Delcam incorporates machine DNA profiler into PowerMill 2013

Delcam's Machine DNA Profiler resolves problems that can be encountered when existing CAM systems base toolpath on the shape and material being cut, but take no account of the specific machine. With all CAM systems, the programmer generates toolpaths in the software, which are output as machine-readable code to be run on the machine tool. For each project, the user has to choose the most efficient way to machine the part. This will involve selecting various strategies that start by removing the bulk of the material and end up with finishing the detailed model. Within each strategy, various parameters must be set that will determine exactly how the material is to be removed. Typical parameters include feedrate, spindle speed, stepover and stepdown, minimum corner radius and point spacing along the toolpath. For cutting a given material with a given cutter, the tooling manufacturer will publish a recommended feedrate, spindle speed, stepover and stepdown. However, these figures usually relate to the machining of fairly simple geometry using predominantly straight-line moves. Other parameters, like corner radius, distance between points, are set according to the user's experience. These user-determined parameters have become more important for modern CAM systems, including PowerMill, because the toolpaths generated, especially for roughing, have become much more complex, with far greater use of arc moves than straight lines. These new types of toolpath increase the efficiency of roughing operations by focusing on maintaining more consistent cutting conditions, so reducing variations in the load on the cutter, allowing faster feedrates and increasing tool life. While they do give greater efficiency, these systems take no account of the ways in which different machine tools will react to a given geometrical toolpath. For instance, all machine tools have their own dynamic limits and a variety of minimum response times. Of course, the programmer gains experience from using a particular machine tool but this knowledge rarely has any scientific basis. For example, arcs with a small radius can only be run slowly, so if the programmer wants to run the cutter at a high speed, he must give arcs a larger radius, but how large? Similarly, he needs to know the minimum distance that points should be placed apart without violating the response time of the control. The 2013 release of PowerMill will incorporate Delcam's Machine DNA Profiler which performs automated tests on the machine tool to profile its performance, for example, the movements the machine tool and control can accommodate at any given feedrate. The results are fed back into the software and used to calculate the optimum toolpath for that machine. As before, the user will set cutting parameters within the CAM system according to the material and tool being used. Other parameters, such as corner radius and point spacing, are automatically set by PowerMill, based on the results from the Profiler. This approach will ensure that the part is made optimally on the particular machine tool using scientifically-calculated values, rather than relying solely on the experience of the operator with that specific machine. The Delcam Machine DNA Profiler represents the first attempt to bring a truly scientific approach to optimising machining efficiency with a CAM system. It replaces the trial-and-error approach to programming by allowing right-first-time toolpaths to be generated on a consistent basis.