What's New in CAMWorks 2014 SP0

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Whats New in CAMWorks 2014

General
Mill
Turn
CAMWorks Licensing

Geometric Americas Inc. makes no warranties, either expressed or implied with respect to this document. Geometric
reserves the right to revise and improve products as it sees fit, and to revise the specifications and information contained
herein without prior notice. Due to continuing product development, specifications and capabilities described in this
document are subject to change without notice.

Copyright 2013 Geometric Americas Inc. All Rights Reserved.

October, 2013

What's New in CAMWorks 2014

General
Supported Platforms
Supported Platforms for 32-bit
Solid Modeler
Operating
System

The 32-bit version of SolidWorks 2013, SolidWorks 2014 and CAMWorks

Solids 2013.
32-bit version of Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
[*Home Editions are not supported]

Supported Platforms for 64-bit

Solid Modeler
Operating
System

The 64-bit version of SolidWorks 2013, SolidWorks 2014 and CAMWorks

Solids 2013.
64-bit version of Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
[*Home Editions are not supported]

Improved Stock Manager now available in Property Manager UI

Purpose:

The controls within the Stock Manager will now be available in the
CAMWorks Property Manager User Interface.
CAMWorks has three Stock Managers:
Mill Stock Manager and EDM Stock Manager in part mode
Turn Stock Manager and Mill/Turn Stock Manager in part mode
Mill Stock Manager in Assembly Mode.

Implementation:

In the previous versions of CAMWorks, the controls within the abovementioned Stock Managers were available in the form of a Manage stock
dialog.
From CAMWorks 2014 onwards, the controls with these Stock Managers will
be available within the CAMWorks Property Manager User Interface. This
change will facilitate easier navigation and concurrent view of the part model
in the graphics area.

Improved Change in location of the Edit Definition command on the context menu
Purpose:

Uniformity in the location of the Edit Definition command in the RMB context
menu

Implementation:

The Edit Definition command is now the first command listed in the RMB
context menu when you right-click on the Stock Manager, Machine item,
operation, feature or Part setup.

What's New in CAMWorks 2014

Improved Change in name of the Example Machines

Purpose:

The default example machines provided with CAMWorks have been renamed
from Machine name to Machine[<Machine name>].

Implementation:

Examples:
Mill-in renamed to Machine[Mill - inch].
Mill-in 4ax renamed to Machine[Mill 4 axis - inch].
Wire EDM Mode-inch renamed to Machine[Wire EDM - inch].
Mill-mm renamed to Machine[Mill - metric].

Improved Access to CAMWorks Tutorials

Purpose:

Facilitates easier access to CAMWorks Tutorials while CAMWorks is running

within the SolidWorks/ CAMWorks Solids application.
The CAMWorks Tutorials can be accessed from the Start Menu of the
Windows taskbar by selecting Start>>Programs>>CAMworks2014>>Manuals.

Implementation:

From CAMWorks 2014 onwards, these CAMWorks Tutorials can also be

accessed from the Help Menu of SolidWorks/CAMWorks Solids. To access the
CAMWorks Tutorials, click on the Help menu and select CAMWorks
2014>>CAMWorks Tutorials and then select the desired Tutorial file from the
cascading menu.

Improved Improved CAMWorks Tutorials

Purpose:

Introduction of new tutorials and upgrading of existing tutorials with richer

graphical illustrations and hyperlinked Table of Contents.
The following Tutorials have been updated:
1. Multiaxis Tutorial
2. Wire-EDM Tutorial
3. Mill-Turn Tutorial
4. Sub Spindle and Sync Manager Tutorial

Implementation:

The Mill & Turn Tutorial has been replaced with the following new Tutorials:
1. Mill Tutorial
2. Turn Tutorial
3. Technology Database Tutorial
The Installation & Quick-Start Guide has been replaced with Installation &
License-Activation Guide.

What's New in CAMWorks 2014

Improved Provision to view Tool vectors for toolpaths during Step Through
Purpose:

Option to view tool vectors for toolpaths when Step Through Toolpath
command is executed.
Previously, the button Show tool vectors was available only in the Edit
Toolpath dialog box.

Implementation:

From CAMWorks 2014 onwards, this button is also available in the Step
Through Toolpath dialog box. Enabling this button allows the user to view
tool vectors in the Graphics area.

