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Here's the short review of FeatureCAM 2004 with Automatic Feature Recognition: Users import a CAD model and hit the AFR button. The NC program completes the toolpaths in a few minutes. That's it.
Of course, there is more to say about the software, such as its cutting-edge capability of machining parts directly from their CAD models. Solid models have all the information necessary to describe a part's shape so there is no reason for users to waste time recreating the part data in a CAM system. The program and others like it are transforming manufacturing by taking on more work better handled by computers. AFR is where the industry will head as more companies gravitate to midrange CAD products like SolidWorks and AutoDesk Inventor.
While the software has other features for production and custom manufacturing, this review focuses on its feature-recognition capabilities. I use AFR to recognize and program 2D parts for milling. Most 2D machining jobs are pockets, bosses, and holes. Other CAM systems make users define geometry, create features, and then specify cutting operations. AFR eliminates that. Typical 2D parts take less than 5 min to program and within 15 min finished parts are coming off the machine. That's incredible.
AFR uses the current-view orientation to analyze CAD models and recognize features. What's more, the software creates NC features that are fully associative to the CAD model. AFR also recognizes complex features that overlap, intersect, or contain 3D surfaces. I work with many different types of CAD files, but predominantly ACIS (.sat), Parasolids (.x_t) and SolidWorks (.sldprt). I've never had a problem with Feature-CAM recognizing features in any of these formats. Combining the CAM software's Direct Model Transfer with AFR makes work almost ridiculously easy. Direct Model Transfer works with SolidWorks and AutoDesk Inventor so it's just a button click to open the part file in the CAM program.
A three-step wizard...