But to be considered smart, I would expect the equipment to anticipate an out-of-tolerance situation and hedge against the defect before it ever exists. For this scenario to come to fruition, several prerequisites must be met—for example, the machine tool must collect data that signals an impending defect. This might show up as an irregular pattern in a servo motor’s torque curve, or the machine base vibrating at a resonant frequency.

In the timeline between the third and fourth Industrial Revolutions, we are at the stage of knowing what needs to be done, and actively working to meet the many “prerequisites” like those above. And this is where tolerance-based machining enters the picture.

On the road toward machine tools that can predict inspection failures, we must first reach a point where software understands what a tolerance is, how to read it, and how to target it.

And it just so happens that SOLIDWORKS CAM’s feature-based approach provides the necessary structure for tolerances to be presented to the manufacturing software (in this case, it is the software creating cutting paths).

In SOLIDWORKS CAM, which is powered by CAMWorks, the fundamental unit is a feature. There are many types of features, and the software understands how they differ from each other:

SOLIDWORKS CAM Milling Features

• Pocket
• Slot
• Corner Slot
• Boss
• Hole [Counterbored/Countersunk/Threaded/Multi-Stepped]
• Open Pocket
• Face
• Perimeter
• Open Profile
• Engrave
• Curve

In milling, SOLIDWORKS CAM recognizes several parameters about each of these features:

• Is the shape circular, rectangular, obround, irregular or wrapped?
• Is it blind or through?
• Does it have a flat or a radiused bottom?
• What is the stock material?
• What is the overall size, depth, and largest inscribed circle?

So SOLIDWORKS CAM features are “smart” in that they are packed full of data ready to be leveraged.

Today we rely largely on experienced CNC programmers to interpret the dimensions of 2D drawings and devise a plan for machining. Instinctually programmers assess their parts for machinable features, weigh the significance of the parameters above, and then develop a strategy to cut the feature. The success of this process is a function of the programmer’s experience.

However, in SOLIDWORKS CAM, a strategy is suggested to the programmer based on the feature’s parameters and what the programmer has successfully done in the past. This is called knowledge-based machining and, when implemented right, it reduces programming time tremendously while increasing quality.

But what about tolerances? That criteria wasn’t listed above and it may be the single most significant factor when choosing how to cut a part! The same physical feature will be cut differently if its tolerance is +/- 0.010 inches vs +/-0.0005 inches, so in order to get to where we want to be (fully automated manufacturing), the tolerance must be considered.

The good news is that both SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks can add tolerance windows to their criteria for strategy selection. This is a major milestone toward smart manufacturing, and while the technology is still in its infancy, it is very promising.

SOLIDWORKS MBD Dimensions

Beginning with the SOLIDWORKS 2019 release, the tool set formerly known as DimXpert is now MBD Dimensions. Not to be confused with the SOLIDWORKS MBD module, this technology is part of the core SOLIDWORKS install and is available to all users. MBD stands for Model-Based Definition.

MBD Dimensions are part of a broader category known as product manufacturing information (PMI). PMI is information critical to the manufacturing of the part (such as tolerances) that is embedded in the 3D file.

By adding PMI to the 3D CAD file, companies are enabling a paperless workflow. Not only are drawings costly to create, they oftentimes don’t even match the 3D model. Government, education and professional industries are united in their movement away from 2D drawings, and SOLIDWORKS has been working hard for years to make that a reality.

MBD Dimensions can be mundane size or location tolerances, or they can be more complicated GD&T type tolerances.

SOLIDWORKS Geometric Tolerances

• Straightness
• Flatness
• Circularity
• Cylindricity
• Profile of line
• Profile of surface
• Parallel
• Perpendicular
• Angularity
• Circular runout
• Overall runout
• Position
• Concentricity
• Symmetry

Millions of parts are made every year with simple basic dimensions and tolerances, and they work. But the industries that are pursuing Industry 4.0 ideals the hardest make extensive use of GD&T. Therefore, in order to be relevant for a longer period of time, CAM tools seeking to incorporate tolerances into their workflow must be able to interpret GD&T, and the CAMWorks version of this technology does just that. In addition to the GD&T information, CAMWorks TBM can also interpret ISO286 codes commonly seen in shaft and bore drawings, as well as surface finish callouts.

