Building on the features of Version 9, Engineering Geometry Systems has developed FeatureCAM 2004 with increased functionality and ease of use. New features include a 3-D milling wizard, tool life management, automatic feature recognition, and direct model transfer for CAD files.

For 3-D part milling, FeatureCAM enhanced the cutting strategy wizard for FeatureMill3D to walk users through powerful roughing, semifinishing, and finishing strategies. The Z roughing and semifinishing operations also have been revamped for more robust roughing support. Automatic tool changes can be scheduled in the middle of an operation, helpful for lengthy machining processes. Thumbnail previews of a part can be viewed before opening the file in FeatureCAM, and the software offers support for probes and Cut-Grip tooling for turning operations.

The direct model transfer add-in allows pushbutton transfer of part models between SolidWorks or Autodesk Inventor and FeatureCAM (see photo). The program also supports the import of SolidWorks Assemblies files from a running copy of SolidWorks. The automatic feature recognition can recognize features on solid models imported from any of the popular solid modeling CAD packages. Entire 2-D milling parts can be recognized and programmed, and associated features that are used to automatically generate toolpaths using the customer?s own CNC programming preferences can be created with automatic feature recognition. Imported solid models can also be monitored for changes and compared to revised model imports. The user is notified of any features that have been added, removed, or changed in the original CAD file.

Engineering Geometry Systems
Salt Lake City, UT
(888) 393-6455
www.featurecam.com