Moduleworks Timeline

[784765654]

Any news on when we start getting Moduleworks toolpaths? Geodesic would be perfect.

[william]

I am interested in this as well. 
The partnership with Module works was announced in February. Has there been any progress since then?
Can we get some insights on what new functionality there will be and rough implementation timeline?

We are currently evaluating whether we go with a machining extension for Fusion or upgrade our Alpha Cam software to advanced 5-axis which has a lot of module works strategies. 
@seth.madore @al.whatmough 

[seth.madore]

The ModuleWorks toolpaths that our customers will see first are 4-axis roughing and finishing (as those do not have any current solution in Fusion). After that, we are considering what advanced swarf, geodesic, deburr, corner finishing have to offer for our user base. 

[william]

Great. 

Will there be multi axis roughing strategy for things like pockets with curved floor? Also, multi axis surface finishing with collision avoidance? 

[seth.madore]

We're still evaluating how best to deliver whatever technology we can to our users. Believe me, there are loads of people just itching for more functionality, and I have complete faith in our development team to fill any gaps that are missing, along with improving upon what we already offer

[seth.madore]

I fully acknowledge that that was a very "corporate" and "political" answer, and I do apologize. However, as a publicly traded company, we have many policies that help guide our communications with our customers. Suffice to say; I (and others) have had a peek into what's being worked on, and I feel that many users will be quite pleased with what's coming down the pipeline. That's not an acknowledgment of anything that you've requested, just stating an opinion of what's currently in development 🙂

[al.whatmough]

@seth.madore  has done a most excellent job communicating in the way required of us as a publically traded company in terms of what we can commit to.

The truth is, while we would LOVE to share details with you, you making a buying decision based on "future enhancements" is exactly why we can't make those kinds of commitments.   While are VERY committed to making the product better, there is always a risk with any plan.

In terms of progress, I can say several strategies that we have access to from Moduleworks have made it through testing with a subset of external users and are set to move to a wider ability shortly...   

Let's pick this conversation back up tomorrow.

[william]

Thanks Al. 
Appreciate any info on that subject. 

Have to say I'm probably leaning towards fusion with the advantage of the associative Inventor - fusion workflow. 

Sounds like there's plenty of good stuff in the pipeline too, look forward to seeing it hopefully in the not-too-distant future.

[DarthBane55]

@al.whatmough 

I see what you did there, in your last sentence... 😀  Too bad all of it is under the extensions though 😓

[al.whatmough]

A more detailed read here if you are interested.   

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/moduleworks-machining-strategies-rotary-pocket-rot...

[DarthBane55]

Yes, I have tried the deburr toolpath on a part that I remember took me about 2 days to program.  I did a toolpath in 1 minute this morning, and it looks amazing.  It is turning out to be somewhat of a game changer for me.  It even does internal cross holes and stuff like that.  The path joins vertical walls blending in horizontal floors in 1 continues 5-axis movement.  It is not perfect, but it is an excellent start.  It might even be worth paying for the extensions (it is worth it) on a daily basis (not yearly just for this), when we get to these complex to deburr parts.

I know it is in preview mode right now, but I'm sure you want some feedback, so for this particular toolpath, I would like to see a hole filter with diameter range.  For example, filter out all the holes between 0.0" to 0.375" for example (as they might be done with a spot drill already).  Another thing I noticed is that if the chamfer is already modeled on the part, it will do it twice, once for the top edge of the chamfer and once for the bottom edge.  Again a filter to skip modeled chamfers would be helpful, altho it was easy to filter those out by setting the minimum angle to 46deg or more.

The last thing that would be nice, would be to be able to pick a boundary contour to limit the toolpath within that confine.  Sometimes it is nice to deburr a part in sections, and instead of picking edge by edge, you leave it in automatic but limit the area with a boundary.

It is an excellent start on this toolpath, really excited about it, I will try it on a few complex parts we have, but right off the bat, it looks very promising.

[784765654]

This is where the fun begins @DarthBane55 . Now all I need is Geodesic and it's over. Thanks for making this happen @al.whatmough 

[thaont.cnc]

I tried Deburr for 4 axis. I feel pretty good!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIlQ3htawj8

[al.whatmough]

thanks for posting the video!