This launch also marks the rationalisation of pricing and structure across Autodesk’s manufacturing software. The 2017 products PowerMill, PowerShape, PowerInspect and FeatureCAM is available to new and current customers in three levels: Standard, Premium and Ultimate. PartMaker 2017 will be included as part of FeatureCAM Ultimate.
All products will be available as perpetual and maintenance licences and through Autodesk Subscription, a purchasing option that provides access to Autodesk desktop software with lower upfront costs on a term-based licence to meet a variety of business needs and budget considerations. All software can be accessed at: http://www.autodesk.com/solutions/manufacturing
“Manufacturers need to iterate and innovate faster than ever before to stay competitive as the marketplace is redefined by a new future of making things,” said Mark Forth, manager of manufacturing industry strategy at Autodesk. “Autodesk’s new 2017 CAM products are designed to help our customers learn, improve and master advanced manufacturing techniques that ultimately lead to better designed and functional products being brought to market more quickly and efficiently.”
FeatureCAM 2017 and PartMaker 2017
Autodesk FeatureCAM is for milling machines, turning and mill-turn centres, and wire electrical discharge machines (EDMs). The 2017 version of the product includes the following improvements:
•New programming capabilities for dual-path Swiss-type lathes, further improving its range of CNC machine support
•Ability to import and view product and manufacturing information directly from a model in order to help visualise design specifications
•Access to functionality that allows pre-drilling when using Vortex toolpaths, ruling out the need for helical ramp moves
In addition to the features above, PartMaker 2017 for Swiss-type lathes is now available within the FeatureCAM 2017 Ultimate product tier.
PowerMill 2017
Autodesk PowerMill 2017 takes the ability to easily and effectively manufacture the most complex moulds, dies and other components to new heights. This latest version includes the following new features:
•More efficient 3D offset finishing toolpaths, greater simulation controls and constraint-based logic to optimise non-cutting link moves for safer, more efficient machining
•For the first time, PowerMill also provides strategies to create turning routines for use on 5-axis mill-turn machines
PowerShape 2017
The design of 3D complex parts is now more effective with the following improvements to PowerShape 2017:
•Accessibility shading to identify areas of a part that cannot be machined with 3-axis machining alone
•A new rib capping tool allows users of EDM technology to automatically create surfaces in order to stop cutting tools from machining slots that will be produced by EDM. Hundreds of surfaces are created in a single command, saving hours of manual modelling.
•The PowerShape electrode wizard offers improved EDM hardware integration for shopfloor burning
•Finally, regular users of reverse engineering tools can benefit from improved fitting of surfaces to imported triangle meshes
PowerInspect 2017
PowerInspect 2017 includes the following new features:
•Support for portable measuring equipment, coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and On Machine Verification (OMV) are offered in a single package for PowerInspect Ultimate users. This improves productivity and flexibility by making it easier for operators to select the most appropriate measuring equipment for each job.
•The ViewCube feature offers specific benefits for visualising inspection results and creating inspection reports
•A single-click mechanism to recall the principal CAD viewpoints, making the creation of consistent inspection report images faster and easier than ever before
•Improvements to point-cloud performance now allows users to take advantage of the improved capabilities in the latest scanning equipment
•A dedicated point-cloud single point item provides an easy way to evaluate target points from laser scan data
