Product category:
CAM, CNC and NC software
News Release from: Gibbs and Associates | Subject: GibbsCAM
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 21 October 2003
GibbsCAM / Renishaw at EMO-Milano 2003
GibbsCAM and Renishaw Probing Solution To Be Demonstrated at EMO-Milano 2003
Gibbs and Associates, developer of GibbsCAM, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software for programming computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine tools, and Renishaw, one of the world's leading metrology companies, announced today that a powerful new probing plug-in for GibbsCAM that combines their expertise will be demonstrated at EMO-Milano 2003 in Milan, Italy on October 21st-28th, 2003 Renishaw's new Productivity+ plug-in for GibbsCAM leverages GibbsCAM's ease-of-use style to create a new simplified approach to producing touch probing routines on machine tools, allowing process control and inspection to be programmed at the same time as toolpath generation
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 4 Mar 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
CAM software programs 2-4 axis wire-EDM machines
CAM software maker has announced that enhanced capabilities or programming 2- through 4-axis Wire-EDM CNC machines are now available.
CAM machining software handles 2.5D solids
CAM software, specifically developed to handle 2.5D solids-based machining and further advance the state of the art of CNC programming, will be demonstrated at Chicago's NDES 2003.
As part of their strategic partnership, the Productivity+ GibbsCAM plug-in will be jointly marketed by both companies worldwide.
"Using the Productivity+ GibbsCAM plug-in, the many benefits of probing can be maximized by engineers who are responsible for developing manufacturing processes and understand the design intent," states Dr Tim Prestidge, Director and General Manager of Renishaw's Machine Tool Products Division.
"Machine tool probing for process control and inspection therefore becomes a natural part of the engineering process, using the probe just like any other tool in the magazine." "Renishaw implemented the Productivity+ GibbsCAM plug-in using GibbsCAM's Developer's Toolkit," explains Bill Gibbs, president and founder of Gibbs and Associates.
Further reading
CAM software simulation capabilities enhanced
Enhanced process simulation capabilities have been added to GibbsCAM providing dynamic view orientation and the ability to export STL model of work-in-process stock.
Ease-of-use spreads CAM system's popularity
Machining CAM system has gained worldwide popularity, said the provider, owing to its ease-of-use approach combined with a powerful programming and factory supplied post processors.
"The toolkit gives third party developers full access to GibbsCAM's data structures and functionality allowing them to implement custom solutions seamlessly with GibbsCAM.
As a result, Renishaw was able to fully realize their vision of simplifying machine tool spindle probing through GibbsCAM." The new plug-in supports probing routines to set tool length and diameter, perform work-piece identification, work-piece set-up, in-process tool offset control, and part inspection (pass off).
With the seamless integration of these probing routines into the GibbsCAM environment, the entire process can now be fully simulated prior to machine prove out, increasing on-machine confidence and therefore increasing machine efficiency.
For further ease-of-use, the intuitive menus provided within the Productivity+ GibbsCAM plug-in allow the effective use of machine tool probes on a range of controllers without a detailed knowledge of macro code.
The instructions required to control the probe are automatically included in the same post-processed file as the toolpath.
A further Renishaw development are Productivity+ plug-ins written specifically for various machine tool controllers, which will bring advanced levels of probing functionality to machine tools.
The probing programs are processed within the controller at run time.
The Productivity+ GibbsCAM plug-in can also be used to introduce probing commands into existing GibbsCAM programs only requiring a simple reprocessing.
• Gibbs and Associates: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
