OPEN MIND launches new hyperMILL CAD/CAM suite to make manufacturing easier

OPEN MIND Technologies AG is advancing the integration of automation and additive manufacturing with the release of the latest version of its hyperMILL® CAD/CAM suite, 2020.2. OPEN MIND’s developers have also added a host of features to further simplify everyday machining tasks. Highlights of hyperMILL® 2020.2 include new strategies for cutting edge machining, an upgrade for milling and turning, parametric design in hyperCAD®-S and the “hyperMILL® AUTOMATION Center Advanced”.

The Plunge-Milling strategy has been added to the 3D and 5-axis strategies for machining cutting edges. With 3-axis or 5-axis motion, material can now be removed by plunge milling. This plunge-milling operation reduces vibrations at the edge of the surface through steep walls, which improves the surface finish, and the machining of any remaining material with a smaller tool can be easily and automatically calculated from the previous job. With 5-axis machining, undercut areas can also be reached, for example for cutting edges. You can specify a tilted tool with lateral tilting to get the best adjustment for the motion of retracting from the component, and you can specify distance, cyclic or linear motion profiles.

Proven – Easier to manufacture

hyperMILL® offers powerful mirroring functions that recalculate tool paths for symmetrical components based on mirrored geometry data. Now, OPEN MIND has improved the functionality with hyperMILL® 2020.2. The "Mirror Path" function allows a simple mirroring of previously calculated tool paths. In this case, the machining direction is also mirrored, so that down milling becomes up milling. This function helps users reduce calculation times and increase process reliability.

The ease of use of hyperMILL® has also been further improved. To speed up searches in the tool database, filter attributes are now integrated directly into the top level of the user interface, which means they are always visible. Filter attributes can be preloaded, materials from the job list and spindle shanks from the machine properties. Other tool parameters and custom fields can also be used in conjunction with the tool database filters. Feature management has also been improved to save programming time. Thanks to the new text search, special feature types such as holes or pockets can now be found faster. These filter functions can be accessed flexibly through the large custom tool database.

Milling and turning

Circular inserts as well as diamond, T- and W-shaped inserts are now available for 3-axis simultaneous mill-turn. There is also now a feature to control the approach and retract motions by applying user-defined curves to all milling strategies. Although manual, this option increases productivity and optimizes programming for workpieces with particularly difficult-to-reach areas, while still providing collision checking for all motions.

hyperMILL® AUTOMATION Center

In hyperMILL® 2020.2, the "hyperMILL® AUTOMATION Center" has been upgraded and OPEN MIND now offers an optional premium version with additional features and a large number of templates. These templates enable users to define and standardize complex processes independently of the specific geometry from any CAD model.

The user can define all individual steps of data preparation and programming, right up to simulation and NC program generation. Once the manufacturing process has been defined, it can be applied to a new model and then executed automatically. If any decision cannot be made confidently in the automation process, the user is prompted to make the relevant choice in the automation sequence. It will interactively guide the user through the individual process steps, making it possible to program the component in a fraction of the time it would normally take.

Parametric design with hyperCAD®-S

Parametric modeling is now also possible directly in hyperCAD®-S. This functionality is ideal for fast, production-relevant design. For example, users can design splints parametrically and change the dimensions to define different variations of a basic model very quickly. This functionality can be used in both parametric mode in hyperCAD®-S and static models can also be placed in the same dataset. Likewise, you can use a static solid model in parametric mode and add parametric features to it for a hybrid approach.

hyperCAD®-S also introduces new interfaces for CATIA V6 3DXML and Rhino 3dm in version 2020.2. PMI data is now also available for CATIA, Creo, JT, NX, SOLIDWORKS and STEP files.