Improved Change in name of all Insert commands and dialogs from Insert to New
Purpose:

All the Insert commands in CAMWorks create a new entity. In order to avoid
confusion (whether an Insert command inserts an already available entity),
all these commands have been renamed with Insert being replaced with
New. Dialog titles too, have been accordingly changed.
Renaming in Insert Commands related to Features:
Insert Group renamed to Create Group
Insert 2.5 Axis Feature renamed to New 2.5 Axis Feature
Insert Part Perimeter Feature renamed to New Part Perimeter Feature
Insert Multi Surface Feature renamed to New Multi Surface Feature
Insert Wrapped Feature renamed to New Wrapped Feature
Insert Turn Feature renamed to New Turn Feature
Insert Profile Feature renamed to New Profile Feature
Insert 2.5 Axis EDM Feature renamed to New 2.5 Axis EDM Feature
Insert 4 Axis EDM Feature renamed to New 4 Axis EDM Feature
Insert Perimeter EDM Feature renamed to New Perimeter EDM Feature
Renaming in Insert Commands related to Setup:
Insert Mill Part Setup renamed to New Mill Part Setup
Insert Turn Setup renamed to New Turn Setup
Insert Part Setup renamed to New Part Setup

Implementation:

Renaming of Insert Commands related to Operations:

Insert Contain Area renamed to New Contain Area
Insert Avoid Area renamed to New Avoid Area
Insert Hole Machining Operations renamed to New Hole Machining
Operations
Insert 2.5 Axis Mill Operations renamed to New 2.5 Axis Mill Operations
Insert 3 Axis Mill Operations renamed to New 3 Axis Mill Operations
Insert Multi Axis Mill Operations renamed to New Multi Axis Mill
Operations
Insert Post Operation renamed to New Post Operation
Insert Turning Operations renamed to New Turning Operations
Insert Turn Groove Operations renamed New Turn Groove Operations
Insert Turn Bore Operations renamed to New Turn Bore Operations
Insert Sub Spindle Operation renamed to New Sub Spindle Operation
Insert record renamed to New Record
Insert Wire EDM Operations renamed to New Wire EDM Operations

What's New in CAMWorks 2014

New Use Work-in-process model for Simulation

Purpose:

Implementation:

Use work in process model when the simulation is invoked on an operation or

a setup node.
In previous versions of CAMWorks, when simulation is invoked on an
Operation or on a setup node then it always use the original stock rather
than using the WIP model.
From CAMWorks 2014, if <SHIFT> is pressed while invoking the Simulation
command on an Operation or on a setup node then the user will be shown a
dialog to use WIP model as a stock.

What's New in CAMWorks 2014

Mill
New API Macro to create a multi surface feature from the faces having a particular color
Purpose:

Implementation:

An example macro that shows how multi surface feature can be created from
the user-identified faces.
In the example macro, the colors used in the part are listed along with the
number of faces having identical colors. User can create a Multi Surface
feature by selecting the checkboxes. This will ensure that the multi surface
feature is created from the faces having the selected colors.

New Similar UI for all Pages under Tool tab of Mill Operations and for Turn Single Point
Operations

Purpose:

Implementation:

As Turn Single Point Operations make use of Mill Tools and Holders, the UI
for viewing and editing the Tool and Holder parameters will now be similar to
those of the Mill Operations.
The User Interface of the Holder, Tool Crib, Station and Specific Tool Type
pages under Tool tab of the Operations Parameters dialog box for Turn Single
Point Operations will now be similar to those for Mill Operations.
On the Tool and Holder Pages under Tool tab of the Operation Parameters
dialog box, when the Preview option is checked, the display will be updated
when the parameters are modified. When the Preview option is not checked,
the display shows the dimensions.
The above functionalities are available for the following Turn Single Point
Operations:
Center Drill
Drill
Tap

What's New in CAMWorks 2014

Turn
Improved Change in name of the Example Turn Machines
Purpose:

Implementation:

The default names of the Turn and Mill-Turn machines are confusing. It has
been changed as per the industry name.

Turn-in

Turn in 4ax (2 + 2)

Mill/Turn in

Mill/Turn-in 4ax (2+2)

Turn Single Turret - inch

Turn Twin Turret - inch
Mill-Turn Single Turret - inch
Mill-Turn Twin Turret - inch

Turn mm
Turn Single Turret - metric
Turn mm 4ax (2 + 2) Turn Twin Turret - metric
Mill/Turn mm
Mill-Turn Single Turret - metric
Mill/Turn-mm 4ax (2+2) Mill-Turn Twin Turret - metric

New View and Compute the Canned Cycle Start Position

Purpose:

Provide the ability to compute the canned cycle start point based on the
stock and to override the automatically computed turn canned cycle start
position.
In the previous versions of CAMWorks, the Canned cycle start position was
computed during post processing as a bounding box based on the feature
geometry, the feature extents to the stock, and the X and Z clearance
values. The Canned cycle start position could not be graphically identified nor
could it be edited at the operation level. User could verify it only in the
posted code and in case it was incorrect, user had to manually change it in
the code.

