If you upgraded to CIMCO Edit Ultra and haven’t touched the collision settings yet, then you’re running Backplot the same way you always have, minus a key feature that’s sitting right there waiting to be turned on. Today, we are going to walk through setting up collision detection so your Simulation Report actually tells you when a tool, holder, or rapid move is going to hit something it shouldn’t.
This isn’t complicated once you know where the settings live, but it’s also easy enough to leave a few of them on the wrong default and end up with a report that’s either useless or buried in noise. Let’s get started.
Opening Backplot and Finding the Collision Settings
First we need to open the program we want to check. Load your NC file, then jump into Backplot either from the ribbon or with Ctrl+Shift+P.
Once you’re in Backplot, click over to the Simulation tab. This is the same tab that’s always controlled simulation behavior, so if you’ve configured Solid Simulation before, you’ll recognize the layout. What we want is the Settings section, and inside that, Collision Settings. This is where everything for today lives.
Configuring Collision Checking Per Model
The first setting you’ll see is Collision checking per model. This controls whether the software stops after finding the first collision for a given pair of components (tool against workpiece, holder against fixture, and so on) or keeps checking for every instance across every pair.
You’ve got two options here: Find One and Find All. For a first pass on a program you haven’t checked before, set this to Find One. It’ll tell you fast whether a problem exists without chewing through processing time looking for every occurrence. Once you know there’s a real issue and you want to see the full extent of it, switch to Find All and rerun the check.
Scoping Tool/Workpiece Collisions to Rapid Moves
This next one is the setting that trips people up the most. Tool/Workpiece Collisions has a dropdown with a few options, including Rapid Moves, Cutting Moves, fully on, or off.
Here’s the thing, the tool touches the workpiece constantly during normal cutting. That’s the whole point of the operation. If you leave general tool-to-workpiece checking on for cutting moves, you’re going to be flooded with flags for contact that’s completely expected, and the useful information gets buried.
Set this to Rapid Moves. What you actually want to catch is a rapid that clips stock it should have cleared, and that’s exactly what this setting isolates. If you need to verify what happens during a cutting move specifically, Stock Compare is the better tool for that job anyway.
Setting Collision Step Size and Cutter Allowance
Two more settings worth dialing in before you run your first check.
Collision Step Size controls how often the simulation samples points along the toolpath to check for collisions. A smaller step size checks more frequently and catches more, but it takes longer to run. A larger step size runs faster but can step right over a brief collision. Start with the default and only tighten it up if you suspect something short is slipping through.
Cutter Allowance exists because the STL geometry behind your models is made of triangulated surfaces, which have a small built-in margin of error. Without any allowance, a cutter that’s technically clear of the workpiece can register as touching it. Setting a small allowance, a tenth of a millimeter is a reasonable starting point, lets the cutter get that close without triggering a false alarm.
One more setting to check while you’re in here: Hidden model collisions. If you’ve hidden a fixture plate or clamp just to get a clearer view of the part, you don’t want that hidden model to also stop counting toward collision checking. Leave this on so visibility and verification stay separate.
Running the Check and Reading the Report
With settings configured, go back to the Simulation tab and click Check collision and limit errors. This runs detection against your current settings and populates the Simulation Report with anything it finds.
You’ll notice the report lists each collision by line number, the same way it’s always listed general program errors.
Click any entry and you’ll jump straight to that line in the editor, so you can see exactly which move caused the problem and adjust from there.
Keep in mind this button reruns detection on demand rather than automatically on every edit, since checking can be CPU intensive on a busy program. If you make changes to the toolpath, click the button again before you trust the report.
That’s all there is to it. Once these settings are dialed in, checking a new program for collisions becomes part of the normal Backplot review instead of something you have to remember to do separately.
Let us know if you run into any settings that behave differently on your setup, or if you’ve found a combination of settings that works especially well for your shop’s programs.
Have Questions or Need Help?
Every shop is different. If you have questions about CIMCO software or need help solving a specific programming, communication, or manufacturing workflow challenge, Managed Solutions is here to help.
Visit our CIMCO Edit product page to learn more about Edit Core and Ultra. If you need help configuring Collision Detection for your specific machines and controls, contact our team. We’ll be happy to walk through it with you.
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