Container Concept Introduction

SmartCAM V13.5: Regenerative Process Containers

In the v13 release of SmartCAM a new “Container’” element type was introduced. This feature provided a means to manage the process model by allowing many individual elements representing a toolpath to be packaged into a single container element. Container elements could be created in two ways, either manually by grouping a set of elements and using the User Elements – Container panel, or by turning on the insert bar “Insert into Container” option when creating toolpath using a Process panel.

Click here to view a video that highlights Containers and Regenerative Process Containers.

The v13.5 release extends the container concept to provide powerful new capabilities. The Insert into Container behavior has been improved so that now the container includes additional attributes which allow the toolpath to be modified and regenerated. Container elements output from process panels that support this capability are now identified in the list view as “Process” elements. These elements are automatically assigned a container description which names the process they were created by, and can be seen in the readout line at the bottom of the screen as the cursor is moved over the Process element in the list view.

This feature provides many powerful new use cases. Following are the most significant:

• Process panel input can now be captured and stored with the process model, and subsequently retrieved and viewed at a later date.
• Process toolpaths can be regenerated by automatically recalling the original panel that created them, and restoring the insert properties and any geometry or group references.
• Process containers can be copied then modified to reference different part features then be regenerated.
• Template jobs can be created containing standard process containers and can be used as a starting point for new jobs, allowing containers to be modified to reference new part geometry then be regenerated.

Creating Process Containers – To create a regenerative process container toolpath, use one of the standard Process panels (Pocket, Profile, etc.) with the insert bar Insert into Container option turned on. The resulting process output will appear in the list view as a single Process element. Move the cursor over the Process element and observe the container description that appears in the readout line at the bottom of the screen, identifying the Process type.

Regenerating Process Containers – To regenerate a process container, choose the Geo Edit – Modify command and select the Process element. When the modify container dialog appears, choose the Recall option and Accept the dialog. The original process panel is then recalled with the parameters used to create the toolpath. Change the process parameters as desired, or change the element or group references, or step properties. Choose Regen to regenerate the toolpath, and choose Accept to complete the modification and replace the container content with the newly generated toolpath and parameters.