Autodesk® HSMWorks™ 2023.2.1
Release Notes
Build 17.2.1.44135 / 22 November 2022 Autodesk, Inc.
CONTENTS
This document covers the following HSMWorks products:
- HSMWorks Premium
- HSMWorks Ultimate (including Fusion Entitlement)
What’s New
System Requirements
Installation
WHAT’S NEW
The following changes have been made in the current update (2023.2.1):
Changes for File Saving
- Fixed a serious issue in which CAM data was lost when saving any file. (#41201)
The following changes were made in an earlier update (2023.2):
Changes for Post Process
- Generate an error if a machine is passed to the postprocessor for an unsupported packaged post. (#29488)
- Fixed an issue in which Secondary Spindle Chuck and Return failed to post NC code. (#38367)
Changes for Milling: Pockets and Contours
- Fixed an issue in which certain small parameter changes could cause a crash in Contour2D and Pocket2D. (#38734)
- Fixed an issue in which incorrect tiny helical pieces in linking ramps could be produced for Contour2D and Pocket2D. (#38245)
- Fixed an issue in which offsets could be missing in Contour2D and Pocket2D when the input contours contain arcs. (#38888)
- Fixed issues that could cause incorrect toolpaths in some circumstances when linking for Contour2D, Pocket2D and Pocket3D. (#38929)
- Fixed an issue where the ordering of passes could be incorrect in Contour2D, Pocket2D and Pocket3D. (#39078)
- Fixed an issue that could cause a gouge in rare circumstances in Pocket2D with enabled smoothing. (#38847)
- Fixed an issue that could cause a crash in Pocket2D for some input contours containing only a single point. (#38736)
- Fixed an issue that could cause a gouge in some cases when linking for Pocket3D. (#37361)
Changes for Milling: Blend and Flow
- Fixed the cutting direction for paths in Blend so that it is always consistent with direction shown in the user interface. (#39776)
- Fixed an issue that could cause a crash with some special geometry cases in Blend. (#39255)
- Fixed an issue that could cause a crash in linking for Blend, Flow and Multi-axis contour. (#38189)
- Fixed an issue that could cause a crash in Blend and Flow strategies. (#39459)
- Add damping for tool axis limits in Blend and Flow with a non-ball tool so that the tool will decelerate gradually to a stop. (#39370)
Changes for Other Milling Strategies
- Fixed an issue in which an incorrect warning about Ramp Clearance Height was sometimes displayed for Chamfer. (#39688)
- Fixed an issue that caused Chamfer 2D to sometimes fail to generate passes. (#37109)
- Fixed some issues that could cause crashes in some circumstances in 2D Profile. (#39470)
- Fixed an issue that could cause a crash when using "Trimmed" or "Fail on collision" for "Shaft & Holder" in Pencil. (#38043)
- Fixed possible zig-zag cutting paths which don't obey climb/conventional in Ramp strategy. (#38971)
- Fixed an issue in which zig-zag ramping was applied in open slots when not needed. (#38307)
- Added support for toolpaths containing circles in Engrave. (#38781)
- Fixed an issue that could result in missing or incorrect cutting paths in some cases at corners in Engrave. (#38199)
- Fixed an issue that could cause a missing cutting path when using multiple depths in Engrave. (#23125)
- Fixed an issue that could result in collisions of the tool shoulder or holder with the stock in Adaptive 3D even when the "Pull away" option was enabled. (#38954)
- Fixed an issue in which the outermost cut could be missing in Morphed Spiral. (#35339)
The following changes were made in an earlier update (2023.1):
Changes for Contour Strategies
- Improved support for arcs in all contour based operations. (#32162)
- Improve the feed rate calculation when "stock contours" are used for certain 2D strategies. (#24118)
- Fixed a crash that could occur in 2D Contour when "Loops around corners" and "Trimming" were enabled. (#36572)
- Fixed an issue in some 2D Contour cases where a badly formed stay-down link could be generated when using a user defined exit position. (#37174)
- Fixed an issue where overlapping contours and contour selections with no area could cause a crash of the toolpath calculation. (#37404)
- Fixed an issue with missing offset paths for 2D Contour and 2D Pocket. (#37628)
- Fixed a case where a toolpath wasn't calculated for contour strategies when using a tool with a shaft that was wider than the tool body. (#34403)
- Fixed possible holder gouges or incorrect trimming in 3D Contour when using the "Trim" option for holder and the "Axial stock to leave" option. (#35229)
- Fixed an issue in which lead-in moves were removed incorrectly in certain cases when using the "Trim" option for holder. (#24158)
- Fixed a case in contour clearing in which rapid moves could cause the tool to collide with the stock. (#36308)
- Updated error messages to be clearer and more informative. (#26233)
Changes for Pocket Strategies
- Fixed an issue that could generate incorrect ordering in a 2D Pocket. (#34935)
- Fixed a crash that could occur in some cases in 2D Contour and 2D Pocket when the input paths contained arcs. (#38029)
- Fixed an issue where arc input to 2D Contour could cause the toolpath calculation to fail. (#37095)
- Fixed an issue in which the toolpath calculation could fail in certain cases of 2D Contour clearing. (#37337)
- Fixed a crash that could occur in a 2D Pocket when the input contours contain arcs. (#37504)
- Fixed an issue in Pocket that could result in rapid moves to the stock when approaching from outside and using "Minimum/shortest retracts". (#36719)
- Fixed incorrect offset paths in 3D Pocket that could occur in unusual cases. (#37333)
- Fixed an issue in which Rest shadow could produce unnecessary passes just under the bottom of the stock. (#34334)
- Fixed an issue where predrill positions in the center of circular pockets were not used. (#37162, #37363)
Changes for Adaptive
- Added a warning in 3D Adaptive if the surface height is larger than the retract height. (#33672)
- Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause an Adaptive toolpath calculation to not finish. (#33025)
- Fixed an issue where inaccessible pockets becoming accessible at lower Z levels could cause tool collisions in Adaptive roughing. (#33114)
- Improved a warrning message so that it is only displayed in relevant helical ramp cases. (#35557)
Changes for Blend
- Changed Blend and Flow strategies so that the top of the toolpath is define by "Top Height" rather than "Retract Height". (#35844)
- Fixed a crash that could occur in certain cases when using Blend. (#29008)
- Improved the linking of segments in Blend so that start points of closed segments are better aligned. (#32734)
- Fixed a crash that could occur in certain cases in Blend, and provide an error message instead. (#35393)
Changes for 2D Chamfer
- Updated an error message that is displayed when a contour that must be closed contains a non-closed contour. (#28296)
- Added a log entry for cases where the 2D Chamfer violates the model. (#27436)
Other Milling Strategy Changes
- Fixed a crash in adaptive rest machining. (#37208)
- Fixed certain cases where Engrave incorrectly generated straight lines when it should have produced arcs. (#37254)
- Fixed certain cases where Engrave incorrectly failed to sharpen corners where one or both sides were arcs. (#37616)
- Improve the generation of Face toolpaths by applying an offset for a collection of stock contours from the same Z-level instead of creating independent offsets. (#33676)
- Improved Face toolpaths by using the plunge feed rate for vertical lead-in moves when they are outside the stock. (#34596)
- Fixed an issue for Jet where offset calculations could crash during toolpath calculation. (#35885)
- Improved Swarf to issue warnings when the input contains a mixture of closed and open contours. (#21775)
- Added display of additional information when a toolpath is empty because of the machining boundary selections. (#27850)
Changes for Setup Sheet
- Fixed an issue when using the legacy post process dialog in which the setup sheet was not selecting the correct image when the post location was changed. (#35080)
Changes for API
- Added HSMWorks_createJob function. (#37916)
Changes for SolidWorks Design / Release Parts
- Added diagnostic information when problems are encountered while using an earlier design state of a release part. (#35245)
The following changes were made in an earlier update (2023):
Changes for Milling
- Improved the stability of the Slot strategy so that it recognizes more slots and produces valid toolpaths. (#30388)
- Fixed an issue in which the Slot strategy could produce an incorrect toolpath when the input contour was open and had an arc at the end. (#14085)
- Improved the alignment of starting positions on closed cutting passes in Blend. (#31074)
- Fixed incorrect leads in Contour2D when "In Control" compensation was enabled and "Horizontal Lead Arcs" was disabled. (#34288)
- Fixed an issue in which Contour2D toolpaths would fail to generate when using multiple depths and the top and bottom heights were equal. (#33845)
- Fixed a crash that could occur in some circumstances when using Contour2D. (#31405)
- Fixed a performance problem that could occur in Contour2D and Pocket2D when using many stepovers. (#33792)
- Fixed an issue in which a spiral toolpath in Pocket2D could generate a gouge in some circumstances. (#33460)
- Fixed an issue in which Pocket2D sometimes was cutting through islands that should have been avoided. (#27482)
- Fixed an issue in which Pocket2D sometimes ignored open input contours if they did not contain arcs. (#22142)
- Fixed an issue with Pocket3D in which a gouge could occur in some cases when the toolpath incorrectly duplicated passes. (#32554)
- Fixed an issue in which a spiral toolpath in Pocket3D sometimes resulted in a kernel crash and no toolpath. (#27364)
Changes for Turning
- Fixed an issue with certain turning groove toolpaths that were not being generated when the Z stock limits coincided with the groove limits. (#34296)
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- Autodesk HSMWorks 2023 supports Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit and Windows 11 64-bit.
- HSMWorks 2023 is compatible with the 2020, 2021, and 2022 versions of SOLIDWORKS.
INSTALLATION
- SOLIDWORKS must be installed prior to installing HSMWorks
- Before you install HSMWorks 2023, 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.
- 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 2023 (approx. 2 GB).
- Before installing HSMWorks 2023, please uninstall all prior Autodesk beta products.
- Download HSMWorks 2023 from the Autodesk Account Portal or from your Autodesk Desktop Application.
- 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.
- We recommend that you uninstall HSMWorks 2022 before installing HSMWorks 2023. You can uninstall the relevant release using the Autodesk Uninstall Tool or using "Add or remove programs" in Windows Settings. If you choose not to do that, you may need to be aware that:
- HSMWorks 2023 will now be registered with SolidWorks instead of HSMWorks 2022.
- If you uninstall HSMWorks 2022 at a later time, you may lose the registration of HSMWorks 2023 with SolidWorks. The registration between the two products can be restored using the following command, which requires admin privileges to run: regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\HSMWorks 2023\hsmsw.dll"
- Before installing any updates after the annual release (e.g. HSMWorks 2023.x) there is no need to uninstall the previous HSMWorks release.
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
Copyright 2022 Autodesk, Inc.