PC-based probing software use extended

Enhanced PC-based probing software is now available to thousands more machine tool users, said Renishaw, which has upgraded its Productivity+ Active Editor Pro software.

Renishaw said that version 1.4 of its Productivity+ Active Editor Pro software now brings easy programming and a powerful macro suite to machine tool probe users worldwide.

Version 1.4 of Active Editor Pro dramatically increases the number of users who can benefit from its simple programming style, by adding support for CAD models from a large variety of CAD formats, and extending the range of postprocessors.

In addition, the new 'constructed features' function (for prismatic parts with multiple circles and planes), along with support for many more languages, open up new possibilities for flexible part programming and bring process control into the reach of more CNC machine tool users than ever before, said Renishaw.

Renishaw's range of Productivity+ software is already the industry standard, combining an easy-to-use front end and powerful macros.

The novel system allows the machine tool to automatically update itself based on measurements it has made.

For example, the machine can find a component, or identify a wrongly-loaded part, with no user input required.

The level of detail is up to the programmer to decide - from simple job set-up through to advanced process control and reporting, the Productivity+ software allows the easy setting up of automatic routines on a machine.

Productivity+ Active Editor Pro is an interactive CAD-based editor for programming probing tasks on machine tools, bringing a wide range of benefits to all probe users - whether they are experienced or absolute first-timers.

* Support for many more CAD formats - by adding a wide range of import capabilities into Active Editor Pro, Renishaw has opened up the benefits of simple programming to a large number of users - all of whom can now program parts using the software's easy feature-based 'point and click' system.

The new CAD formats include Parasolid, STEP and IGES as standard items, with the option to add support for Pro/Engineer, Catia (v4 and 5), UG/NX .prt files, ACIS, SolidWorks and Inventor files.

Renishaw told manufacturingtalk that the loading of files without intermediate conversions means a much faster workflow when developing new programs.

* Constructed features - Productivity+ Active Editor Pro 1.4 also adds the ability to update the machine tool using 'virtual' (or constructed) features, which have been built from other measured features.

For the first time, said Renishaw, 'Constructed Circle' allows users to create PCD features using 'drag-and-drop' functionality - and to use the real-life dimensions of that PCD to adjust the operation of the machine tool.

The new 'Constructed Plane' feature is ideal for measuring complex components before levelling them using the Productivity+ 4th-axis levelling function.

It allows parts with many islands on a plane to be aligned accurately.

'Constructed Circle' and 'Constructed Plane' are the first in a series of constructed features which continue to improve the measurement and update capabilities of Active Editor Pro.

* Compatibility with a wide range of controls - Postprocessor support is always developing and Active Editor Pro now provides support for a wide range of machines fitted with controllers from Fanuc, Haas, Makino, Mazak (Matrix and 640), Brother, Mitsubishi Meldas, Mori-Seiki, Siemens (840D and 810D), Heidenhain (i530 and 426/430), and Hurco (Ultimax).

Active Editor Pro programs are often completely independent of machine type, which is a great benefit to users of more than one controller type - post processing for a new machine allows users to benefit from all of the machine update functionality which Active Editor Pro can provide.

* New languages - language support for Asian regions has improved with the launch of versions for Chinese and Korean users, on top of the Japanese language already supported.

The total level of support is now nine languages - and Productivity+ is used in over 22 countries worldwide.

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