Software puts waterjet machine users in control

Edgecut software for Water Jet Sweden's waterjet profiling machines is claimed to transform operational management via a waterjet machine's CNC to levels never imagined to be possible. It incorporates a host of features including: real-time three-dimensional screen viewing; job management; built-in multipart capabilities; live updates of alarms and operational messages, all with direct feedback from the machine. The user has real-time data presented graphically, 'as it is happening', on the machine itself. Real-time 3D representation of a job and the ability to rotate, pan and move around at will, gives unprecedented freedom to the operator to know what is going on at any time. Alternatively the built-in automatic tool-following function can be left running, should the operator merely need to keep an eye on things while engaged on other tasks. Many waterjet users have to run a succession of small batch tasks and even one-offs, for which purpose the ability to set up a simple outline program and then monitor it and add or amend instructions as the job progresses, will make their lives a lot easier. This is where Edgecut excels. The process taking place on the machine can be viewed remotely at all times and in real time, with changes to tool radius compensation just the press of a button away, with movements, feeds and tool alignment all clearly displayed. Each job in "Edgecut" effectively consists of a set of drawings, each drawing in turn might comprise of a number of parts. The operator can decide every single detail of the job as it is displayed. On one of the screens available, full control over the cutting heads can be exercised, including when to turn them on and off, how the abrasive feeders should work, plus fine-tuning of the height sensors and much more. Each drawing can be set up for a multiplicity of parts to be profiled per sheet and then repeated as many times as required using individual settings for the zero points, distance between parts and so on. It is delightfully easy to set up these zero points and there are direct access buttons for reading current axes positions and a crisp, clear, view of what's going on and what lies ahead, making it almost impossible for mistakes to occur.