Autodesk® HSMWorks™ 2020.1

Release Notes

Build R1.43631 / 12 August 2019 Autodesk, Inc.

This document covers all three HSMWorks products:

HSMXpress
HSMWorks Premium
HSMWorks Ultimate

What’s New
System Requirements
Installation

WHAT’S NEW

The following changes have been made in the current update (2020.1):

Patch Updates

This is the first update which is being delivered as a patch rather than a full installer, which will minimize download and install time. The same patch can be applied for both Premium and Ultimate installations.

Milling Toolpaths

Improved Adaptive for tighter model contours; it now finds a starting point on the stock boundary. (#12095)
Improved start entries for Adaptive Clearing toolpaths so that the toolpath starts in corners/endpoints rather than in the middle of a stock line. (#12238)
Fixed an issue where calculating a 2D Adaptive toolpath with rest machining from a face selection could result in a large area being machined. (#13030)
Fixed an issue in Adaptive where using a ballnose cutter as a reference tool was giving the wrong toolpath. (#14000)
Fixed an issue where preserve order was not respected in 2D Profile toolpaths. (#12127)
Fixed an issue where 3D Adaptive Clearing with rest machining can fail with complex remaining stock. (#13622)
Fixed several issues in which the toolpath computations for Adaptive Clearing could fail on Mac. (#12188)
Fixed a problem in Contour toolpaths where ramps might not be connected to their cutting moves, resulting in an unexpected lift and plunge to cover the gap. (#13822)
Fixed an issue that introduced unnecessary retracts in Ramp operations. (#13747)
Fixed an issue which caused irregular cutting passes for Scallop toolpaths. (#13757)
Fixed an issue where a Constant Scallop toolpath might not calculate when up/down milling and 'other-way' linking was enabled. (#13172)
Removed the "Shoulder Length" and "Taper Angle" parameters from the Rest Machining dialog for 2D Adaptive. They are not applicable in this context. (#10594)
Fixed a problem where retracting Z levels were machining areas that had already been cleared in lower levels. (#14035)

Turning Toolpaths

Implemented toolpath verification, simulation and NC code generation for general and boring turning tools when angled in the tool library or by using the tool orientation parameter in facing, profiling and chamfering operations (#14930)
Fixed an issue where turn facing, profiling and chamfering operations with a right-facing angled tool with the angle specified either in the tool library setup or in the tool orientation section of the operation were simulating incorrectly as well as outputting incorrect NC code (#14785)
Fixed an issue where a grooving operation could fail if the back and front Z limits coincided with the extents of the groove geometry. (#10978)
Fixed a memory leak for some turning grooving jobs. (#13390)

Tool Library

Fixed an issue where turning tools with boring holders were previewed incorrectly in the tool library and modeled incorrectly in simulation (#15116)

Post Processor

Functionality has been restored to the alert, promptKey, and promptKey2 API calls. These now work as before, but are supported only on Windows. (#14452)
Fixed a regression where tool.getExtent() could return an empty bounding box, causing the setup sheet to incorrectly scale the tool image. (#13848)
Added a mechanism to define which rotary axes support TCP in the post processor. This simplifies the code needed to disable TCP for a single axis. (#13282)
Added new global function 'isNewWorkPlane(section)' which returns true if the passed section requires new workplane calls. This simplifies the 'newWorkPlane' checks that are typically done inside of post processors (#13278)
Added global variables 'minimumProgramNumber' and 'maximumProgramNumber' to post processor. (#13276)
Post properties that you set when using a post processor are now saved to a file. This allows using the post processor on other computers with confidence that the previously used properties will continue to be applied. (#13233)
Added the onManualNC function that will handle all Manual NC commands, and the expandManualNC function that handles all Manual NC commands using the historical method. (#12839)
Fixed the behavior of mapToWCS, so that it can be changed multiple times in the post. (#12733)
Added cancelRotation and cancelTranslation methods. (#8965)

NC Editor

Updated HSMEdit to fix an issue in which the display of text was corrupted. (#14524)
Updated HSMEdit to correct a problem with the backplotting function. (#14428)

API

Improve the performance of API functions setObjectParameter and setObjectToolView by removing an unnecessary call to updateOperationManager. (#14467)

Licensing

Fixed an issue in which administrator privileges were required when activating a license. (#14902)

The following changes have been made in a previous update (2020):

General Improvements

Fusion 360 subscribers may now run HSMWorks by authenticating with your Autodesk account. This requires downloading and installing HSMWorks from your Autodesk account. Look for this new version at the top level of 'Products and Services', rather than the versions that are listed as part of the collection or part of 'Autodesk HSM'. (CAM-12164)
The HSMEditor has been updated to the latest version for the 2020 release. (CAM-12417)
A warning is now issued if you edit a machine configuration that is being used in multiple setups, since the changes you make will affect all setups that reference the machine. (CAM-10281)

