01 February 2012

Open Mind hyperMill CAM enhancement supports customer-specific feature programming

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The customised process feature, or CPF, enhancement to the 2011 version of Open Mind Technologies' hyperMill CAM system allows users to define and program complex individual customer-specific features. The method is based on process-oriented linking of characteristic geometry sequences with freely defined machining steps.

"CPFs allow the linking and naming of any number of geometry selections and associated parameters in one element," explains Peter Brambs, head of the Global Engineering Service Group at Open Mind. "A curve, for example, can be a machining contour or a boundary curve, and that manufacturing purpose can also be stored in the CPF."

Therefore, for a pocket, say, the user of Open Mind hyperMillCAM CPF, can select individual surfaces – a hub surface, a lateral cut-out, an upper edge curve, etc – assign a name to it, add an image, if necessary, so that another user also knows what it is, and then combine it all into a CPF. Other parts that share the same geometric structure can be described and machined using the same CPF.

Filter schemes within the CPF technology allow for automated selection of geometry, especially when consistent rules (colours, layers, etc) are used in the creation of smart designs.

The initial steps in using the system are to conceive the structure of the CPF and define the machining steps. With this stored information, complex geometry with a similar structure can be programmed with a few mouse clicks, says Open Mind, and with reduced chance of programming errors. Once tested and stored, the CPF can be recalled and consistently applied with knowledge of the end-user manufacturing processes.

Author
Celia Cadwallader

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Related Companies

Open Mind Technologies UK Ltd