Creating a Cam Direction

From the Method Planning section of the action bar, click Cam Direction .
Select the axis system used as base axis.
Cam Direction uses this axis system to compute the cam rotation axis. Only extrinsic rotations along Z and Y axis of the press direction are applied to the edited cam or stamping direction.
Click Symmetry Constraints to access and define symmetry constraints for the cam direction.
1. Select Enable Symmetry.
2. Select a symmetry plane.
3. Select a reference axis.
4. Clear Enable Symmetry to remove the symmetry constraints.
Click Robot Coordinates to edit the coordinates of the Robot.
Select the elements to analyze.
The selection determines the proposed analyses.
- Draft and Depth analyses when only surfaces are selected.
- Shear angle analysis when only wires are selected.
- Draft, Depth, Shear angle, Normals, 2D/3D Cut when both surfaces and wires are selected.
Manage the analyses.
1. Select an analysis.
  - Draft Analysis.
    For more information, see Performing a Draft Analysis.
  - Depth Analysis.
    For more information, see Performing a Depth Analysis.
  - Cut Normal Analysis
  - Cut Shear Angle Analysis
  - 2D Cut Analysis
  - 3D Cut Analysis
  - Insertion Depth Analysis
  - Circle Analysis.
    For more information, see Performing a Circle Analysis.
  - Pierce Analysis.
    For more information, see Analyzing Piercing of Holes.
  Note: Quick Cut Normals Analysis, Quick Cut 2D Analysis, Quick Cut 3D Analysis use the required input surface of the trim partition for trim partition elements, and the step geometry for process wireframes. They automatically retrieve some surfaces.
2. Click Detailed Analysis.
3. Follow the messages or labels to verify and correct errors.
4. Optional: Edit the Options to modify the analysis behavior.
Go to the Optimization section to optimize the cam direction with respect to the displayed analyses.
- Cone Variation Angle: Defines an angle around the current position to compute the best position.
- Center: Centers the axis origin on the analyzed elements. If surfaces and wires are selected, only curves are taken into account.
- Mean Normal: Computes the mean normal of the elements to align the Z-Axis on this normal.
- Convert to Cam: Converts the current position of the Robot into a cam compatible solution.
A driven axis system feature is generated with the type Cam Direction.
Click Automated Optimization to center the axis on the analyzed elements, find the best solution within a given cone variation angle, and convert the computed best solution to a cam compatible solution.
Go to Extract Geometry to convert the results of the displayed analysis to dead geometry.
- Extract Areas: Stores the results as dead geometries and 3D labels.
- Extract Direction: Extracts the Z-Axis on each analyzed point.
- Extract Geometries as Vectors, Points, or Boundary.
- Extract Values as Tags or Points.
- Extract Points Number using Full, Minima and Maxima or User Selection.
Check the Cam Status.

The Cam Direction feature is created, as a driven axis system.

To manage cases where the Press axis system is not the reference of the Cam Direction, two sets of parameters manage the Cam Direction:

The first set relates to the Press axis system and defines whether the cam is valid or not in a process context (X Translation from Press Axis, Y Translation from Press Axis, Z Translation from Press Axis, X Rotation from Press Axis, Y Rotation from Press Axis, Z Rotation from Press Axis).
The second set defines the actual position of the Cam Direction (X Translation from Positioning Axis, Y Translation from Positioning Axis, Z Translation from Positioning Axis, X Rotation from Positioning Axis, Y Rotation from Positioning Axis, Z Rotation from Positioning Axis).are hidden.
Tip: Use Formula to see and edit them to modify the position of the Cam Direction.
The Angle Computation Mode is fixed to Extrinsic (not editable nor visible).