Release Notes

v1.17

Release date: 4 June 2024

Features

• Soft Jaw Designer

  • Imperial units in the Soft Jaw Designer add-on are now supported.

  • Parts with bosses are now supported properly so that custom jaws can open and close correctly on these features.

  • Improved soft jaw creation for complex geometry.

• Cycle Time Estimator

  • Cycle Time Estimator now respects the document units and will support imperial or metric depending on what is already in place.

  • You can now update the toolpaths and subsequent cycle times in Fusion, and the value will update in the cycle times output once you save the file.

  • Any changes made to the cycle time value of any toolpath will now auto update the parent strategy/setup/overall cycle time.

• Tool management

  • Updated Aluminium feed and speed presets in the built-in tool library with data generated by the Cutting Parameters backend for unsupported tool types.

  • Tool material for all drills set to carbide to enable Cutting Parameters recommendations for first-time users.

  • Machine library generic machines updated to better represent the most popular machines..

  • Cutting Parameters now supports ball end mills and taps (this excludes freeform toolpaths).

Improvements

• Increased the default maximum request size to 1025MB to accommodate larger or more complex STEP files: if the file is too big then a clear message is displayed to the user to indicate the issue.

• Updated the Cycle Time Estimator export to include quantity of parts and overall cycle time.

Fixes

• Fixed a bug with Cycle Time Estimator that was causing parts to not be uploaded if the user was not in the manufacturing work space in Fusion.

• Fixed the broken export button, in the export tab of the Cycle Time Estimator, so that it now exports the correct information.

• Fixed an issue where selecting a hole for tool orientation in Manual 3+2 could result in incorrect drilling direction, ensuring that blind holes are always drilled from the open side.

v1.16

Release date: 13 May 2024

Features

• Cutting Parameters AI (Preview Feature) - get started with our new Cutting Parameters AI explorer. 

  • You can now explore and optimize your cutting parameters with our all-new Cutting Parameters AI feature. 

  • This powerful feature enables the modification and exploration of optimal cutting operations.

  • Interact with sliders or heatmaps to explore optimal tool life, chip loads, feed rate, spindle speeds and so much more.

  • Cutting Parameters has been a major focus for us; we’d love to hear your feedback!

  • To use Cutting Parameters AI, right-click on a toolpath after CAM Assist has run and access it through the option provided in the menu. 

• Soft Jaw Designer (Preview Feature)

  • Accessible via the Fixture Management panel, the Soft Jaw Designer allows you to design customized fixtures efficiently. 

  • Open the Soft Jaw Designer from the fixture management panel. 

  • Select your part, jaws, spindle direction and opening direction as well as your z level(s) and CAM Assist will generate a custom fixture for your part. 

  •  The Soft Jaw designer is also smart enough to create clearance allowances for sharp corners, will avoid interlocking geometry, and will allow for your parts to slide effectively during use. 

  • Note - this feature is only available in the Windows version of CAM Assist as of this release

• Avoidance Geometry

  • Now available in preview is the CAM Assist Avoidance Geometry Generator. 

  • This feature helps you create bodies that ensure machining operations are limited to specific areas. 

  • This feature is especially helpful in keeping toolpaths from drifting in between vise jaws or other areas where you don’t want the tool to go. 

  • Avoidance geometry is slightly different from fixture geometry. While fixture bodies must be avoided, Avoidance Geometry is considered to be part of the stock and may be gouged in certain situations.

  • Note - this feature is only available in the Windows version of CAM Assist as of this release

• Cycle Times Estimator (Preview Feature)

  • The Cycle times Estimator uses your tool library and machine preferences to generate precise and editable cycle time estimates in bulk. 

  • Upload up to 10 parts in one go, select your machine, tool library, material and your common machining mode then let CAM Assist generate your cycle time estimates for all. 

  • In the report tab, you will receive a breakdown report of your stock and part sizes/weights, faces machined, and more. 

  • Finally, export your report into a formatted CSV document ready to share with your team. 

