Version 3.5.2 of VoluMill™ represents a reengineering of the toolpath engine for 2- and 3-axis roughing. Developer Celeritive Technologies Inc. claims the new releass is 30 percent faster at generating toolpaths for complex parts than previous versions.
“The primary focus of version 3.5 was on reducing overall path length and machine cycle times,” according to VoluMill product manager Joe McChesney. “Although customers have consistently reported cycle time reductions of 70 percent or more with older versions of VoluMill, we realized that there was still room for improvement, particularly when repositioning the tool between cuts.”
Celeritive Technologies is an independent, third-party developer of CAD/CAM software technologies for high-speed machining and machine shop productivity, including VoluMill™. It said testing of VoluMill 3.5 has shown reductions in overall toolpath length by up to one-third over version 3.0, and reductions in retracts to the rapid plane by up to 90%. It attributes much of this improvement to Freeway Linking™, a new technique that lifts the tool slightly off the floor of the part and detours it at high speed around obstacles, along a smooth path.
New capabilities introduced in VoluMill 3.5 include improvements in toolpath sorting that minimize the length of linking moves between cutting passes.
Other enhancements include avoidance of fixtures or other obstacles; improved cutting around islands; and better use of multiprocessor computers, including dramatic reductions in processing time for the new generation of quad-core processors.
A stand-alone version of VoluMill that can be used with any CAD/CAM system, VoluMill Universal™, features toolpath verification and other new features that make part programming even easier.