AI assist for Mastercam

[neurosis]

If you're like me I find often times it takes me longer to filter through what was done so that I can figure out what still needs doing. Often times instead of digging through a program to "figure it out" I find it faster to just start over....

I have some old programs around from back when I first stared using Mastercam. I wasn't as organized and didn't know the software as well. I've tried to dig through some of those programs only to trash them and start over because it was taking too long to weed through them.

Digging through programs is time consuming.

[DUM1]

I don't know about anyone's experience on this, so here goes...

They say it'll get you 80% of the way there....great...not...

If you're like me I find often times it takes me longer to filter through what was done so that I can figure out what still needs doing. Often times instead of digging through a program to "figure it out" I find it faster to just start over....


this ! I agree.
like a crime scene investigator got to pick through every single op .. ?
no thank you I've done enough of that through my career fixing old junk and new junk.

[Jeff]

I have some old programs around from back when I first stared using Mastercam. I wasn't as organized and didn't know the software as well. I've tried to dig through some of those programs only to trash them and start over because it was taking too long to weed through them.

Digging through programs is time consuming.

I do the same thing.
We get a job that I programmed 10-15 years ago and I open it up and laugh at how terrible the file is.
Toolpath would still work fine, but I didn't use viewsheets, didn't make new planes, no solid models, etc..
It's pretty bad lol.
So I just start over and make it the right way.
Thankfully that doesn't happen too often, I don't think my stomach could handle it.

[neurosis]

Toolpath would still work fine, but I didn't use viewsheets, didn't make new planes, no solid models, etc..
It's pretty bad lol.

Coming from Cimatron iT, it was a full 3d programming environment so I hit the ground running with planes. I was also using Solidworks since the 90's so I was using solids, but having to create wireframe to drive the tool path.

The viewsheets are what made the biggest difference for me. And coming up with a standard (sorta) for level labeling. I'm nowhere near as organized as JP (I don't know if you've seen some of his examples) but at least when I open a file I can tell what's going on.

Even when you take all of that out of the mix, trying to go through every operation setting to see if something needs changes or fixed is exhausting.  My approach for a lot of things have changed over the years too so yea.. I've had that 'what in the fuck was I thinking' moment more than once.   

[beej]

We are a Die shop here. I have a feeling that AI style software, might reduce my programming time but increase the Engineering time. We try to move things from PO to shop floor as quick as possible. So the solid modelling doesn't always have every single feature in it that ends up on the steel. I'm the one who decides which dowel holes are press fit or slip fit, add pry slots where I know they will be needed. little things like that. It works because there is so little repeat work and we are often quoting against Chinese tool shops.

I just can't help but think that for AI to work for us, we would just be transferring time from one department to another.

[JParis]

I just can't help but think that for AI to work for us, we would just be transferring time from one department to another.

and then there's plating build-up to consider..

Most of what we made requires hard coat which builds up about .0004-.0006 per face...on +/-.005 numbers not much to worry about.

When you have a bunch of +/-.002, +/-.001 & +/-.0005 tolerances, you need to account them as the model is modeled to nominal....

or how does it even know you have a bunch of unilateral tolerances....datum structure....can go on & on...

With some of that info being embedded in the model, it will create a BUNCH of time that has to be accounted for somewhere.

[SuperHoneyBadger]

When you have a bunch of +/-.002, +/-.001 & +/-.0005 tolerances, you need to account them as the model is modeled to nominal....

or how does it even know you have a bunch of unilateral tolerances....datum structure....can go on & on...

With some of that info being embedded in the model, it will create a BUNCH of time that has to be accounted for somewhere.

Or the model is at the bottom of the tolerance... I think these AI guys believe that the world will 100% embrace STEP242 or the like and that every designer will put all the relevant dimensions on the model and nobody will need to use prints anymore. Pie in the sky for real world use, and would be a nightmare.

MMB engineering is going to require engineers to do actual work, and not just shuffle the mundane task of modelling parts properly and making accurate drawings down to the underlings. And for that reason, the stamp jockeys are out.

[neurosis]

MMB engineering is going to require engineers to do actual work, and not just shuffle the mundane task of modelling parts properly and making accurate drawings down to the underlings. And for that reason, the stamp jockeys are out.

Another good question, maybe for it's own thread - how long is it going to be before Ai starts doing a majority of engineering work? 

[Jeff]

Or the model is at the bottom of the tolerance..

That's a huge pet peeve of mine!
We have ONE customer who's models are perfect. At the mean on everything. It makes my job a hell of a lot easier when I have to make turn profiles for the lathes to program off of.


And other customers who dimension their print like 1" +.01"/+.02" and model it at 1".

And then there are the lazy engineers that make a rev change without documentation and the PDF doesn't specify wtf was changed.

[SuperHoneyBadger]

Another good question, maybe for it's own thread - how long is it going to be before Ai starts doing a majority of engineering work?

Without getting into a 'kids these days' finger wagging tirade... From my experience with younger mech eng grads - they seem to find me no matter how the circle of friends changes - they are lazy, unqualified and arrogant. Maybe that's the way the engineers have always been? So add in a generation that loves AI and the easy way, I think it's as soon as they can. Everyone I know 25-35 is saying how much they leverage AI on a daily basis, and the coders laugh and say its been 6+ months since they wrote anything for themselves.

So they are actively looking for a way to do less work, and not better work. I think using generative AI in some fashion could change our workflow significantly. How HSM changed toolpaths, but for how we as designers and programmers interact with the software and get things setup. Something like, I open a model and say "Subservient Mastercam, I want you to setup and program rough passes for this 304SS part for my horizontal mill, use my standard tombstone setup, and the appropriate tool library for this material. The stock will be .100" bigger on all sides, and .200 on the bottom to hold it in a vise. Put 4 parts per face at 90°, starting at B0"". In the time it takes me to say that sentence, I should have an appropriately named file with the correct machine, tool library, planes and levels. There's your revolution, opening up a file based on the model and my own preferences I can start working.

But it won't happen, because as we've seen in the latest buyouts of the largest pieces of the pie, the entire market for CAM is small potatoes in the overall financial picture. I think there will be a lot of patchwork like CAM Assist, and the abysmal GibbScam AI copilot that is genuinely only a chatbot that reads the help file for you.

[neurosis]

Without getting into a 'kids these days' finger wagging tirade...

Damn you have good grammar and punctuation. Are you sure that you belong on this forum? 

[Jeff]

arrogant. Maybe that's the way the engineers have always been?

Almost every engineer I've ran into was arrogant. One of my close friends is an engineer, he's arrogant as hell when we speak about this industry. Booksmart, and thought he was better than any "shop rat" and looked down on us.

[neurosis]

Almost every engineer I've ran into was arrogant. One of my close friends is an engineer, he's arrogant as hell when we speak about this industry. Booksmart, and thought he was better than any "shop rat" and looked down on us.

I have an engineer friend who started out working for Boeing tooling, then taking advantage of their schooling program eventually becoming a full blown Boeing engineer. He's probably one of the nicest, most down to earth people you could ever meet. I thought they were all like that until I had to take a trip to Boeing one day to do some work on a file they had sent that didn't have enough information to make the part we quoted.

It took four hours for them to admit that they were WRONG (like arguing with Incog).  I was there until like 9pm sorting out their nonsense.  lol. 

[CNCAppsJames]

So they are actively looking for a way to do less work, and not better work.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
SO MUCH THIS!!!!!!!

 

[Incogneeto]

It took four hours for them to admit that they were WRONG (like arguing with Incog).  I was there until like 9pm sorting out their nonsense.  lol. 

I would have been out of there by 5pm.

"Cocktails anyone?"