CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
17 August 2007
Product News
DP Technology Releases ESPRIT 2008 CAM Software
DP Technology announced the release of ESPRIT 2008, the latest version of its flagship CAM software. This new software release includes new productivity enhancing technology for CNC programmers of mills, lathes and wire EDM machines. The new 2008 version addresses the growing needs of ESPRIT's existing users, the demands of the latest generation of machine tools, and new cutting-edge manufacturing techniques.
With this new version of ESPRIT, DP Technology celebrates the 10th anniversary of the current generation of the ESPRIT CAM system, which was originally introduced to the market in 1986. This continuous evolution of ESPRIT has offered users significant advancements every year since its introduction. Advancements available within this latest release include turning stock automation for lathes, EDM machine specific machining technology, improved 3D machining performance, open pocket milling, expanded CAD to CAM feature exchange (FX), enhanced KnowledgeBase machining (KBM) functionality, and B-axis turning for 5-axis mill-turn machines. ESPRIT 2008 is designed to run on both the Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Vista operating systems.
Increased Performance for Milling
The new open pocket feature and open pocket machining cycles in ESPRIT 2008 combine to offer greater machining flexibility and improved cycle times when machining pockets with a combination of open edges and closed walls. These new machining cycles will allow the tool to hang partially over the open edge to improve the edge finish and provide a more constant cutter load throughout the cutting cycle.
Numerous other additions and enhancements were made to ESPRIT in support of improving the productivity of both the milling programmer and milling machine tool. They include faster calculation times for building 3D toolpath, new adaptive facing machining cycles offering dramatically improved cycle times, an all new operation manager that simplifies the CNC programmers' job of organizing machining processes and cutting tools, and new feature groups that allow the programmer to more easily manage the machining conditions for a collection of similar part features.
Improved Productivity for Turning
The new 2008 stock automation technology allows ESPRIT to maintain awareness of the state of lathe stock at all times during the machining process. After each turning operation is created, ESPRIT will update the stock to reflect the actual remaining material based on the machining cycles and cutting tools used. This stock automation capability allows ESPRIT to automatically manage lead-in and lead-out distances and moves, and eliminates the possibility of gouging material or crashing tools, resulting in improved quality of the part program and significantly reduced programming time and effort.
Increased performance and productivity for the lathe programmer are available with the new features in ESPRIT 2008, including new threading cycles with a database of standard thread dimensions, a new cutoff cycle with greater tool control, flexibility for a larger variety of cutting tools, improved material removal and machine simulation for more realistic computer based dry-runs, and the ability to handle an even larger variety of machine configurations (spindles and turrets) in support of today's advanced multi-tasking and mill-turn machine tools.
New B-axis Turning Cutting Cycle
The new B-Axis contouring cycle in ESPRIT 2008 is designed specifically to achieve higher performance levels from multitasking machines by fully utilizing the rotational capabilities of the B-axis. While traditional lathe contouring cycles rotate the B-axis once at the start of the cut, the innovative B-Axis contouring cycle allows for dynamic, continuous rotation of the B-axis throughout the cut as the tool follows inner and outer contours without stopping for tool changes. This allows a single tool to reach areas that would otherwise be inaccessible due to the tool's geometry. Utilizing the new B-axis finishing cycle reduces the number of cutting tools required, and the number of tool changes, resulting in a smooth and stepless surface and, ultimately, a significant savings in both time and money.
Expanded Control for Wire EDM
ESPRIT 2008 has been updated to support the latest machines and cutting technology for Charmilles, Fanuc, Mitsubishi, ONA and Sodick wire EDMs. This includes all-new "technology pages" (dialogue boxes) for 2-axis and 4-axis cutting for each manufacturer. Each machine-specific technology page includes the machine- specific terminology and technology settings for the given EDM machine manufacturer, and a direct interface into the machine's technology database.
Among new key functionalities in 2008 is a new rotate entry point strategy for EDM operations, which gives the user the option to alternate the start point on profiles that have multiple cutting passes. This option is designed to be used when cutting a die on which the programmer wants to avoid having the wire start at the same position on each cut, thus diminishing the "witness" entrance line.
KnowledgeBase Machining in ESPRIT 2008
ESPRIT FX, feature exchange, has been enhanced in 2008 to improve the direct exchange of the part geometry and the CAD feature tree. Using the CAD feature tree inside the ESPRIT CAM system makes the programming process faster and more accurate because the CNC programmer has a more accurate description of the work piece to be machined. For 2008 the ESPRIT KnowledgeBase manager has been simplified to provide greater ease of use. The KnowledgeBase user interfaces have been centralized in one location to make it easier to manage all of the data in the database. The single, consistent user interface allows users to access all the data from one central location, such as the processes, materials and cutting tools, and context-sensitive commands are available with a right-click of the mouse.
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