Friday, September 08, 2006

CAM system supports CNC multitasking machines

The GibbsCAM Multitask Machining (MTM) option supports machine tools with multiple spindles and turrets or tool groups. The software addresses synchronizing multiple tools through its Sync Manager, an element in the intuitive, graphical user interface environment. The Sync Manager allows multiple process flows to be displayed relative to one another to facilitate setting synchronization points. The Sync Manager also takes into account dominant tooling and automatically adjusts operation durations based on which tooling controls the spindle speed, another level of detail that programmers would normally have to address. To be able to support this range of machine tools, which includes models such as Mazak Integrex 200 III ST and Mori Seiki MT 1000SZ, 2000SZ and 2500SZ, MTM was designed with machine configuration capability. The company says it ensures that when the software is delivered to the customer, it is completely set up for its machine tool from the machine configuration to the post processor used to generate edit-free, machine-specific NC code.