CAD/CAM Software Enhances Design Capabilities

BobCAD-CAM has released the v27 series of its CAD/CAM CNC machining software for 2.5-, three-, four- and full five-axis simultaneous CNC machining. In addition to CAM machining enhancements, the v27 software features updates to CAD design capabilities for overall better performance, the company says.

The software provides a new CAD solid-action tree that enables users to modify any step of the solid creation. The solid-creation tree is fully associative to designed solid model, making editing steps to a drawn model faster and easier. New dynamic drawing capabilities enable simultaneous sketching and editing of values, while added surface and solid-creation tools enable on-the-fly extruding and modifications of solid shapes. A CAD shape library with 40 common shapes speeds the design process, and 2D Boolean features enable faster editing of intersecting 2D geometry. A “project to Z” feature enables the user to extract edges from a 3D model and flatten the geometry along the Z plane or a defined axis. The “extrude boss” and “extrude cut” features provide added flexibility to designing models, and a “shelling” feature hollows out a solid model, leaving a thin-walled solid on the remaining surfaces. Geometry scaling features have also been added. 

The software also provides new CAM machining features. The “mill 3-axis pro” module features added finishing styles to the advanced planar option, including “up” and “down” cutting control as well as “overlap distance” and “minimum height change.” The “adaptive step-over” feature for planar surface machining automatically adds more passes to eliminate steep jumps in the tool path. Additional features include a “trim to operation stock” option, new boundary options, a planar rest finishing feature, enhanced pro module “Z-level finish” operation, new “adaptive depth of cut” option, rest finishing option, “project curves” operation, swarf operation, enhanced multi-axis roughing, and improved gouge checking.