Enhanced Productivity+ Active Editor Pro machine tool probe software

Renishaw's Productivity+ Active Editor Pro, which brings easy programming and a powerful macro suite to machine tool probe users worldwide, has been significantly upgraded with the release of version 1.4. By adding a wide range of import capabilities into Active Editor Pro, Renishaw has opened up the benefits of simple programming to a large number of users – all of whom can now program parts using the software's easy feature-based point and click system. The new CAD formats include Parasolid, STEP and IGES as standard items, with the option to add support for Pro/Engineer, Catia (v4 and 5), UG/NX .prt files, ACIS, SolidWorks and Inventor files. Loading files without intermediate conversions means a much faster workflow when developing new programs. Productivity+ Active Editor Pro 1.4 also adds the ability to update the machine tool using ‘virtual’ (or constructed) features, which have been built from other measured features. 'Constructed Circle' now allows users to create PCD features using drag-and-drop – and to use the real-life dimensions of that PCD to adjust the operation of the machine tool. The new 'Constructed Plane' feature is ideal for measuring complex components before levelling them using the Productivity+ 4th-axis levelling function. It allows parts with many islands on a plane to be aligned accurately.