Dialog: Cam Coordinates
Contents
Cam-Coordinates dialog-box
See Add Cam-Data FB
Edit a Cam-Data FB and select a 2D-Cam,
Then you can:
| • | Calculate cam-coordinates in different formats - see below |
| • | Save the cam-coordinates as different file-types - see below |
AND
| • | Close the dialog |
| • | Analyse the cam with the data-types at the five output-connectors of the Cam-Data FB - see Cam Data FB. |
2D-Cams have a number of related commands and dialog-boxes. Their relationships are indicated in the table below. |
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Action 1A |
... optional ...
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Action 1B Edit 2D-Cam dialog-box |
Action 2A |
Action 2B Edit the Cam-Data FB to link it to a 2D-Cam. Do 3A and 3B. |
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Action 3A Do Cam-Analysis (with Graph FB) |
Action 3B Edit the Cam-Data FB again. Calculate Cam-Coordinates |
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*Force and Stress analysis only: Configure Power Source |
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2D-Cam Coordinates: File Formats and File-Types
Save Cam Surface as : |
Bi-Arcs |
Equal Machine Angle Increments |
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STEP : |
N/A |
Internal, External as Surfaces |
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TEXT : |
Internal, External |
Internal, External, Pitch-Curve |
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DXF : |
Internal, External |
Internal, External |
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Direct export to SOLIDWORKS as : |
Internal, External |
Internal, External, Pitch-Curve |
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Table of 2D-Cam file-types and formats |
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Cam-Coordinates dialog-box
 Cam Coordinates dialog-box - MD14. |
Top-Tip: To 'paste' cam coordinate data directly into Excel®
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Clear Data in the table |
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Save as File types
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Copy Data in table to Clipboard |
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Calculate Coordinates for
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Toggle : Equal Increments: Calculate Cam-Coordinates with equal increments of Master Machine Angle with the 'Number-of-Points' as entered in '# Points' (10). Chord Error: Calculate Cam with Biarcs, with a maximum Chord Error equal to the value in Box (10) |
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Calculate Cam Coordinates as: XY-Points as Equal Machine Angle Increments Bi-Arcs with a Chord Error |
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If SOLIDWORKS is not open, this button will start SOLIDWORKS®. If SOLIDWORKS is not open, but a Part document is not active, nothing happens. You must open or start a SOLIDWORKS® Part document. If a SOLIDWORKS Part document is open, this button sends the Cam data to the active SOLIDWORKS® Part document. Bi-Arcs are sent to SOLIDWORKS as Arc sketch entities. Points are sent to SOLIDWORKS as a list for the Curve feature. You use Convert-Entities to convert the Curve to a Spline sketch entity. See Note 4 |
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Traffic-Light Red - Click to calculate coordinates. Traffic Light Green - Cam Coordinates are ready. You can save them to disk or export to SOLIDWORKS® When you click this icon, the Cam-Coordinates are calculated with the selections:
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(Does not do anything (MD14+)): Closed Cam: When you calculate the Cam-Coordinates, the first and last cam point become different. |
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(Does do anything (MD14+)) Open Cam: The first and last coordinate become the same. The cam will be closed. |
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Click to display a Cam 'plot' of actual cam-points that are calculated. |
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Enter Maximum Chord Error Use with Chord Error option. (Minimum ~0.1µm. Experiment!) |
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Enter Number-of-Points Use with Equal Increments option. (Maximum ~100,000. Experiment!) |
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'Save Options' button (See 'Save Options' box, below) Delimiter for a Cam Save as TXT file: Comma (,); Tab ( ); Colon (:); Space ( ); Semi-Colon (;); Dash (-). STEP File Options: Spline with End Corrections? Spline to Interpolate 'actual' Kinematic Points? |
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The Cam Coordinates, using the button settings detailed above. |
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Save Options:
 'Save Options' box. |
Click the Save Option buttons to show: Delimiters When you save the Cam data to a text file, you can add a different 'delimiter' between each column of data at each cam 'index'. This is useful for those customers that have a ',' as a decimal-separator, and the default ',' as a number delimiter. The two ',' will confuse programs when they import the data. STEP Save Options:
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Notes: