Better Surface Angle Detection
Below is a couple of shots of the new surface angle code in the parallel finishing. The angle was set for 45 degrees and it seems much more consistent than the old code. It’s also much faster to compute. There are a lot of retracts but this seems to be somewhat common for this type of path when I’ve looked at the competition. I have two ways to fix this:
1) Use a more complete toolpath linking algorithm that will make additional checks for better linking options.
2) Compute a complete offset surface of the geometry and preplan the path based on the surface angle.
#2 would give better path linking but would take much more time and memory to compute. #1 will be faster but less optimal. In the short term I’ll probably leave it as-is. It seems roughly competitive with the market, it’s still better than the current code, and I need to move on to get something released sooner rather than later. After people look at the speed of the new code they can vote for what they prefer- faster or better.
I vote better.
Randy
I also vote better.
Jay
Robert,
Tough choice. But computing a better path even at a speed price takes less time than milling with lots of extra retracts. Computers are faster than my mechanical machines. I trust your judgment, a ‘good enough for now’ solution while attending to other problems is fine. I too have to vote for ‘better’ in the long term as my preference, but not at the expense of a delay in the next release.
Jeff
I came to the same conclusion after posting last night. After I get everything releasable I’ll look at better preplanning to make higher-quality finishing paths.
-Robert