I'm in. This PAC-MEN group seems to be making progress with DS taking notice, which is great to see.

All though I don't have as much experience with Catia as most of you guys. It would be cool to be kept in the loop as to what is going on and have some input.

If it helps improve Catia manufacturing and makes my day a little easier, I'm all for it.

And well done to the 'Chief Instigator'

Cheers.

Gentlemen,

I have been contacted directly from the Dassault Director of Machining Solutions R & D, for Catia and Delmia.

He has requested we get together in the COE in Orlando, to discuss the future of the PACMAN group!!!! Very exciting. Thank you all for your good ideas. We have their attention.

Things have not been idle, I have been preparing to communicate what we have done so far, directly, in the DPC meeting.

As you probably know the COE annual conference and TechniFair, starts this Sunday evening. 

I plan to ask how the Director wishes to participate. I hope that there is a desire to use PACMAN group as a resource to ask if implementations are acceptable. A conversation, rather than a one way show and tell. DS can ask questions for future Webinar's: "this is what we are planning to do....  what do you gents think"

I also want a get a feel for how many enhancements he want, so he can schedule people. Meaning all we can think of, or only 10 or 20 at a time.

I hope that PACMAN Webinar's can happen at as needed frequency.

PACMAN represents a different kind of programmer, than they see at COE. Medium and smaller shop, get it done power users. And single seat programming services.

The angle I am taking is market share. An increase in market share should be easy to justify investment in development.

If any of you have any last minute ideas, of anything you want me communicate, let me know.

I will post progress made at the COE annual conference, upon return.

Best Regards

Dave

I just wanted to let everyone know that six of the Top Ten enhancements we will be presenting to DS at COE in Orlando next week have been initiated by the PACMAN group. The DPC is looking forward to some spirited discussions at the conference. Hope to see some of you there.

Hi gentlemen,

I'm Simon Harvey, Application Engineer, at ICAM Technologies.  I've been in contact for "buisness" reason with Dave and other contridutors of COE forum in the past year or so and now I'm doing the big jump to help the CATIA community.  I haven't read the complete thread but I will in the next days to catch up.

My primary job is really post-processor development and control emulation with the Machine Tool Builder and Machine Tool Simulation.  Control Emulation and Machine Tool Simulation have great potential but bugs and inconsistency doesn't help this solution to be accepted by the community.

I work on MTB and MTS integration with post-processing and control emulation and I look forward to help the community with this topic.  The idea of creating a part, programming that manufacturing operation, post-process and simulate the actual MCD in the same software make that solution extremely interesting.  You don't need to export your CATIA native file into a different software/solution, your NC programmer doesn't need to learn a new software and the change are done on the fly.

I have several enhancement on the MTB and MTS that I've been think of and having the change to share them with the community will help us to get better workbenches.  Also I'm willing to help newcomers with these workbenches and solution.

Regards

Simon

Hello Simon,

Glad you joined us.  I will be using ICAM for the first time at my new job.  I have heard many good things about ICAM and look forward to learning to use it.

Mark Chitjian says:    six of the Top Ten enhancements we will be presenting to DS at COE in Orlando next week have been initiated by the PACMAN group.

Dave says: Thanks Mark , and James of coarse, and Thanks for "driving" during the webinar's/

Richard Steiner says:   Thanks Dave, I'm in!

Dave says: Glad to have you. I know you have been on the COE forum for years.

Sam. Rao says: I am from CATIA V5 customization with VB. If you can pursue DS to release VB API's for ISOPARAM Machining (Rib top kellering) and 5 axis Flank milling (side mill profileling).

Dave says: A high priority for me as well. We need this not just for automation, but also consistency, and can I say NCL/APT like motion control?  I plan on getting hip deep into VB, once other priorities are completed. What good will that do if  DS does not  release VB API's ???

Steve beach says:  The tool control we had with NCL was in my opinion second to NONE ! The macro and looping capabilities (and EASE of implementing) was elementary The use of scalars and variables that could update your entire program was almost effortless.

Catia on the other hand, brings along an amazing 3-D environment, automatic routines that would be almost Impossible to duplicate using NCL or other 'language' based programs.

What we want now is the 'good stuff' from the 'language based', brought to the Catia side.

Dave says: I am bringing several part programming examples of where NCL is invaluable, or a better choice, to getting my parts done efficiently. efficiently as defined as "Better Motion, in less programming time"

Roger Bombassei says:  Sounds like this years COE will be the best one yet for NC

Dave says: Roger, Just wait till next year, after getting Direction on how to proceed directly from the Dassault's director of Machining Solutions R & D, for Catia and Delmia..

Simon Harvey says:   Machine Tool Simulation.  Control Emulation and Machine Tool Simulation have great potential but....

Dave says:  Simon, I am glad you are in, welcome. your "full time efforts devoted to CE, MTS POST solutions,  give you wide  visibility to the realities of this product.  working together, we will get-er-done!!

Simon Harvey says:   Also I'm willing to help newcomers with these workbenches and solution.

Dave says:  I am  sure everyone appreciates that.