SOLIDWORKS CAM TBM

In SOLIDWORKS CAM, the tolerance-based machining (TBM) tool works much like the regular automatic feature recognition (AFR) feature but also considers tolerance window. Every feature type can be setup with a limitless number of separate tolerance window strategies.

For example, the regular AFR might be setup to choose a “drill” strategy for any hole it finds. When AFR finds a hole, regardless of any tolerance callout that might exist for that feature, it will center the drill and then drill the hole. Done. It is left to the programmer to decide if that is an adequate strategy based on the tolerance callout that (hopefully) exists outside of the 3D model.

When TBM is used, that same hole (with an attached tolerance) would be found and a strategy that matches the level of precision needed would be automatically suggested. A hole with a tolerance window of only 0.002 inches might be assigned the “ream” strategy, while a hole with a wide-open 0.020-inch window could be assigned “drill only.”

Holes are the simplest application for this technology, and TBM handles these features very well. As features become more complex and the type of potential tolerances expands, TBM becomes less foolproof but still worthwhile.

This is a journey, and SOLIDWORKS sees the massive upside for strong tolerance-based machining capabilities. As we’ve discussed, it’s a critical prerequisite to the smart manufacturing of tomorrow.

It’s Not Just Milling

We’ve based this discussion on a milling example, but SOLIDWORKS CAM and TBM will also handle lathe parts. SOLIDWORKS CAM Professional knows several different types of turn features:

• Outer diameter
• Inner diameter
• Groove
• Face
• Cut-off

Each of these features are tracked in the technology database (TechDB) the same way the milling features are. SOLIDWORKS CAM recognizes turn features and suggests an appropriate strategy to the programmer. And if a feature carries a tolerance, TBM will account for that, too.

Taken one step further, multi-tasking machines that combine both milling and turning on the same platform are also supported, but only in the CAMWorks product line. There, we can program and sync up to four tool turrets and both a main and a sub-spindle.

Where Do We Go From Here?

In my opinion, SOLIDWORKS TBM is primed to play the role of “tolerance interpreter” in the grand scheme of Industry 4.0 manufacturing. I’m not aware of any other tool that is doing what TBM does, and it has room to do so much more.

Not all tolerances are symmetrical, and not all 3D models are drawn to nominal dimensions. A robust TBM technology will perhaps accommodate for this by altering the side allowance of the feature. Currently, this is done manually by the programmer but there is little to stop SOLIDWORKS from automating this process.

Another potential automation is the moving of features in XYZ space. If a part has a better chance of passing inspection if the features were cut slightly differently than how the 3D model was drawn, then the programmer can move the CAM feature (without altering the underlying CAD). I’m certain that TBM will eventually automate this process and take advantage of bonus tolerances born out of the GD&T that human programmers failed to spot.

Between MBD Dimensions, SOLIDWORKS CAM TBM, and other upcoming technologies, the world for a SOLIDWORKS user is looking very smart—and very paperless.

If you haven’t explored SOLIDWORKS TBM, or SOLIDWORKS CAM in general, I highly encourage you to do so. It is installed and available to all SOLIDWORKS users who are currently on subscription.

Xdesign Design Guidance showing load on a tripod attachment. (Image courtesy of SOLIDWORKS.)

AI has a place in the future of computer-aided design technology and, indeed, has long been included within the company’s flagship SOLIDWORKS CAD offering, Bassi said.

AI is expected to be a $16 billion industry by 2022, according to a projection from research firm MarketsandMarkets. While AI has actually been included as part of SOLIDWORKS capabilities for many years, it hasn’t been touted much before the software’s 2018 updates because AI doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all definition within any industry yet, Bassi explained.

“Today, there’s a huge debate about what AI is,” he said. “People say AI is machine learning, or they say it’s related to the neural network or to neuroscience. Definitions vary. At SOLIDWORKS, we don’t focus too much on the definition. We focus on how the techniques related to neural networks or machine-learning technologies—which are both AI—are at the basis of automation.”

In fact, automation is the future of design, with AI helping to automate many of today’s design tasks, such shape creation, he added.

