There are ways to do what I am about to explain, but I feel a GUI would make it much faster, more efficient, and just a lot better. If this whole process I am suggesting in general is a stupid idea or if I am missing some obvious way I should be using my tool libraries, I apologize, I am very new to machining.
It would be really nice to have a tool library interface that will allow the user to select from tools that are already setup for a machine.
-It can display tools that are physically in the machine.
-Some indication to show / constrain the number of tools that are currently in, and fit, in the machine's ATC
-Some indication to show / constrain the number of tools that currently have TLO's stored in the machine
-Some way to toggle a protection for "permanent" tools for the machine (to not be overridden or removed)
-Some way to indicate "transient" tools for the machine (ones commonly changed for unique applications per job)
-Some way to toggle protection of the tool offset number
-Some way to indicate on the setup sheet which tools are already setup for the machine and which are not.
Ultimately, this way, when I am programming, I can easily see what is set up for the machine. When i need to use a tool I can already see what is set up for the machine, and I can select from it. The offset number is already good, everything is ready to go. It also helps me see how many tools I am using in the machine, and easily allows me to replace an existing transient tool with a new transient tool, and when selecting this new transient tool I can easily select from the tools that have offsets saved in the machine.
Examples:
-My ATC has 20 tools. The top 20 tools are shaded gray, showing me whats in the machine. Or 20+1, whatever
-In my machine, I have 12 tools that always stay in the machine. These can be bold or a slightly different shade or have some icon next to them.
-The other 8 tools are transient tools commonly being swapped out for each job.
-I have 47 other tools setup with offsets saved in the machine. These are listed below the shaded area.
Say I am programming and select a tool. I open this new library and see what I have in the machine. Tool I want isn't there. I look through the other 47 tools for a tool that is setup. I select one. Fast and efficient. This will prevent me from overriding a tool number in my ATC, changing tool numbers on accident, and will allow me to easily select from tools that are already set up. I don't have to remember what tools are setup for what machine etc. If the tool I wanted wasn't in that list of 47 tools, I can select a new one, and the setup sheet will have a warning for the operator that it is a new tool that hasn't been setup (even if it were a tool that was setup but was setup for a different machine)
I know this is all possible currently but it is easy to accidentally mix up tool numbers, and you have to manually update all of it all the time. I feel my idea would be much more smooth, fast, and efficient.