Post Processor Improvements

New functions 'section.getModelOrigin' and 'section.getModelPlane' were added to provide access to the work coordinate system of the CAD model. (CAM-12614)
A 'reset' parameter has been added to the createAxis function, which can reset the current rotary axis position to zero prior to scanning the section for the optimal rotary starting position. There are also corresponding 'axis.getReset' and 'axis.setReset' functions. (CAM-12300)
A new variable 'machineParameter.spindleSpeedDwell' has been added which specifies a dwell time in seconds when the spindle speed changes during a drilling cycle. This can be used to correct expanded gun-drilling cycles. (CAM-9495)

API Improvements

A new HSMWorks_getObjectGeometry function provides access to the geometry set associated with an operation. (CAM-13613)
A new HSMWorks_setObjectToolView function provides the ability to set the tool orientation for an object. (CAM-12988)
A new HSMWorks_createObject function allows creation of Manual NC operations. (CAM-13678)

Toolpath Fixes

When using a cutter with a corner radius in 2D Adaptive, the upper edge of a pocket could be gouged in some circumstances; this is corrected. (CAM-11596)
Allow machining two open bores within the same operation. (CAM-11647)
Fixed an issue where the software could hang when calculating helical ramps on a contour pass. (CAM-12129)
Fixed an issue in which toolpaths might not get created when using the "Fillet" option (Mac only). (CAM-12279)
Fixed an issue in which helical links were detached from their cutting segment and a further lift and plunge was inserted in between to join them. (CAM-12364)
Jet will now provide the user with a better warning when no path can be computed. (CAM-12953)
Contour with Both Way and Roughing Passes used to produce partial toolpaths. This has now been fixed. (CAM-13309)
Fixed an issue where some arcs were misformed when offset. (CAM-13135)
Fixed an issue which could have caused gouges when smoothing for sampling strategies is enabled. (CAM-13266)
Fixed an issue which caused irregular cutting passes for the scallop strategy. (CAM-13757)

Turning Fixes

Fixed leads when "Use fixed lead direction" was turned off for certain inside and face grooving operations. (CAM-10679)

Post Processor Fixes

Fixed an issue in which "getOptimizedTCPMode" was returning an incorrect value. (CAM-11367)
A post processor error is no longer generated when a multi-axis operation has a constant tool axis of 0,0,1. (CAM-11794)
The post processor now considers a drilling operation to be an axial center drilling operation instead of a milling operation when it is within a tolerance of X=0, Y=0. (CAM-8185)
Fixed a problem in which linear values from the machine configuration dialog were not recalculated according to the output units. (CAM-11877)

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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Autodesk HSMWorks 2020 supports Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 10 64-bit.
HSMWorks 2020 is compatible with the 2017, 2018, and 2019 versions of SOLIDWORKS.

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INSTALLATION

New installation

SOLIDWORKS must be installed prior to installing HSMWorks
Before you install HSMWorks 2020, please make sure to run Windows Update, install all Windows Updates that are pending on your machine, and reboot:
- For Windows 10: Windows Update is available in the Update and Security section of Windows Settings, which is available from the Windows menu.
- Windows 7: Windows Update is located in the Control Panel, which is accessible from the Start menu.
It is sometimes necessary to perform a Windows Update multiple times to completely update your operating system.
Verify that enough disk space is available on your machine to install HSMWorks 2020 (approx. 2 GB).
Before installing HSMWorks 2020, please uninstall all prior Autodesk beta products.
Download HSMWorks 2020 from the Autodesk Account Portal (preferred) or cam.autodesk.com.
Follow the instructions to download and launch the installer. Temporary extraction is to your temp folder. Operating system errors regarding very long path names can occur if the temporary location is nested too many levels deep.
If the installer does not launch, browse to the folder where the files were extracted, and double-click setup.exe.

Updating an existing installation

When a new update is available, an update notification will appear in the Autodesk Desktop App.
Please download and install the update package.

Before installing an update there is no need to uninstall a previous HSMWorks release; but if you prefer to do so, you can uninstall the relevant release in Programs and Features in Windows Control Panel by accessing “View installed updates”.

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FEEDBACK

We encourage you to provide your feedback to us and help make HSMWorks even better. If you encounter issues not covered in this document, please report them to Autodesk through your reseller, on the CAM discussion forum, or to the HSMWorks team using 'Send Feedback' on the 'Help' menu.

The Autodesk CAM Team
For more information visit us at: http://cam.autodesk.com