Post Processing Made Easy

On-the-Fly Post Processing
 

Tired of keeping track of all the G-code files for a job? What about the disruption caused when a schedule changes and a job needs to go up on a different machine than what was originally planned? Can you be sure your machine operators are downloading the most up to date programs to run on the machine? Has your shop ever run the wrong program for a job? For every shop, the answer is 'yes' to one or more of these questions. That's why we designed Prospector to let you post process programs on-the-fly. It's as as easy as 1-2-3...

Step 1 - Choose the Programs to Post Process

Select the program(s) you wish to post process.  You can choose any number of programs.  Multiple programs can be output as separate files or combined.

Step 2 - Choose Send to Control

Step 3 - Choose the Machine Tool and Options

The Send to Control dialog lets you choose the machine tool.  For every different machine tool in your shop, a post processor can be associated with the machine.  The output from the post processor will be put in a directory you previously associated with the machine tool so that it is not possible to mix ups to occur.  Multiple programs can be combined into a single post processed file.  This is useful when combining many short programs that use the same tool or can be used for those machine tools using automatic tool changers.

High Speed Machining Options

Options include:

• The ability to fit arcs in the XY plane to take advantage of the circular interpolation (G02/G03) feature of your CNC.  If you choose the arc fitting option, the cutter path is automatically checked after the arcs are inserted to ensure that the process did not introduce a gouge as a result of the tolerance used.
• Conversion of rapid traverse moves to linear interpolation at a designated feed rate.  This can improve performance on certain machine tools by avoiding switching from G00 to G01.
• Point filtering removes redundant (perfectly coincident and collinear) points from the cutter paths.  While redundant points are not an issue for programs generated in Prospector, this option has been found useful when programs from other CAM systems have been imported into Prospector.

Additional Comments

The Additional Comments tab allows the entry of comments which need to appear in the post processed file.  Your post processor will convert the comments into their proper format for the CNC control that the post supports.

In addition to entering comments here, you can setup standard comments that are to appear in every post processed file.  For example, you can setup Prospector to always output the tool diameter, corner radius and length as a comment at the beginning of every program.

Post Processors for Prospector

Included with Prospector is a library of post processors to choose from.  In addition to the library post processors, each Prospector license entitles you to one custom post processor delivered and supported under our industry-leading Pro/Post program.  Visit the Customer Services page or click here for a datasheet to  learn more about the  Pro/Post program.