Improvements

• We have improved some of the wording in our existing tooltips to make them more clear and concise. 

Fixes

• We have removed the feedback and support button from the General tab so that the interface is not cluttered: you can still use all other channels for reporting feedback to us. 

• ‘Beta program only’ has been removed from the automatic 3+2 machining mode option.

• We have updated the interface so that when you click run after updating your machine properties, it will save those properties to persist over to the next session or run.

  • You can still click the ‘Save Machine Properties’ button prior to running. Both options will now save the updated properties. 

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v1.15

This version was an internal release.

v1.14

Release date: 3 April 2024

Improvements

• ‘Detailed roughing’ is on by default (see the Advanced tab)

  • Detailed roughing helps to ensure all necessary material has been removed before finishing.

  • It reduces the number of collisions in finishing toolpaths, delivering a higher quality strategy.

  • It will take a little more computation time when you run CAM Assist, in most cases.

  • Detailed roughing can be enabled or disabled in the Advanced tab.

  • Note: even with Detailed roughing turned on, you must still check the simulation to ensure all material is removed before finishing.

  • We welcome your feedback on this feature.

• Improvement to wall entries - particularly tight corners, providing some clearance from the part.

v1.13

Release date: 8 March 2024

Features

• CAM Assist can now run in the background (see the General tab)

  • Before clicking ‘Run’ in CAM Assist, just check the ‘Enable background execution’ checkbox and you'll be free to continue other work within Fusion.

  • Note: you must not edit the targets setup(s) as it will have an impact on the result of CAM Assist's toolpath strategy computation.

• Other features

  • Stock removal prediction.

  • Tool Use tab now supports T-slot cutters.

  • Connect all connected walls into a single toolpath op where possible.

Improvements

• 3+2 Machining mode (see the General tab)

  • Roughing Order - CAM Assist now respects the order (if you wish) of the faces you select when completing 3+2 roughing strategies.

  • Ability to select hole axis as a direction of tool orientation.

  • Rename ‘By Setup’ to ‘User Defined’ to improve user experience.

• Other improvements

  • Tooltip improvement for ‘Avoidance Geometry’.

  • Update to documentation link.

  • UI changes to remove ‘360’ from the product.

  • ‘Geometry selection’ is now next to ‘Machine Full Part’ checkbox.

  • Hide hole patching bodies by default to improve user experience.

  • The checkbox state of the 'Detail roughing' and 'Hole patching' is persistent.

  • Email in sign-up form is populated automatically based on Stripe / Autodesk authentication.

Fixes

• Issues causing frequent Error 100 have been resolved.

• If spot drilling fails, CAM Assist will continue to create hole making operations.

• Spot drilling enabled no longer causes the toolpath strategy to miss some chamfer operations.

• MacOS installer automatic update resolved.

• Bulk roughing clears the center of a spigot.

v1.12

Release date: 5 February 2024

Features

• Chamfer tip offset

  • CAM Assist will now offset the tip of the chamfer tool, when machining modelled chamfers, without gouging the part.

  • This method avoids engaging the tip of the chamfer tool, where the cutting speed is zero.

  • In addition, it allows for slower spindle speeds or higher feed rates to be used in chamfering, which should prolong chamfer tool life.

  • This update does not affect deburring.

• Avoidance geometry (see the General tab)

  • Avoidance Geometry blocks out portions of the stock that you don't want to be machined in the setup. These blocked-out portions (referred to as ‘Avoidance Geometry’) are different from Fixture bodies. While Fixture bodies MUST be avoided, the Avoidance Geometry is considered part of the stock and MAY be gouged in specific cases. For example, drilling a through hole may pierce the avoidance geometry but not the Fixture.

  • Fixture bodies also require clearance from any tool, whereas all roughing tools may touch the surface of the avoidance geometry.

  • Avoidance Geometry has a very specific application for 3+2 setups, where controlling the tool placement around work-holding is required.