Broadly Defined

In its broadest terms, AI uses computers to do things that require human-level intelligence. The field has been around since the 1950s, but was little used because it was limited in its practical applications. Machine learning, an approach to AI, uses statistical techniques to construct a model from data that the machine “observes.” It enables AI by providing the algorithms that make the machines smarter and thus give AI a way to actually become more intelligent as time goes on, according to Bassi.

Feature and character recognition, which have been part of AI for many years, are part of the SOLIDWORKS system. In fact, they’re so standard that many users may not recognize the AI component of those features—until, for instance, they begin to type a misspelled word they use frequently and see that word corrected automatically.

Bassi also cited the company’s EXALEAD OnePart sourcing and standardization product form as a “borderline AI product that is already on the market.

“OnePart can recognize similarities and tell customers if they’re duplicating parts,” Bassi said.

The tool is useful in cases of company reorganizations, mergers, global projects and innovations, as it provides a set of applications to classify company assets, identify master parts for reuse, and ensure that engineering selects the preferred part without recreating a part that already exists in the design library.

New Sketching Tool—AI Builtin

When Xdesign is introduced, users will find that it calls upon AI tools to take a “sketch-and-extrude” approach to engineering design, Bassi said. In terms of AI, the tool will use design guidance to help engineers create the best shape for apart’s given task.

Scribble Sketch in Xdesign. (Image courtesy of SOLIDWORKS.)

“You formulate the problem in engineering terms, you have constraints and loads, and out of that, geometry is created automatically. You will tell the program the design space the solution is to be contained in, and the part spaces where you don’t want any material to go. You express a few parameters, and your material, and the system will come up with a recommended shape that is truly a next level,” Bassi explained.

In essence, the tool can use information the designer has entered to offer suggestions about design shape.

“It’s helping engineers make better decisions by relieving them from designing low-level geometry. Engineers will have a real shape they can use as a base, but in most situations, they’ll add something for aesthetic or functional reasons,” Bassi added.

AI also comes into play because the tool recognizes engineering problems that have been used in the past and “knows it most likely has it in the system,” Bassi said. Xdesign will be able to offer default values for a shape based on the objects that a user has designed in the past.

“For instance, if you wanted to create a bracket to hold a certain amount of weight and you’ve already designed 10 of them that can hold various amounts of weight, the tool will know that if you need it to hold this particular amount of weight, it should be designed like such,” Bassi explained.

With Xdesign’s sketching feature, users will create free-form sketches and then apply the design intelligence capabilities to those sketches. For example, approximate circles will become actual circles, while lines that almost touch will snap to each other. In a February 2016 blog post, John Hayes wrote that the sketching tool, which SOLIDWORKS had then dubbed “Scribble Sketch,” will also capture sketches drawn with fingers on a mobile device rather than a stylus.

Once a user is satisfied with a sketch, he or she will be able to save it as a model, and then extrude it and add features.

The user could then take that design guidance and sketch a shape to the part that met their design objectives. There is tremendous value in getting suggestions on how to modify a model to accommodate additional loads while you are in the process of designing, rather than simply having the software tell you that there is a problem, explained Bassi.

The intelligence to recognize a circle or an arc is particularly important for mobile users who are using their fingers for data input, he said.

Xdesign is currently in beta testing.

AI and Manufacturing Design

In late 2017, SOLIDWORKS released SOLIDWORKS CAM powered by CAMWorks from HCL Technologies. The intelligent CAM tool automatically generates a part’s manufacturing toolpath after design. CAM software uses the CAD models to generate the toolpaths that drive computer numerically controlled manufacturing machines. Engineers and designers who use CAM can evaluate designs earlier in the design process to ensure that they can be manufactured, thus avoiding product costs and delays.

SOLIDWORKS CAM is meant to be intelligent. (Image courtesy of SOLIDWORKS.)

“SOLIDWORKSCAM toolpath captures design strategies and recognizes features and types of materials, so you can have a CAM solution that’s almost completely automated,” Bassi said.AI drives the way the toolpath is automatically created.

“You can create a toolpath in a couple of clicks. You don’t need a lot of details for intelligent manufacturing,” Bassi said.

Because CAD and CAM act as one system within SOLIDWORKS CAM, it makes CAM easier and more straightforward to the software’s users, Bassi said.

