What’s New In Autodesk’s 2017 CAM Product Portfolio

With new versions of computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) products available, you want to keep an eye out for features that will help you reduce energy consumption, speed up your production process and increase your overall precision. It’s really hard to know what product claims are true until you try them out for yourself.

Autodesk announced the availability of its 2017 CAM products this week, which includes five different software programs that can help users iterate and innovate faster to stay competitive. CAM products are judged on their ability to help customers ameliorate and ace advanced manufacturing techniques. Prior to their acquisition by Autodesk in 2014, these products were created and developed by Delcam alone. The enhanced versions reflect an amalgamation of Autodesk’s 3D design expertise and Delcam’s instinct for creating popular CAM software.

Any edge that Autodesk can offer manufacturers will be tested and welcomed if it can be verified. The ability of manufactured goods to be successful in today's marketplace depends on how well the products are designed, how optimized they are in terms of functionality, and how quickly they reach new and existing customers.

If you are going to be at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago, which runs from September 12–17, you can learn more about Autodesk’s roadmap for CAM as well as additive manufacturing and composites.

What’s New in FeatureCAM and PartMaker 2017

FeatureCAM is software for users of milling, turning and wire electrical discharge machining (EDM) machines.

System Requirements for FeatureCAM:

For dual-path Swiss-type lathes, you’ll find some new programming abilities that extend FeatureCAM’s support for computer numerical controlled (CNC) machines and add the capability to view manufacturing and product information straight from the model. If you’re employing Vortex toolpaths for moves like 2- and 3-axis roughing, the new version lets you use a functionality to eliminate helical ramp moves by allowing for predrilling.

PartMaker was originally developed by Delcam for Swiss machining, which is a type of turning center created for the Swiss watch industry. Swiss watchmaking is an absolutely fascinating subject, and what are referred to as Swiss-type lathes are used to manufacture small and complex parts with incredible precision by moving the part in the Z-axis while the tool remains in a static position.

PartMaker 2017 could be of particularly high value to manufacturers that are currently programming a Swiss machine by hand in their job and manufacturing shops. Autodesk includes this application in its FeatureCAM 2017 Ultimate product tier.

What’s New in PowerInspect 2017

Interesting fact: this CAD-based inspection solution won a Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2004 and was Delcam’s second best seller by 2008.

When you’re inspecting complex shapes, finding a measurement solution that is actually easy to sequence or program can prove to be, well, annoying. But it all depends on what you’re inspecting.

New to PowerInspect 2017 is support for OMV, CMMs and portable measuring equipment. This allows operators to maximize their choices and increase flexibility when deciding what measuring equipment to use, which can be helpful given the combination of characteristics and part geometry that any particular job entails.

If you’re making consistent inspection report images, there’s a new feature that allows you to recall the principal CAD viewpoints with a single-click mechanism. There’s also a new easier way to figure out and assess target points from laser-scanned data as well as upgraded point cloud performance to match some of the newer capabilities of recently released scanning equipment.

What’s New in PowerShape 2017

If you didn’t know, PowerShape is a CAD software that allows users to create and modify complex 3D models using surfaces, triangles and solids. You can import 3D point cloud data to reverse engineer 3D models for mold and toolmaking operations, as well as for electrode design and manufacturing.

New to PowerShape 2017 is an accessibility shading function that allows you to pinpoint areas of a part that you can’t machine through 3-axis machines.

If you use EDM technology and want to prevent cutting tools from machining slots, there is a rib capping tool that automatically creates surfaces to stop them. With a single command, you can create hundreds of surfaces, which can save a ton of time that you would have spent manually modeling them on there.

For shop floor burning, the PowerShape electrode wizard has better hardware integration. And for the reverse engineer tool users among our readers, fitting surfaces to imported triangle meshes has been streamlined and improved.

What’s New in PowerMill 2017

PowerMill is a legacy CAM software for high-speed CNC machining and multiaxis CNC. It’s used to create quality toolpaths and number control (NC) programs. You can calculate toolpaths for complex parts, boost your productivity with high-speed roughing and perform thorough finishing.

Job shop operators use PowerMill to perform rib machining as a less expensive alternative to EDM, program axes on 5-axis machines and build their own tools for 3- and 5-axis machines. You can create a tooling database to share and assemble your cutters with your team, and use setup sheets to keep your team abreast of critical manufacturing information.

If you’re in the business of manufacturing complex molds, dies and other components, check this out: there are improved simulation controls and constraint-based logic to configure link moves that are not designated as cutting moves—which yields more effective machining.

In a first-ever for PowerMill, there are integrated strategies to create turning routines for use on 5-axis mill/turn machines. It’s important to maintain a high level of uniformity in programming to yield the best and most consistent molds, which makes PowerMill 2017 worth looking into for manufacturers, especially if you’re stuck with complex multiaxis and high-speed applications.

If you’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere, you might not know that Autodesk has completely transformed its business model into a cloud-based subscription one. PowerShape, PowerMill, PowerInspect and FeatureCAM became available on Aug. 1, 2016. These products are available in Standard, Premium and Ultimate, and PartMaker 2017 is included if you purchase FeatureCAM Ultimate.