me?

[Colin Gilchrist]

6 minutes ago, kcham said:

Thanks for the replies so far...  OK, my superiors are sending me to the corporate training course on Basic MP Posts.  Any advice for me?

Read as much of the documentation as you can before you go.

[kcham]

Definitely will do, Colin.  Thanks.

[Colin Gilchrist]

What are your Post Development goals? Are you looking to just make edits to existing posts, or will you be building complete new Posts for your machines? The reason I ask, is that you need a different skill set to build 5 Axis Posts, vs. 4 Axis Posts. If your goal is to "learn it all", then you should brush up on Vector and Matrix math.

MP is a home-grown language, that was developed by CNC Software, for consuming NCI data, and converting that into NC code. There are a ton of 'pre-defined variables that are setup by MP for you automatically, and get filled with data from the NCI file.

I would recommend downloading a copy of MPMaster from this site, and opening the file using the Mastercam Code Expert Text Editor. This editor has the variables, post blocks, and functions listed in the "auto-complete" code, and will color code the pre-defined variables it recognizes. 

[kcham]

4 minutes ago, Colin Gilchrist said:

What are your Post Development goals? Are you looking to just make edits to existing posts, or will you be building complete new Posts for your machines?

Colin,

Initially it will be making changes to existing posts.  I can see that morphing into making major changes to existing posts very quickly.  We have everything from Fanuc lathe posts which just need some minor code structure edits to Fanuc 4- or 5-axis mill posts that require slightly more involved code structure edits to Seimens/Heidenhain 4.5- or true 5-axis posts that need some pretty major changes because the software versions in our controls are oddballs.  I don't see myself ending up building complete new posts (at least not anytime in the near future).  We kind of stopped trying to get outside sources to fix the posts years ago because it seemed that everybody just kind of lost interest when they figured out that we also wanted them to fix the problems that were created when they "fixed" our known issues.  We have just been living with some things (hand edits to code) for several years now.  Also, in the past, our management core has just thought that you just hire a guy for a week, get him to fix some post problems, and then your are fixed up forever.  They don't realize that posts are living things that have to evolve as you do different things in your programs, and we are a low quantity job shop that does a lot of one-off weird stuff on a daily basis.  A recent scrambling of my employer's hierarchy has given me a direct superior who believes us so far when we say that a post will always be a work in progress and who is also willing to develop an internal capability for fixing our posts to do exactly what we want.  So...I am jumping at the chance to develop our own capability (and hurry before they change their minds).  I have been a programmer for many years, and I have played around with our lathe posts some.  However, I have always been swamped with programs to do, and I have never had the time to really see anything but the most simple of post changes through to my full satisfaction.

I definitely will follow your advice on the MPMaster above, and I am very grateful for the information and will gladly accept any other tidbits (or 4-course meals) you can send my way.

Thanks again

[jlw™]

Simply put, Colin is the best.  I have taken several of his post classes.  I would recommend it to any one.  Heck, I'd recommend just getting to know Colin in general, he's a great guy.

Thanks again Colin!