Need help with Radan CAD/CAM
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Re: Need help with Radan CAD/CAM
My company builds coil fed laser cutting machines, and works with some of these CAD/CAM developers to make their software work with our machines. What I can offer is that each laser cutting machine has their own specific NC/ G-Codes and way of doing things. Part of this has to do with which CNC controller the machine builder uses on their machines, and part of it has to do with how they design their machine, and how they accomplish some of the basic functions. For instance, one machine might have one M-code that turns on the laser and loads all the cutting parameters from the tech table, by using 10 different P words, while another might use one M code for marking, another for high quality cuts, and a third for lower quality but higher speed cuts. There are all sorts of special functions like this that drive various machines. Many of the controls engineers for the various table laser manufacturers will even come up with special functionality that the machine wasn't initially designed for, during the case of building machines, and decide to implement this as a new M-code.Originally Posted by surak
Long story short, some machines are rather simple, while others are very complicated and have lots more specialized functionality that needs to be available. To facilitate this, the CAD/CAM programmers, like Radan, create a generic set of internal instructions that their software uses to specify basic features. If one company combines these features, the post will see this, and figure out which scenario to apply to create the functional G-code.(In the example of 10 different parameters for one command, the generic Radan commands might be Pierce, then turn laser on, or turn laser off, but the G-Codes might be M1330 P1 (to pierce and turn laser on), and M1330 P0(to turn laser off), while marking might be M1330 P2. There are all sorts of macros of common commands that can be condensed into cases of a single command to result in less lines of CNC code). Because some jobs are easier, while some are harder, the software company will charge more for the post processor that took longer to program and less for the post that was simpler. Or, they might charge less even for a complicated post if the machine is a very common model that has lots of units in use, and the easy post that has only sold a dozen machines might be more expensive. Sometimes this ties into "Gold Partner" programs or something simlar where the OEM negotiates a fixed price for the software when sold with the machine, and a certain price for resale licenses.
In any case, it is all a bit of a shell game, as someone might complain if they bought a license of the software and someone else bought the license of the same software but both for different machines, and they talked and realized they had paid different prices for their software seats. Also, one seat of software could be used by a single programmer for one machine, but let's say that in the future you are successful in the laser cutting business, and decide to buy another laser, but your first machine was a Trumpf, and the second was a Mazak. You won't have to buy another license of the software, you just buy a post for each machine, and the same person can nest for both.
Hope That Helps!
