Automation updates make Alphacam even faster

A number of new and enhanced items in the latest release of Alphacam software provide improvements with automation, machining and feature extraction.

Alphacam 2016 R2 also contains a range of general improvements, along with new user interface commands for faster and simpler ways of working, according to the software provider.

For example, Alphacam Clipboard enables entities to be cut, copied and pasted in the Drawing Area between different versions of the software open on the same PC. An additional option was added for pre-drilled holes as the entry type on waveform roughing operations.

A new method has been added for extracting contours in work planes — by selecting faces to create the work plane for the extraction direction. “This improved feature extraction on user-selected multiple angled faces, is a real time-saver,” EMEA sales manager Michael Pettit says. “Feature Extraction has also been enhanced using an updated algorithm for finding contours.”

A new option achieves tool angle direction entry into a part when machining features such as grooves and slots. And there are changes to the separate, standalone, dialogs used for editing the leads of existing operations.

The Project Manager’s Insert page now contains commands for automatically inserting files in user-configured positions when they’re dragged into the Drawing Area. And additional dialogs create ‘new’ and ‘edit existing’ configurations can be selected from either the screen or user layers, specifying one or more snap points, according to the company.

And a new surface-machining pattern has been added to the advanced 5-axis cycle. Flowline creates a toolpath aligned to either the U or V direction of the machining surface where a specific surface texture, or grain, is required.

There have also been a number of updates to Alphacam’s Automation Manager, including changes to Job Settings, Machining Order, Layer Mapping, and added support for nesting small parts into defined zones.

For information, visit IWF booth No. 4613 and www.verosoftware.com.