Implementation:

From CAMWorks 2014 onwards, the Canned cycle start position can be
verified and edited at the Operation level itself without the need to verify it in
the posted code. The following functions make this possible:
The Canned cycle start position can be graphically identified when the
Operations Parameters dialog for the Roughing operation is open.
Alternative methods to define/edit the start point of the canned cycle
using Feature Extents or From WIP.
Method to manually define/edit the start position of the canned cycle.

Improved Better associativity of the turn features defined from Sketches

Purpose:

Implementation:

Associate turn feature segments with the sketch segments so that turn
feature gets rebuilt properly.
Previously, the turn feature would fail to rebuild if any of the segment start
or end did not match with the new profile. For the features defined from the
sketch, this will not be the case and the features will get rebuilt
successfully.

What's New in CAMWorks 2014

New Create Turn Feature from Model Faces

Purpose:

Simplify entity selection for defining turn feature by providing a new

functionality to define turn feature from model faces.
In previous versions of CAMWorks, to interactively create a turn feature, user
had to pick entities from a closed sketch or part profile. This method can
prove to be tedious while picking segment entities for complex turn parts.

Implementation:

From CAMWorks 2014 onwards, a new functionality that enables turn

features to be interactively defined using model faces has been provided.
This method of interactively defining a turn feature can be implemented only
when the Part Profile method is set to Plane Section.
Creating a turn feature from model faces is more intuitive and provides a
more robust Turn Feature rebuild.

Improved Application of SolidWorks Filters to simplify Turn Feature Creation

Purpose:

Simplify the process of interactively creating a Turn feature by eliminating

the accidental selection of unintended entities.
In previous versions of CAMWorks, while interactively defining turn feature
by picking turn segments, users would occasionally end up picking model
faces, edges, silhouette profiles, or sketch entities instead of the intended
turn segment entity.

Implementation:

From CAMWorks 2014 onwards, SolidWorks filters will be applied while

interactively defining turn features.
In the Part Profile method is Plane Section, the SolidWorks filter
Filter Faces ensures that only turn model faces are selected.
In the Part Profile method is Revolved Section, the SolidWorks filter
Filter Vertices ensures that only turn segment entities are selected.
For turn features defined from open or closed sketches, the
SolidWorks filter Filter Vertices ensures that only turn segment
entities are selected.

Improved Simplified Interactive Turn Feature Creation

Purpose:

Simplify the process of interactively creating a Turn feature

Implementation:

Button to delete all selected entities in the Insert Turn Feature and Edit Turn
Feature dialogs. This facilitates the deletion of all the entities in the Selected
Entities list of the Insert Turn Feature and Edit Turn Feature dialogs.

What's New in CAMWorks 2014

New Provision to override Turn Feature Extents at Operation Level

Purpose:

Enables changing the Turn Feature Extents at the Turn Operation level in
addition to the existing functionality of defining Feature extents at the
Feature level.

Implementation:

Defining the Turn Feature extents will be available on the Feature Options
tab of the Operation Parameters dialog for the following Turn operations:
- Face Rough
- Face Finish
- Turn Rough
- Turn Finish
- Bore Rough
- Bore Finish
- Rough Groove
- Finish Groove
-

If a feature is machined using more than one operation, then if

required, different Feature Extents definition can be assigned to the
different operations. This eliminates the need to create multiple
instances of the same feature with different Feature Extents definition.

If the toolpath generated for an operation is not as desired due to the

feature extents definition, then this definition can be changed at the
Operation level itself and verified. This eliminates the need to edit it at
the Feature level, return to the operation and regenerate toolpaths.

Advantages:

New Generate Threading operations using Groove Inserts

Purpose:

Implementation:

Enables machining of threading operations using Groove inserts

In previous versions of CAMWorks, only thread and user-defined inserts
could be used to machine threads.
From CAMWorks 2014, groove inserts, too, can be used to machine threads.
Using Groove inserts facilitates machining of square threads.

Improved Auto Setting for Turn Cored Stock

Purpose:

Simplify the setting for defining a Turn Cored Stock

In previous versions of CAMWorks, to change the value of the core diameter
of the stock, the user had to set the strategy to Cored. Then only the core
diameter value could be modified.

Implementation:

With this new version of CAMWorks, the control for Core Diameter will always
be active. When a value greater than 0 is assigned as Core diameter, the
Strategy will automatically be set to Cored when the user shifts focus out of
the Core Diameter control.

