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Fusion 360 code with older controller

Corn

Aluminum
Joined
Nov 3, 2019
Dear All,

I’m using Fusion 360 to generate G code to my 1994 build Robodrill which has Fanuc 16MA controller. Issue is that fusion does generate lot of lines in for example adaptive clearing. X and Y movements in every 0.1mm and if say I have specified feed to be 600mm/min it will never be able to reach that as the controller won’t be able to handle the code so fast. Or at least that is what I believe is the culprint.

So my question is, is there any way to streamline the code in Fusion 360 for older controllers? Or do I perhaps have too low RS232 baud rate selected that it is the bottleneck or?

Thank you in advance
 
Hi,I take it you are Drip feeding Via RS 232 port? What is your Baud rate ?

I use 360 on my Robo with 16iM but load the whole code into memory.
Yes ive ran into issues with more code than memory so had to change the machining strategy.
I know i did change a setting in the post processor that reduced the code size, I will have look tomorrow.
 
On occasion I run Fusion on an older Heidenhain with 1000 line total memory

no helical ramps

no multiple passes[I program subprogram calls on the machine]

I have not tried adaptive clearing but I think it might take up too much space

examine the program output op by op and see what is creating space issues

You can change settings in Fusion post to make the code more compact
 
Fusion, as far as I know, has a problem with vertical arcs, it will not output them as arcs but rather short straight lines no matter what, even when they are segments of a circle, so it is not uncommon to see 20 lines of code where 1 or 2 would suffice - this is what the older controls with very little look ahead will bog down on

sometimes you can shrink the code by 50 or more % just by removing vertical lead in radius, so it just moves down to target Z and only then starts the X/Y movements, sometimes you have to play with smoothing variable to reduce the code size further, but there is no magic number or solution here, it takes a while to get the output right, one solution may not work work for other tool path

this is with 2d toolpaths, 3d is quite a bit worse in my limited experience with it

regarding Heidenhain in conversational mode (which is what I use on TNC 355 and TNC 155 I have), the 407 post seems to work ok with helical ramps, the code size is small and the post is putting them out as arcs, a ramp in will be CC and CP codes respectively, not a hundred short straight lines, but I still couldn't get it to put out vertical lead in radius arcs as anything but short lines no matter what...
 
regarding Heidenhain in conversational mode (which is what I use on TNC 355 and TNC 155 I have), the 407 post seems to work ok with helical ramps, the code size is small and the post is putting them out as arcs, a ramp in will be CC and CP codes respectively, not a hundred short straight lines, but I still couldn't get it to put out vertical lead in radius arcs as anything but short lines no matter what...

That is interesting, I will have to check it out. I had not seen it use the CP with a Z move anywhere

For the uninitiated in Heidenhain world, the way to make a helical ramp is programming a circle in polar incremental, you enter degrees and direction, then, and this is AFAIK the only 'hidden' command in Heid conversational, you hit the Z key and it asks for a Z dimension. SO like IPA3600 DR+ Z-.5 makes a ten revolution half inch deep bore in one line, or technically 3 when you count the circle center define and the move to the starting location. Fusion posts would be hundreds usually
 
here is the part I was talking about, that whole path is less than 500 lines in Heidenhain conversational (not adaptive though), and a snippet of a helical ramp code Fusion put out, runs smoothly with no hick ups
toolpath.JPG cc-cp-ipa.JPG
 
Kenre, drip feeding indeed via rs232 and my baud rate is set 11 = 9600, should this be enough? I'd appreciate to hear the setting which you used to reduce the code size.

Yes it is annoying that Fusion 360 post is not using arcs, instead very short straight lines..
 
Corn,
In the post processor window, check that you allow 3D arcs. It reduced my code size for my application.

As the other have noted Lead in/out settings can impact it also.

I use 4800, but im not drip feeding.
 
regarding Heidenhain in conversational mode (which is what I use on TNC 355 and TNC 155 I have), the 407 post seems to work ok with helical ramps, the code size is small and the post is putting them out as arcs, a ramp in will be CC and CP codes respectively, not a hundred short straight lines, but I still couldn't get it to put out vertical lead in radius arcs as anything but short lines no matter what...


In an effort to create the best Heidenhain post, lets compare. I've attached mine. I believe I have this post outputting a vertical lead in radius.

To the original poster, I run adaptive clearing all the time on my Heidenhain TNC355 (with speed precontrol parameter, 60, turned off). Runs smooth with the occasional bogging down when I post a 3 axis simultaneous blend or something with a large number of points. No idea if this would work with the Fanuc control but my machine is 1991 vintage.
 

Attachments

  • Heidenhain TNC 355.zip
    7.3 KB · Views: 34
Rarely have I had a program be unable to be calmed down significantly with smoothing/tolerance settings in Fusion 360.

It doesn't make sense why it would go about doing things the hard way by default, but I will say on my brand new Haas, I sometimes get better finish with all the extra point depending on what surface I am profiling. I do a lot of 3d work in fusion. Smoothing will help your arc point density issues.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
Before ditching fusion I spent a great deal of time figuring what combinations produce the shortest smoothest code. I thought I had it figured out until I looked at other software and realized fusions ability to produce code for older machines is limited compared to many others.

That said, one thing I found can make a huge difference in code size with 2.5D is if you select a sketch profile rather than the solid itself. I would assume this has to do with the solid/surface being faceted and the sketch being a combination of straight lines and true arcs.
 
In an effort to create the best Heidenhain post, lets compare. I've attached mine. I believe I have this post outputting a vertical lead in radius.

To the original poster, I run adaptive clearing all the time on my Heidenhain TNC355 (with speed precontrol parameter, 60, turned off). Runs smooth with the occasional bogging down when I post a 3 axis simultaneous blend or something with a large number of points. No idea if this would work with the Fanuc control but my machine is 1991 vintage.

thanks for uploading it, I'll have a look at how it works over weekend, swamped with other work till then...

when I was researching this issue, I got the idea it is a Fusion CAM problem (or feature, not sure how it would be fair to call it) - those non-arc vertical leadins, at least I see them as short lines when I click on view toolpath, that is the source for the post, so if they are already there, post processor has no other way to process them as just short straight lines
 








 
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