The vendor’s tool opens the way toward making CAM ubiquitous on engineers’ desktops, much in the way that 3D CAD is now more or less used across an industry that once relied on 2D drawings.

Gazing into the Crystal Ball

In coming days and years, SOLIDWORKS will ask partners to create their own AI tools that can be used with the design system. Such uses might include quality control products or those that enhance and expand model-based definition, Bassi said.

“The CAM product shows our partners how to create intelligent, autonomous programs. SOLIDWORKS CAM is created on the same APIs that everybody can use. We also want our partners to expand on model-based definition so designs can be completely automated, so that a precise design and a definition are in a digital form everybody can use.”

Automation and the attendant AI that drives it—which Bassi calls assisted automation—will also be part of the future advances in SOLIDWORKS.

“This is automation that is really helping the activities at the bottom of the intelligence chain,” he said. “A typical example: you pull up a computer screen on which you want to assemble an office chair with four legs and a wheel under each of those legs. You select one wheel, put it in a socket, and every leg automatically gets a wheel.

“Today, you have to click a number of times, selecting the wheel, selecting the socket, and setting the parameters. You have to repeat this as many times as the product has legs, and it becomes tedious,” Bassi said. “We’d love to dramatically cut that time, because the work has really been done already anyway.”

That phrase—the work has already been done—summarizes a big part of the SOLIDWORKS approach to AI and automation. Bassi wants to automate the work already created and available in the system, much like misspelled words automatically right themselves in word processing and other programs today. Doing so will leave engineers free to spend the majority of their time—and their brainpower—on design rather than on mindless tasks.

And that, Bassi believes, will lead to the best designs and products possible.

About the Author

Jean Thilmany has written about engineering software and design, engineering and manufacturing issues for more than ten years. Her work has appeared in Manufacturing Business Technology, HR and Packaging magazines, among many others.

SOLIDWORKS CAM is designed to automate manufacturing programming for 3D data created in SOLIDWORKS 2018, marking another step toward manufacturing information arriving in the shop without drawings.

SOLIDWORKS CAM for 2.5-axis milling and turning is powered by long-time SOLIDWORKS partner CAMWorks (click for video). The decision to include SOLIDWORKS CAM with SOLIDWORKS 2018 is part of long-term strategy to build a comprehensive and robust manufacturing ecosystem. (Image courtesy of SOLIDWORKS.)

For designers and engineers, access to SOLIDWORKS CAM means having a better understanding of how their 3D data will be interpreted by rules-based machining with knowledge-based machining (KBM) captured for manufacturing. This will enable them to incorporate design decisions and revisions based on the limits of their machining and manufacturing capabilities.

By making more informed design decisions based on this knowledge, design teams can machine prototypes and manufacture them inhouse, which will enable them to control quality, time to market and delivery costs. SOLIDWORKS CAM also empowers companies to employ “build-to-order” strategies—where custom parts can be designed and CAM code generated much faster.

SOLIDWORKS CAM Overview

As designers want to check the manufacturability of their designs earlier in the design process, having an integrated CAM system closes the knowledge gap between the digital design data and how that data will translate into its physical form when it is machined.

SOLIDWORKS calls this a Smart Manufacturing ecosystem, and it includes Model-Based Definition (MBD), Costing and Inspection. Another benefit of this integrated CAM system is that it automatically updates toolpaths as changes and updates are made to parts.

SOLIDWORKS CAM is available as an add-in to every version of SOLIDWORKS Desktop for users on the subscription plan.

By utilizing the data-rich 3D CAD model to reduce repetitious manual steps that exist in development processes like programming CNC machines, SOLIDWORKS CAM should save users from making common errors, as well as save them time.

The fundamental structure of SOLIDWORKS CAM uses KBM to make the programming process more efficient. It does this by giving users some headroom to learn as they program. This gives them the ability to focus on pertinent design decisions based on the components or assemblies they’re working on.

Another practical application of SOLIDWORKS CAM is that it not only gives users the foresight to understand how the features of their digital 3D CAD designs will be interpreted by CNC machines, but also gives them insight into how much it will cost to manufacture them.

