v1.13 General Tab
- Kevin Strider (Unlicensed)
The ‘General’ tab contains the following sections that can be collapsed or expanded:
About CAM Assist - shows the version number (for more information, use the ‘About’ option of the CAM Assist Panel).
General - contains drop-down boxes that enable the user to specify the machining environment (see ‘General’ section, below).
Target setups - contains an entry for each setup configured within the selected part (see 'Target setups' section, below)
CloudNC CAM Assist Background Execution - enables you to perform Fusion-related tasks while CAM Assist computes toolpath strategies in the the background (see 'CloudNC CAM Assist Background Execution' section, below).
If a ‘Demo’ part is selected from the CAM Assist panel then the ‘General’ and ‘Target setups’ sections are automatically populated with relevant values for that part.
‘General’ section
The ‘General’ section enables you to specify the environment in which machining will take place, and enables you to edit the properties of the chosen machine.
The following table describes each feature in the ‘General’ section, as shown in the above screenshot.
Component | Description |
|---|---|
Tool library | The Fusion tool library to use within CAM Assist. |
Stock material | CAM Assist will select tools, machining strategies, and cutting data presets based on the selected material. |
Choose machine | The drop-down list contains two categories of machine:
If a [Local] machine is selected, the ‘General’ section is expanded to include ‘Machine properties’. If a [Local] machine is selected, CAM Assist requires additional values that are not stored in Fusion’s Machine Library (these values are already configured for [Generic] machine. |
Edit machine properties | On clicking ‘Edit machine properties’, two events occur in the ‘General’ section:
If a [Local] machine is selected for ‘Choose machine’, this button is clicked automatically and the 'Machine Properties’ are displayed (see Machine Properties, below). |
Machining mode | CAM Assist supports ‘3 Axis’ and ‘3+2 Axis’ machining modes. The content and layout of the ‘General’ and ‘Target setups' sections change, depending on which ‘Machining mode’ is selected.
|
Machining Direction | This section of the General tab is displayed when ‘3+2 Axis' is selected for the ‘Machining mode’. |
Feedback | The feedback request button is displayed when ‘3+2 Axis' is selected for the ‘Machining mode’. |
Machine Properties
The ‘Machine Properties’ sub-section has two purposes:
Captures required additional properties - captures additional properties not stored in Fusion for [Local] machines; these values are used by CAM Assist to compute toolpath strategies.
Override values - enable you to override default values for the chosen machine with the values specified here.
‘Machine Properties’ contains five key values:
Spindle speed min
Spindle speed max
Spindle torque max (Nm)
Spindle power max (kW)
Table feed max
[Generic] machines
If a [Generic] machine is selected from the ‘Choose machine’ drop-down, the ‘Machine Properties’ are populated with the default CAM Assist values. Any 'Machine Properties’ values that have been amended and saved here will replace the default values (see How to Change the Machine Properties).
While alternative values can be specified here (which will override the default values for the machine), it is recommended to create a separate local machine, in the ‘local’ folder of Fusion’s Machine Library, that contains the relevant property values.
[Local] machines
There are two Machine Properties that are not stored within Fusion’s Machine Library:
Spindle torque max
Spindle power max
If a [Local] machine is selected from the ‘Choose machine’ drop-down, the ‘Machine Properties’ are populated with the values specified in Fusion’s Machine Library.
For all machines
‘Target setups’ section
The content of the ‘Target setups’ section changes, depending on which 'Machining mode’ is selected (for more information, see Machining Modes).
‘CloudNC CAM Assist Background Execution’ section
The following table describes each feature in the ‘CloudNC CAM Assist Background Execution' section, as shown in the above screenshot.
Component | Description |
|---|---|
Enable background execution | Enables/Disables CAM Assist computation to run in the background. Checked (enable background execution) - after clicking Run, CAM Assist will execute in the background, enabling you to continue using Fusion while toolpath strategies for the targeted setup(s) are being computed (see If background execution is enabled, below) Unchecked (disable background execution) - after clicking Run, you will have to wait until CAM Assist’s computation has finished before you can use Fusion. |
If background execution is enabled
After clicking Run, a popup is displayed that contains the progress of CAM Assist’s execution.
The popup contains two buttons:
Cancel - cancels CAM Assist’s Run and does not populate the respective ‘setup’ branch(es) of Fusion’s Browser.
Hide - hides the popup. CAM Assist will continue to execute in the background and will populate the respective ‘setup’ branch(es) of Fusion’s Browser (see Execution in progress, below).
You can continue to use Fusion while CAM Assist executes in the background.
Execution in progress
If, in the background execution popup, you clicked ‘Hide’ you will no longer see the popup.
To show it again while CAM Assist still has the same execution in progress:
Select ‘Execution in progress’ from the top of the CAM Assist panel.
The popup will be displayed until it is finished or you click one of its buttons.