• Shaft clearance for floor finishing

  • When the shoulder length of a tool is within 1mm of the pocket depth, CAM Assist would produce a floor finishing toolpath that fails to generate in Fusion, due to the default value of 1mm for shaft clearance.

  • For floor finishing toolpaths, this clearance value has been reduced by CAM Assist to allow machining pockets with a depth less than 1mm from the full usable length (LU) of the tool (also called shoulder length in the Fusion tool library).

• Independent selection of 3+2 roughing and finishing directions (see the General tab)

  • The previous version of CAM Assist introduced the ability to choose different machining orientations for roughing and finishing. However there were limitations that led to problems if you chose completely different directions as opposed to one being a subset of the other. These limitations have been removed and roughing results are improved when the roughing orientations are completely different from finishing.

• Reduction in gouges for 2D Contour operations

  • Since lead-ins and lead-outs for 2D Contour toolpaths are not checked for collisions in Fusion, they would often cause large gouges to the model. CAM Assist will now simulate the entries and reduce the arc size below the Fusion default values in order to fit collision free entries into tighter spaces.

• Support of Fusion Machine Library (see the General and Tool use tabs)

  • CAM Assist will now read Local machines (defined in Fusion’s Machine Library) in the ‘Choose machine’ field. This means it is easier to provide your specific machine details to CAM Assist. The Generic machine list has also been streamlined for simplified access.

• Spot Drilling toolpath type (see the Advanced tab)

  • Users can now include Spot Drilling operations to spot/center holes that will be later drilled by CAM Assist. For these operations, CAM Assist will use a Spot Drill tool from the selected library to pierce holes before drilling them, namely by plunging to a fixed depth of 0.020”/ 0.5 mm.

• Frictionless software updates

  • When a new version of CAM Assist is available, users can now upgrade the add-in in an easy way by clicking an ‘Update’ button, which will initiate the installation process.

Improvements

• 3+2 performance

  • By reducing the number of machining directions considered for ball nose tools, the time taken to run CAM Assist on complex 3+2 parts has been significantly reduced.

• Tool selection for fillets and profiles

  • CAM Assist is now more likely to choose the same tool and toolpath for finishing continuous fillets, reducing excessive linking movements and improving surface finish.

  • This is especially evident in 3+2 machining when some surfaces of the fillet could be treated as a wall from alternate cutting directions.

  • CAM Assist is more likely to choose a single tool for wall finishing profiles, especially in cases where the previous strategy was split by a sharp corner.

v1.11.0

Release date: 20 December 2023

Features

• Multiple Tool Orientations Selection with 3+2 Machining (see the General tab)

  • Following on from your feedback, we have evolved our 3+2 feature to give you more options for selecting the machining direction:

    • Aligned to the X, Y and Z axes

    • Select ‘by setup’

    • Full automatic selection by CAM Assist (beta customers only)

  • If you select the direction ‘by setup’, you can then also:

    • Decide if you want to use the same direction for roughing and finishing

    • Use the interface to select which directions you want to machine the part from (respecting the order of selection)

Please be advised that CAM Assist’s ‘SteepAndShallow’ option is in Beta with ‘Contour3D’ currently the default. In some instances SteepAndShallow may yield better toolpaths and/or machining time results. This can be selected in the 'Finishing' section of the 'Advanced' tab. Also, you can’t edit roughing or finishing modes in the ‘Advanced’ tab if you don’t have these modes selected.

• New User Interface (see CAM Assist’s Layout)

  • We have slimmed down the menus on CAM Assist to deliver the most used features on the General tab. So as well as your tool library and material, you’ll now find your workholding security per setup, as well as our new 3+2 orientation selection options. 

  • All the other tabs have been combined into the ‘Advanced’ tab, with ‘Tool Use’ unchanged.

• Hole Patching is enabled by default (see the Advanced tab)

  • You can toggle this setting in the ‘Roughing’ section of the ‘Advanced’ tab. Hole patching will prevent roughing passes from machining material away that would otherwise be handled by hole-making operations, like drilling.

