012 R1 is a release combining new strategies with an improved user interface across many aspects of the software. The strategies will make creating tool paths effortless and the improvements to the user interface will get your result much faster than before. New Flow Surface CycleNew Waveform Roughing Strategy The new Waveform strategy ensures a constant tool load and smooth toolpath pattern, offering greater stability, more precise machining and faster metal removal. Improved tool life Constant engagement with material Full flute cutting Constant chip load Superior material removal rates Improved surface finish, potentially eliminating secondary cutting cycles Slot Cycle Support for Features Edgecam 2012 R1 introduces slot support in mill features. To allow you to machine the slots, the Slot cycle has been updated to work with solids. New option to select Solids as cycle input Machine slot in a single pass Machine slot with a cut increment Ramp approach moves into a closed slot New options (Depth tab) to specify clearance, level and depth parameters associative to the solid model Note Please note that cycle functionality for 2D and 3D slots remains unchanged. 3 to 5 axis cycle3 to 5-Axis Cycle Extended The 3 to 5-Axis cycle for Profiling was introduced in the last release. In Edgecam 2012 R1 this has been extended to support eight more finishing cycles. The following cycles are now supported: Profiling Parallel Lace Constant Cusp Rest Finishing Flow Surface Project Boundary Collapse Project Flow Curves Project Circular Pattern Pencil Mill Note The cycle is available with the 5-Axis Simultaneous Milling EN050-S and 5-Axis Simultaneous Milling for Education ENEDU-5 licenses. Linear Axis Limit CheckingLinear Axis Checking in Rotary Mode Linear axis limit checking (introduced in the last version) has been extended in Edgecam 2012 R1 and now supports rotary mode in both the mill and mill/turn environment. Edgecam reports when a cycle has exceeded the limits of the machine tool and indicates axis and direction. This allows you to take corrective action immediately. Improved machine checking Reduced prove out time Full collision Checking In SimulatorImproved Display and Editing of Cycle Selections To improve the editing of Roughing, Profiling and 5-Axis cycles Edgecam 2012 R1 introduces a new way of editing individual elements of the cycle input. Each selected element is now listed under the relevant cycle in the sequence browser and can be highlighted and edited individually. Display of current geometry selection Add to or subtract from selection Add new element types without having to reselect everything Edit several different items before choosing to regenerate the instruction When an element is edited the current geometry is automatically selected in the graphics area and you can easily add to it or remove elements. ‘Update Stock’ Speed Improvements‘Update Stock’ Speed Improvements The 'Update Stock' command now caches the stock model at each point. This means the next ‘Update Stock’ command will only process the cycles applied since the previous stock rather than the whole sequence each time. The new behaviour offers the following benefits: Much faster after initial stock update Improved regeneration time In addition, you can now start Simulator from any Update Stock command Reduce Sequence Regeneration for Index Command Regeneration of Index commands has been improved in Edgecam 2012 R1. Previously, changing any modifier in the Index command would cause subsequent instructions (instructions below the command in the list) to regenerate. The behaviour has changed and modifiers that do not affect the CPL position no longer cause a regeneration, speeding up the regeneration process. For example, it is common to place machined parts onto a tombstone and then edit the work datum for each individual part. Previously this would have caused a regeneration of the sequence when editing the Index command even though the toolpath has not really changed. New Flow Surface CycleEnhanced Turret Parking Turret parking has been enhanced in Edgecam 2012 R1. The following enhancements give greater flexibility over how the tool is parked and allow you to consider the requirements of your machine: For index type turrets you can now specify how the Z parking position is calculated by selecting the required option from the new Positioning Mode list. For all turret types you can now override the default XYZ Park Positions set in the postprocessor. Note For ATC turrets the positioning mode list is not available. The positioning mode is always ‘fixed’ (Z parking positions are not offset). This remains unchanged from 2011 R2. New Flow Surface CycleTailstocks in Edgecam Edgecam 2012 R1 introduces tailstock support. This allows machines to be configured with tailstock devices for use by Edgecam, Simulator and Code Generator. In Code Wizard, specify parametric or custom tailstock graphics Control tailstock movements in Edgecam with graphical feedback Simulation of tailstock movements and collision detection Include tailstock moves in cycle time New Flow Surface CycleFeature Support for Slots It is now possible to detect and machine planar slots within Edgecam. Feature Finder has been enhanced to recognise areas that can be machined using the slotting cycle. ‘Slot features’ can be Open ended slots, slots with radial bottom, nested slots, through slots, dog-leg slots... Machined in a single pass Found with Open Mill, Open Pocket, 2D Pocket/Boss and Contour Pocket/Boss feature types Simulator Enhancements These include: • Start Simulation from any ‘Under Stock’ command • Selecting an alternative toolkit for simulation • Enhanced simulation output. Loading Tools from Heidenhain Controller You can now import tooling data directly from a Heidenhain iTNC530 controller, using the Import Heidenhain Tool Data option in ToolStore Administrator. Using a toolkit containing “real” tools allows you to Manually Compare Edgecam tooling with the actual machine setup Simulate using the actual tools that will be used for machining PCI-JavaScript Edgecam 2012 R1 introduces PCI-JavaScript. Rather than continue developing a bespoke language we have switched to supporting JavaScript. This is the industry standard language for the Web and will greatly enhance the flexibility for customisation. Use an industry standard language Access to file and operating systems Talk directly to Microsoft Office applications Continued support for PCI language Improved Working with Surface Finish Attributes Working with Surface Finish Attributes has been improved in Part Modeler 2012 R1. The following changes have been made to the Surface Attributes dialog: The new surface finish viewer (opened by clicking the Show Attributes button) gives a visual comparison of surface finishes on each face of the component You can now set a default finish for the whole component Using the Match Attributes option you can set or edit attributes for multiple faces at the same time As before, the attributes are inherited by Mill and Turn features that include the face, after feature finding in Edgecam. In turning, they can then be used as input to the Finish Turning and New Rough Turning cycle, so the feedrate can be adjusted by the Surface Finish value, for example. In milling, you can use the surface attributes when working with Strategy Manager strategies. New Helical Groove Feature In Part Modeler 2012 R1 it is now possible to produce helical grooves using the new 3D Construction ► Feature ► Helical Groove command. This new feature allows you to Produce helical grooves with a square form, rounded square (corner radius in groove), round form and "V" form Define features for helix design such as pitch, CLW/CCLW helix, start angle New CAD Loader for Part Modeler Part Modeler 2012 R1 introduces a new CAD loader that allows you to load Creo Parametric models into Part Modeler.