Inventor CAM - Probing and using multiple work offsets

[tdswanson]

Here's a video that I found on how to probe within multiple work offsets in Fusion.

https://youtu.be/STJ_m2lTEZ8?si=pX-2bYc7Aj4oQo4K

The idea is that you may want to have a probing operation "work" in one coordinate system, i.e. G54 but then update the results of what it found in another CS (G55) and then run some machining operations in G55.  So G54 would likely be your "vice" coordinate system and never change, but G55 would be your "this is what I found and we're going to machine here" coordinate system.

Unless there's something that I'm missing, I can't seem to get Inventor CAM to operate in this way.  I've looked through the help files and done some testing, but it appears that the WCS override features in both the Setup and the actual Operation screens affect the CS that the probing operations function in, not what they output to.  My understanding is that setting them to 0 or 1 both will post to G54, "2" will be G55, and on from there.  But when I do that, this makes the operation "run" in G55, not run in G54 but output to G55.

Hope this makes sense.  Can anyone assist?  When I get time today, I'll setup a dummy part and upload it for demonstrative purposes.

[tdswanson]

Here's a dummy part.  In the second setup, I'd like to face the excess stock off in G54 and have the probing operation find the hole in G54, then update G55 and drill the last blind hole in G55 based on what the probing operation found.  Is this possible and I'm missing it, not possible, or is there a bug in the software and it's not operating as it should?  Thanks!

[lenny_1962]

IVCAM and HSMWorks don't get the new updated things like Fusion 360, so that maybe the bottle neck
@jeff.pek?????

[tdswanson · Accepted solution]

FYI - I started a support case with AutoDesk for an issue that I've seen in Inventor CAM that's not identical to this issue, but it's basically along the same lines.  I referenced this thread with the technician as well as providing the link to the same video referred to above.  In response, I was basically told that this feature is not available in Inventor CAM, which is a bummer.

It seems like this is kind of a no brainer and wouldn't take much to add.  In the mean time, I'll most likely create the operations that I need within Inventor CAM and then edited the posted code to suit my purposes.  For what this software costs, this capability is not an extravagant request.

[lenny_1962]

@tdswanson 

They have put IVCAM and HSMWorks to maintenance only mode, meaning just make it work for the new releases but no new upgraded paths. I'm wondering when they are going to kill HSMWorks. 

[tdswanson]

Yeah, I sorta get that sense myself.  From a user standpoint, I've been thrilled over the past 10 years that I can use one software to design and program parts since they brought the CAM process forward.

It feels like regression to now say that I'll have to take my Inventor designed projects and then utilize Fusion in order to program them efficiently.  Isn't this just undoing all the gains that were paying off by bring CAM into Inventor in the first place?