The latest release of the FASTSUITE E2 3D software, R2020.7, offers widely expanded functions that provide efficient tools for closing the digital gaps between design, simulation, engineering, and production. New, preconfigured software packaging offers optimal support for a broad range of user types.
The release “R2020.7” of FASTSUITE E2 closes the gap between engineering and production planning. Functions such as geometry comparisons between component versions permit users to manage the entire lifecycle of products and workpieces during an automation project, including design changes and variants. The release also features greater ease of use in generating product assemblies, particularly regarding layouts with multiple operation sequences and stations.
To manage the various stages of a product throughout the manufacturing process, the new release offers tools for defining a hierarchical group of component versions that represent the same product in the simulation. Quite often, robot programmers or planning engineers receive new design variants of a product that is already being used in a specific project. To identify the differences between the product versions, the E2 release offers a rapid comparison of the two items and a visual display of the deviations. Thanks to this analysis, users can efficiently evaluate the effects of the respective geometry changes on previously programmed operations to decide whether these can remain unchanged or need to be updated.
In addition to the output of all layout data and fixture design in STEP format, users can now also generate a swept volume of the working area in automation systems; these can likewise be exported in STEP format. The resulting volume can be used in FASTSUITE E2 to detect interference spaces in jig and tooling design and to define interlocking zones in offline programming. And in the design departments, it can be used to update the jigs and fixture data in accordance with the required working space of the robot and tooling.
Additional features include a tool for generating circular linking motions between operations. This is a major benefit particularly for users of 3D laser cutting machines: Linking operations that consist of circular rather than linear motions help reduce overall cycle times on many machine tools, and jerky motions on the machine can be avoided. Another feature is that the existing surface and side tangent operations now also support linear and circular approaches for purposes of calculating tool path movements. This yields a significant reduction in the number of tool path elements while retaining the required process tolerance and sag motions. Users benefit from the higher graphical performance, easier interaction, and improved overview.
Intelligent software packaging is one of the features that round off the new E2 release: In the new version, the FASTSUITE E2 modules are provided in preconfigured FASTSUITE packages. These bundle all required functions for typical user roles like concept planner, offline programmer, automation engineer or systems integrator. To provide the necessary degree of technical differentiation and to support projects with different levels of complexity, these packages are available in standard, advanced, and premium editions.