Key Features of SOLIDWORKS CAM

1. It enables users to program in either an assembly or a part environment.
2. It can interpret surface finishes and tolerances to optimize the best routes for manufacturing a part.
3. It automatically applies standard manufacturing strategies to increase efficiency and uniformity.
4. It performs automated quoting and analyzes against traditional methods to account for every characteristic of the part in advance.
5. It makes automatic adjustments of machining strategies based on tolerance specifications and model-based definition.
6. Its Automatic Feature Recognition gives users automatically generated machine programming for prismatic parts by referencing programming standards.
7. It has 2.5-axis functionality with part and assembly machining.

Tolerance-Based Machining

Let’s say you’re a CNC programmer or machinist and you use SOLIDWORKS. You come across a part file created by a designer or an engineer and it has data such as tolerances and dimensions that you can see. Your job is to prepare the part to be manufactured.

Every bit of data about the part is critical for CNC programmers and machinists. The part must be manufactured with total precision for it to pass quality assurance (QA). As a machinist or CNC programmer, you may have to alter the machining size or geometric features to develop, create and manufacture a part that is going to meet the demands of the tolerances made by the part’s creator, whether they are a designer or an engineer.

Integrated CAM tools have enabled machinists and CNC programmers to meet the needs of designers and engineers by creating toolpaths based mainly on the part’s geometry, but not without some difficulty. In SOLIDWORKS CAM 2018, machinists and CNC programmers need to perform less drudge work because machining strategies are based on tolerance data rather than part geometry. (Image courtesy of SOLIDWORKS.)

SOLIDWORKS CAM will automatically identify machinable features and provide suggested machining strategies. Since data from the tolerances of a part file inform machining decisions, a CNC machinist or programmer will see both symmetric and asymmetric linear tolerances. If you are dealing with asymmetric linear tolerances, SOLIDWORKS CAM 2018 will automatically adjust the machining allowance on the wall to give you the best chance at manufacturing to QA standards.

So, instead of programming or machining to CAD data, the tolerance data is used to create automatic machining strategies, but what about surface finish callout data? Say you have two access surfaces with surface finish callout data. Tolerance-based machining in SOLIDWORKS CAM 2018 works in the same way by identifying machinable features. When it comes across surfaces with surface finish callouts, the software will automatically create separate features and machining strategies for each of those two surfaces.

Tolerance-based machining doesn’t quite cover certain depth parameters, parallelism and concentricity—but there is a product roadmap in place to create feature recognition to identify these and other missing “wish list” features.

Bottom Line

As the industry continues to move away from 2D drawings, the amount of information that is contained within a 3D CAD file format is increasing. Adding product and manufacturing information (PMI) data and other manufacturing data is becoming more commonplace within SOLIDWORKS software.

With SOLIDWORKS CAM so accessible to engineers and designers, they’ll be able to pack more manufacturing data into 3D CAD models, CAM users like designers, engineers, CNC programmers and machinists will benefit from the automatic machining strategies provided by SOLIDWORKS CAM.

And it’s free! As long as you are a subscriber.

Not Enough? Let’s Look at SOLIDWORKS CAM Pro

If you do need more functionality, such as turning, high-speed machining or 5-axis machining, SOLIDWORKS CAM Pro may be worth the extra cost.

SOLIDWORKS CAM Pro has a number of features that are not included in SOLIDWORKS CAM, particularly when it comes to turning features:

General Features Included in SOLIDWORKS CAM Pro:

1. Automatic Feature Recognition – Turn.
2. Indexing of the 4th & 5th axes including tombstone
3. Assembly Machining
4. CAMWorks Configurations

Turning Features Included in SOLIDWORKS CAM Pro

1. Face Rough
2. Face Finish
3. Rough Turn
4. Finish Turn
5. OD Threading
6. Cut-off
7. Groove Rough
8. Groove Finish
9. Bore Rough
10. Bore Finish
11. Center Drill – on center
12. Tap – on center
13. ID Threading

Complete list of the differences between SOLIDWORKS CAM Standard and SOLIDWORKS CAM Pro.

SOLIDWORKS has sponsored ENGINEERING.com to write this article. It has provided no editorial input. All opinions are mine, except where quoted or stated otherwise. —Andrew Wheeler