I've never used Gibbscam. I have an older copy on CD somewhere. Have a bunch of others too like ArtCAM, MaxNC, Rhino., BobCad, etc..
When I first started it was manually, line by line on a Commodore 64. I made up RS232 cables to hookup to all the machines so I didn't have to punch tapes any more. It all worked ok but a pain programming anything even vaguely complex. Later we got a PC and Mastercam and it was a big improvement.
I started this way basically,,,,,,,,,legal pd, #2 pencils (several), and a Trig book. Eventually got Smartcam, which at that time was basically a word processor. RS232 is still the nuts,,,,,,,some newer stuff actually has ethernet cables.
If I was doing 3D modeling I would look at something like Solidworks and Pro-E but for making pockets and inlays AutoCAD and BobCAD will do fine. Plus, I have someone I can ask that uses both all the time. What's a "Faro Arm"? Will that scan around a 3D object?
Faro is basically a portable coordinate measuring device, though quite versatile. You add a laser scanner to it and a scan into special software, we use Geomagic. Basically it works similar to sonar,,,,,the result is a 3D point cloud of the shape, any shape, that you work on with tools in the software to clean up noise, sharpen edfes and features, etc,,,,,,,then convert to polygons, (little triangles), then to sheets, then solids. A timely process,,,,,,but deadly accurate, especially for odd shapes without tech data.
Never used G93 but I've also never used a 5-axis machine. I believe it was all G90, G91 and/or work Coords. It really has been a while. If I remember right we would start out in Abs mode then (say we had a fixture that held 12 valve bodies) use the work coords for each part. Then it was essentially only one program that could be used for all 12 parts instead of having code specifically written for all 12 parts. Does that sound right?
Just googled G93, so you tell how long it takes the move to complete? Kind of odd you have to put an "F", feedrate on every line where you use G1, G2, or G3. Wonder why its not modal? Wonder how long it would take to get my brain out of IPM mode? I still can't get used to the Metric system down.
Multiaxis simultaneous motion, especially with tilt and rotation uses Time to insure all axis' arive at the destination simultaneously. Basically, the post UNWRAPS, the Geomety, figures out the longest Linear distance of every feature of motion/shape, looks at the programmers preferred feedrate, calculates how long to arrive over that distance at that feedrate, and inputs that time, in milliseconds, into the code. Every line is a motion that makes a shape, and since all shapes (line length) vary, so must time. So Inverse Time Feedrate=Time to cover Distance at Feed Rate.
Curious about one thing. Take the engine block from theh above video. How long would it take to get from print to part? Say that they only gave you a stack of prints and a block of metal
Actually, by aerospace standards, the engine block is not that complicated,,,,though it is a bit of metal removal. I'd estimate maybe 3 days programming. Once a program is proved out the block could realistically be machined (aluminum) in 8 to 12 hours, with proper tooling.