Roger Bombassei says:  I will be using ICAM for the first time at my new job

Dave says:  You will like it. The debugger is gateway to seeing things the average programmer does not get to see. you can follow all the system variables, along with user variables, and you can step thru the macro calls, one line at a time if you like. It is a real mind expansion tool. And safer than mushrooms . ICAM also has this product called Virtual Machine. It is a Machine Simulator, that runs while posting, so you can see a radical move, or how a Rotabl command is implemented, while posting. There is a slider bar so you can manipulate the program and machine kinematics,  forward and backward with a mouse drag. You can also zoom in and out of a time line, for rough or fine adjustment of this mouse drag manipulation.

Bryan Felsher has been ranting about Catia's Roughing, and the financial burden of using Catia as a single user.

see:

 http://www.coe.org/Collaboration/DiscussionForum/ActiveDiscussions/tabid/210/forumid/5/postid/116026/view/topic/Default.aspx

I pointed out that 3 of "TOP TEN" involve roughing.
I am bringing plenty of ammo, to have a lively discussion at COE AC&T

Goals for small shop, and single user  solutions

what can you do for the single user ?

who can afford 1500 a day on site training

what does it take ($$) to have a business partners

who can afford  all these things???? TDM, smart team implementation, postprocessors, CE's Machine simulation, Vericut Delmia, are expensive

I can think of 3 companies, starting with B, L, & N

All good things to talk about at COE, and I plan on it

Well gents, I am back from COE. As I told you, the Dassault Director of Machining Solutions R & D, for Catia and Delmia, set up a meeting with me at COE in Orlando.

Your Ideas have been communicated directly to DS.

 There at COE, the Director and I  met, found couch and table in off he main rotunda, a quiet to work. We setup our laptops, and than spend five hours discussing enhancements for manufacturing. We worked running Catia, looking at files, picture, and also drawing notes. Many Items were actually enhanced in R19, to be released.  For the others, I communicated the issues. I  would draw some picture, or show some file, or discuss a Machining philosophy,  for a more efficient programming  practice. Very quickly, he would say "I understand the issue", make some notes and we would go to the next.  I could not ask for a better professional experience.

Lots of documentation to be available soon

It is going to take a while to document all the good things we discussed, but in the DPC, we got to see all the good things coming in R19. (and things in R18 I didn't know about) You will want to start using R19 for MFG  the day it is available. The presentation will be available from the COE website soon.

Enhancements where DS is still looking for ideas and requirements from the group:

The number one and two items DS in working on improving is ROUGHING, and ROUGHING.  (Aluminum & titanium)  !!!! . So quit griping, and start thinking about what functionality you want, and document it. Wait until you download the COE proceedings, review the detailed notes I will send you all in a week,  look it over, and then see what is missing.

A few New things in R18 I did not know about 

.

Changing macros and feeds and all sorts of thing, selecting multiple same style MO's

multiaxis spiral milling

Visibility of Future activities

I will get you details, but we (DS & I) discussed having DS present future activities in a Webinar for all COE members, for those too busy to go to Orlando. No guarantees but I think it will happen.

Progress

Manufacturing is one of eight tracks at COE. But year after year, the MFG DPC get things done. I think if the other tracks new how successful we are they would be green with envy.

Thanks

Thanks again to Mark Chitjian and James Barkelew of the DPC, for years of leadership, and working with us PACMEN, along with Mark Teneyck and KK of DS for organizing the Webinar's.

Stay tuned, as I got to get some work done.

Dave

Sam,

I relayed your point. D.S. requested that you e-mail me what you have found to be missing, so this can be resolved. I will foward your list of requirements directly. 

Thanks,

Dave

Calling all PACMEN:

1. If you are a manager, please bring one or two of your best and brightest into the group

2. If you are a doer, please recruit your manager, as long as he is a programmer manager that understands programming issues intimately.

3. The Dassault Systems Director has requested details of the members. those that have not done so already please do so on the thread, OR if you want privacy, send it to me thru e-mail, so I can send a complete spreadsheet of members to DS

Info desired:

name,

company,

email id,

Phone

work experience

nature of business

Aircraft programs worked on

optional Info desired:

career achievements, and special honors.

a  thumbnail or wallet size photo.

Thanks

Dave

Name :Simon Harvey

Company: ICAM Technologies, CANADA
Position: Application Enginner
Nature of buisness: NC post-processing, MCD simulation, graphical simulation, training and on-site consultation, CAM integration and software development

Email : simon@icam.com
Website: www.icam.com

Work experience: CATIA V5 NC programmer for some year for Pratt & Whitney CANADA and now Application Engineer at ICAM Technologies.  I primarly work on developping dedicated post-processing development and control emulator for customers.  As well, I do some testing for ICAM software CAM-POST.  Mainly work with CATIA V5 in the last 3 or 4 years but I also work with MasterCAM V9.  For the last year, I stricly work on ICAM MCD based simulation integrated with CATIA V5. 

With best regards,

Simon Harvey

Count me in.

Leonard Malmstrom
Spirit AeroSystems, Inc.
QANC Programming
Software Development

Work Experience: NC/CNC Machinist, 6 years
NC Programmer 12 years
QANC Programmer 21 years
CATIA V5 and V5 combined 14 years
Email: leonard.v.malmstrom nospam @spiritaero. nospam com