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This tutorial provides an overview of how to use CAM Assist to compute your first toolpath strategy for your part.

Only some of CAM Assist’s features are covered here (just the bare essentials). If you’d like know more about all of CAM Assist’s features, refer to the CAM Assist User Interface section.

Note

The following step-by-step instructions assume you’ve already opened a relevant part. If you’ve not yet opened a part, see Getting Started with CAM Assist (Step 2).

For the purpose of illustration, CloudNC’s ‘Demo part 1’ is used in the step-by-step instructions.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. From the CAM Assist ribbon, click CloudNC CAM Assist.

    • CAM Assist opens within the part’s tab (as shown in the image below).

image-20240715-103340.png
image-20240715-111038.png
Info

Note the following within CAM Assist:

  • ‘Setup’ tab is automatically selected.

  • ‘3-Axis’ Machining mode is automatically selected.

  • 'Target setups’ contains two workpieces - this reflects NX’s Operation Navigator.

Setup tab

  • Machining mode -

select

  • CAM Assist supports ‘3 Axis’

or

  • and ‘3+2 Axis’ machining.

  • Target setups - notice that each Workpiece has an accompanying ‘Setup' checkbox:

Check the required ‘Setup’ checkbox(es) -

    • CAM Assist will compute a toolpath strategy for the workpiece only if it’s setup checkbox is checked.

When a setup checkbox

  • Workholding security - when a ‘Setup’ is checked,

the Workpiece expands

  • its Workholding security is displayed:

    • Workholding security

- use

    • is set by adjusting the slider

to indicate the security for the setup: this

    • from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’

    • This allows CAM Assist to select appropriate tools.

    • If your workholding security is not excellent, CAM Assist will opt for smaller tools in the tool library.

For this Tutorial:

Select 3 Axis for the

  1. For Machining Mode

Check Setup 1 for the Target setups

  1. , select ‘3 Axis’

  2. For Target setups, check ‘Setup 1’

  3. For Workholding security, move the slider to ‘Excellent’

image-20240715-112846.png

Machine tab

Set your CNC machine properties:

This tab is especially useful when you’re using session tools as the main source or when using a hybrid selection of tools.

CAM Assist uses CloudNC’s Cutting Parameters engine to calculate appropriate cutting data. The values you enter here will be used by that engine.

For this Tutorial:

  1. Keep the current values for the GENERIC_MACHINE.

image-20240715-113019.png

Tools Tab

  • Material - select the workpiece

'

  • material to be used by CAM Assist.

  • Tool Source - select the source of the tool library you want to use:

    • Tools from session

    • Built-in metric toolset

    • Built-in imperial toolset

    • CAM Assist provides

  1. Decide the workpiece material and tools to be used by CAM Assist.

  2. Select the tool library you want to use. CAM Assist comes with four tool libraries:

    • CAM Assist built-in tools in metric

    • CAM Assist built-in tools in inches

    • NX pre-selected built-in tools in metric

    • NX pre-selected built-in tools in inches

  3. You can also ask CAM Assist to use tools in your session as the target tools to program the part.

  4. Note: You can only select one tool library at a time to run CAM Assist. For a hybrid selection of tools, add tools to the NX session manually, then use the "export built-in tools to NX session" option and select tools in session to run CAM Assist.

  5. Machine Tab

    • Set your CNC machine properties. This is useful when using session tools as the main source or when using a hybrid selection of tools. CAM Assist needs to know machine properties to calculate appropriate cutting data for each tool using the CloudNC Cutting Parameters engine.

  6. Operation Tab

    • Decide all the operations you want CAM Assist to include, as well as any sub-settings you might want to include or exclude in the operations.

Running CAM Assist

Once all the above steps are completed, press OK to run CAM Assist for the first time.

Click on the Setup tab