CNC machines are becoming more capable paving the way for fewer operations as well as more efficient machining methods. This is often exacerbated by the difficulty producing a quality post processor for these machines. As a result there has become a growing need to perform more validation to ensure that the moving parts are not colliding and causing costly downtime and damage. In response to this demand, CIMCO has been working to introduce CIMCO Machine Simulation, an add-on for CIMCO Editor.
CIMCO Machine Simulation of DMU60 Video
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By enabling the simulation of common types of CNC machines in a virtual environment, movements between machine, tool, tool holders, fixtures, and peripheral devices (e. g. robots) can be considered so that collision-free machining is secured. That way, NC programs can quickly and continually be tested by the programmer in the office instead of on the machine, which ensures that parts are machined correctly the first time around, and often using less machining time.
In practice, the simulation can be run in fluent stages, to be taken down into slow-motion when critical parts have to be observed. Zoom in/out and navigate in 3D or go through the simulation step by step to analyze the reciprocally connected movements between machine, tool, holders, fixtures, and peripheral devices. In case of a collision, this is shown with a clear indication of what causes it.
- Collision check between the machine’s parts and environment
- Protects the CNC machine and other equipment
- Reduces the number of tests on the machine
- Reduces the number of scrapped parts
- Enables simulation of the same NC program on multiple machines
Want to be among the first to test CIMCO Machine Simulation? Contact us for more information on the upcoming beta program.
