VISI-Series - machining STRATEGIST

The Shop Floor Machining Solution machining STRATEGIST is a CAM system designed for high speed machining with built-in logic for use with solid carbide and carbide insert cutters. Developed by the people at Vero International in England, machining STRATEGIST is used in Mold, Tool and Die, Prototype and Pattern shops for generating cutter paths on complex geometry developed in disparate CAD systems such as VISI-Modeling, CATIA, Unigraphics, Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks, and Solid EDGE.



Most popular CAM systems that are used in today's mold shops weren't designed with High Speed Machining in mind. In order to take advantage of today's cutter and machine tool technology, machining STRATEGIST had to be and was designed completely from scratch. Released less than 6 years ago, it is the newest technology on the market today.

Using the latest software development tools, Vero people created a CAM system that generates efficient toolpaths very quickly, while still maintaining unparalleled ease of use. Strategist also takes advantage of multiple processors for more productive programming. But, the biggest advantage of machining STRATEGIST is in it's toolpath generation. Because it maintains a cut stock boundary, it knows exactly where to go to remove stock. It allows use of higher feedrates because toolpaths are created without any sharp corners so cutter deflection is maintained more constant. And all this allows your CNC machines to run faster and more productively with less wear and tear.

Advanced Rest Machining
Steep and shallow areas are machined in a single toolpath with different strategies - steep and shallow machining - for each. Crucially, rest machining can be calculated in areas where the final cutter is smaller than the curvature of the part.

Point ReductionAll machining passes operations now support enhanced point reduction and arc fitting. Arc fitting is enabled by default for those operations where it is likely to have the biggest benefit. In benchmarking, reductions of over 50% in NC file size have been observed.

Horizontal Finish Machining
Horizontal surface machining has been designed to use a flat-based cutter. This strategy will dramatically reduce the time it takes to finish machine the flat areas on a complex 3D mould, and in finish machining pockets in aerospace components.

Rest Roughing
The system will calculate the rest areas of a selected toolpath - areas left on the surface that have been insufficiently machined - generate a stockmodel with this information, and edit passes to it.

This is a good way to generate efficient toolpaths, reducing air-cutting and shortening the machining time.

Morph Machining
Each pass in a morphed "patch" - the toolpath prior to linking - echoes the shape of the one before, while suggesting the shape of the one after. Akin to machining with the flow of a surface but by creating a set of boundaries with control points, the operator can exercise tight control on how a toolpath flows as it is mapped onto the model.

It is now possible to access two advanced machining presets quickly and easily from the menu, consolidating pencil milling and constant surface stepover.

Parallel Pencil Milling PassesA set number of passes are offset from an active boundary or existing single line toolpath.

Tapered cutter support extends to carbide insert button cutters, predominantly used for roughing. To leave a tapered finish, it is critical to rough with taper to leave a material-on condition.



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