Good Morning! I'm new to using CAD models. I only used them in class. I created a manual plane, line, point alignment to make the model aligned with the machine. The problem I'm having is when I change my alignment or workplane, my points are no longer aligned with my model. They are offset and mess up my dimensions. Do I need to continually redo the manual alignment to keep everything where it should be or am I missing something else? Thanks in advance!
First, lets address your original question. Before you even begin programming, you should "square" your model in PC DMIS' "Graphic Display Window" to how it will be sitting on your CMM in real life. You'll notice that once you import your CAD, the trihedron will be facing a particular direction. If you want to change that, you can do one of two things..... 1) You could move the origin/orientation of the origin in the CAD's native software BEFORE you import it into PC DMIS. That way, all you have to do is import it and BOOM comes on your screen the way you need it. This is the easiest way for beginners. 2) Import your CAD into PCD. Then, go into "Operation/Graphic Display Window/Transform". Use this window to translate/rotate your model. Hit "Apply + OK" when you're done. Now your model will be the correct way on your screen and you can begin programming. In training at Hexagon, you didn't have to worry about this because the models they used all had the model already squared up from solidworks.
Regarding finding the part with no manual alignment, there are many ways to do this. You're right, you do have to tell the machine where the part is..but that doesn't have to be accomplished with a manually probed alignment! In my experience, I have found that the more I allow people to manually probe stuff, the more likely I am to have stuff break/have bad things happen. External fixture alignments are used at my company. My operators don't have to touch the jogbox for 80% of my programs. They load the part onto a fixture and it goes on it's own. People also use "readpoint" alignments, they're fairly easy to set up and are a good starting points for beginners to make their programs more advanced.
First, lets address your original question. Before you even begin programming, you should "square" your model in PC DMIS' "Graphic Display Window" to how it will be sitting on your CMM in real life. You'll notice that once you import your CAD, the trihedron will be facing a particular direction. If you want to change that, you can do one of two things..... 1) You could move the origin/orientation of the origin in the CAD's native software BEFORE you import it into PC DMIS. That way, all you have to do is import it and BOOM comes on your screen the way you need it. This is the easiest way for beginners. 2) Import your CAD into PCD. Then, go into "Operation/Graphic Display Window/Transform". Use this window to translate/rotate your model. Hit "Apply + OK" when you're done. Now your model will be the correct way on your screen and you can begin programming. In training at Hexagon, you didn't have to worry about this because the models they used all had the model already squared up from solidworks.
Regarding finding the part with no manual alignment, there are many ways to do this. You're right, you do have to tell the machine where the part is..but that doesn't have to be accomplished with a manually probed alignment! In my experience, I have found that the more I allow people to manually probe stuff, the more likely I am to have stuff break/have bad things happen. External fixture alignments are used at my company. My operators don't have to touch the jogbox for 80% of my programs. They load the part onto a fixture and it goes on it's own. People also use "readpoint" alignments, they're fairly easy to set up and are a good starting points for beginners to make their programs more advanced.
DAN_M I know this is probably a dumb question, but I tend to not use CAD very often in programming. Why exactly do you have to line your cad axes up to your machine axes before you start programming? I'm going to tell the CMM which way is what when I do a part aliment anyway, so the original coordinate system will be overwritten. The axis labels are entirely at the programmers discretion.
Not a dumb question at all! Allowing a physical part alignment to square it for you works very well and is used by many people, nothing wrong with that at all.
The above being said...having the cad & machine square to one another in the beginning of the program is easier to work with (in my opinion). I can look at my code and see that all of the vectors make sense per how it is sitting should I ever need to troubleshoot anything in the future. I stuck with that method after learning both at Hex and have continued to teach others this way.