What's New in CAMWorks 2014

New Improvements to the Sub spindle operation

Purpose:

Few of the sub spindle commands were missing and were not organized
properly.
Newly modified UI will have the following:
1. Spindle Axis Control (formerly Spindle on/off/lock) will have following
options:
- Engage Milling Mode
- Disengage Milling Mode
- Lock
- Unlock

Implementation:

2. Spindle Clamp/ Unclamp has been renamed to Fixture

Clamp/Unclamp
3. Spindle speed will have an option to turn off the spindle.
4. Synchronize Spindles will have following options:
- Speed synchronization for Turning
- Phase synchronization for Turning
- Turn off synchronization for Turning
- Mill C-Axis synchronization
- Turn off Mill C-axis synchronization

New Support of Mill Holders for Turn Single Point Operations

Purpose:

For Turn Single Point Operations (Centre Drill, Drill and Tap), Mill Holders can
now be assigned to the Mill tools used for the operations.
Turn Single Point Operations make use of Mill Tools. In previous versions of
CAMWorks, Mill Holders could not be paired with the Mill Tools used for
machining the Single Point operations in Turn.

Implementation:

From CAMWorks 2014 onwards, Mill Holders can be paired with the Mill Tools
used for Single Point operations in Turn.
For these operations, The Tool Crib Page in the Operation Parameters dialog
box will display Mill Holders which have been defined in the TechDB Holder
library. These Holders can then be paired with the selected tool.
The newly introduced Holder Page under Tool Tab of the Operation
Parameters dialog displays the parameter values for the selected Holder.
These parameters can be edited as per requirements.
The Tool Holder will now be visible in the Graphics area during:
Toolpath Verification and Preview (when Tool tab of Operation
Parameters dialog is active)
Step Through Toolpath
Simulation

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What's New in CAMWorks 2014

New Preview Window in Create Tool/Holder utility

Purpose:

Implementation:

Provides a preview of the user-defined turn tool or holder in the Create

Tool/Holder utility.
In previous versions of CAMWorks, for Mill and Turn, when a user-defined
tool or holder was created, there was no way of knowing whether the
tool/holder would get created and how its appearance and orientation would
be.
From CAMWorks 2014 onwards, a Preview window is provided in the Create
Tool/Holder utility. This Preview window gives the user an idea of the tool or
holder shape before saving it as a tool or holder file.

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What's New in CAMWorks 2014

CAMWorks Licensing
New Saving files with CAMWorks data when the license is lost in the middle of a session
Purpose:

Implementation:

Once a file is opened in CAMWorks, the CAMWorks data present in this file
will be saved in the same mode (Commercial/ Educational, etc.) in which it
was originally opened.
Previously, if the CAMWorks license was lost during the middle of a
CAMWorks session, then the part or assembly file currently open would get
saved in Demonstration mode. CAMWorks data in files saved in
Demonstration mode could not be restored in Commercial, Educational or
other modes.
With the new functionality, if the CAMWorks license is lost or expires during
the middle of a CAMWorks session, the file will still be saved in the same
mode as that in which it was originally opened. However, any subsequent
files opened will be saved in Demonstration mode unless a new license is
activated.

New Functionality to configure CAMWorks License from within CAMWorks

Purpose:

Implementation:

Advantages:

Provision to request and configure FlexLM software license from

within CAMWorks.

Provision to update Hardware Dongle license from within CAMWorks

when a .COD file is received.

A command for launching the CAMWorks License Manager utility from

within the CAMWorks application is now provided.

If a valid license is not detected by CAMWorks when the application is

launched, then a Warning Message is displayed. This message states
the exact cause for non-detection of the valid CAMWorks license and
provides intuitive options to activate the license or continue in
Demonstration mode.

Eliminates the need to separately launch the CAMWorks License Manager

utility to configure/update/view the CAMWorks License.

Improved Number of concurrent users on a floating license

Purpose:

The maximum number of concurrent users allowed on the floating license

network will be equal to the total number of CAMWorks licenses purchased.
Unlimited computers can be setup as clients on a floating license network.
However, the maximum permissible number of concurrent users is equal to
the number of floating licenses purchased.

Implementation:

If different CAMWorks licensed modules are being used by different clients,

then the clients can access the modules on a first-come, first-serve basis till
the number of concurrent users equal the number of licenses purchased.
Beyond this point, all available licenses will be in use and additional
concurrent users wont be able to access any modules.
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What's New in CAMWorks 2014

New Restrictions on saving Commercial mode files in Educational or Demo versions

Purpose:

Implementation:

CAMWorks data saved in Commercial mode cannot be saved in

Demonstration or Educational mode.
Previously, if a Commercial mode file was opened in Demonstration or
Educational mode, then the part or assembly file would get saved in
Demonstration or Educational mode. CAMWorks data in files saved in
Demonstration or Educational mode could not be restored in Commercial,
Educational or other modes.
With the new functionality, CAMWorks will not allow conversion of
Commercial mode file into any other modes.

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