• Improved Error Handling

  • We now display error codes, enabling our support team to easily understand any issues, and further enhanced our messaging to assist users. 

• New Demo Parts (see the CAM Assist Panel)

  • We have two additional demo parts for you to try CAM Assist on, including a 3+2 part. 

Improvements

• Decreased the time for the CAM Assist menu to open

• Use Fractional values for imperial tool libraries

• Enable Users to press ‘Cancel’ during bulk roughing strategy production 

Fixes

• Fixed some minor cases where CAM Assist doesn’t run after installation

• Fixed a minor issue around V1.10 of CAM Assist appearing as an outdated version

• Fixed further errors around unsupported hole types

Hotfix v1.11.1

• Fixed an issue that caused Fusion to hang when the authentication page (shown during CAM Assist installation) is closed.

• Improved the tooltip for Select roughing directions for the 3+2 machining mode ‘By Setup’.

v1.10.0

Release date: 10 November 2023

We’re excited to bring you the latest enhancements to CAM Assist, driven by our users' feedback.

Features

• 3+2 axis machining - get started with our newly introduced 3+2 Axis machining. The feature is in beta for Finishing and experimental for Roughing. Our current 3+2 is ideal to run on simple to moderate parts up to 12”x12” (300mm x 300mm).

  • 3+2 has been our most requested user feature: we’d love to hear your feedback!

  • To use the 3+2 axis machining, check its option in the General tab.

• Tool management assistance - our Tool Onboarding Manager alerts you to tool compatibility issues and guides you through fixes.

• Material-aware tool management - the ‘Materials’ tab in the Tool Onboarding Manager UI has been updated to be more intuitive.

• User-friendly error guidance - Are you new to CAM Assist? Our tailored error messaging will help you navigate any initial challenges smoothly.

Improvements

• Better error handling - we’ve upgraded our error management system to provide you with a more reliable and supportive user experience.

• Streamlined payments - payment processing is temporarily shifted back to Stripe for a smoother transaction experience.

Fixes

• Enhanced machining boundaries - we’ve made the machining boundary more robust, especially for Detailed Roughing.

• Code optimization - improved handling of tools with ‘0’ flute length and diameter.

• Collision and loading corrections - resolved issues with non-cutting cylinders and T-slot tool loading from Fusion.

• Lexical and grammar corrections - we’ve polished our language for clarity.

• Stability enhancements - fixed crashes related to invalid tool exceptions and Machining Extension running at startup in a certain configuration.

v1.9.0

Release date: 25 October 2023

Features

• We've improved drilling operations across imperial toolsets so drill selections no longer require an exact match.

Improvements

• Improved edge orientation calculation to ensure Fusion places the tool on the correct side of the selected contour.

• We've sped up CAM Assist opening times to get you programming faster.

• The Machining Extension UI issue has now been fixed to ensure consistent response.

• Get started with your own tools faster with Tool Onboarding V2 (via the Tool Usages tab), which is now the default following a reinstallation event.

• Error detection improved to allow us to improve our services.

v1.8.0

Release date: 4 October 2023

Features

• Tool Onboarding - after successfully testing a preview version, we’ve introduced the Tools Usages tab, which provides an enhanced method for onboarding your tools, enabling you to integrate CAM Assist with your existing tool setup at the click of a button. For details of how to use Tools Usages, see Getting Started with CAM Assist.

• Finishing Improvements - we’ve updated and improved our finishing strategies. This feature is now activated by default: we’d love to hear your feedback!

  • For parts with large flat corners and small radii we’ll finish with a large tool followed by a smaller one (for details, see Finishing Tab).

Improvements

• CAM Assist now supports up to 49 flutes when face milling.

• Improved warning and error handling if CAM Assist fails to convert a target setup.

Fixes

• We've completed some improvements during thread processing and freeform selection during wall finishing.

• Due to an integration issue with Fusion, the hole patching feature has been removed.