Post Processor and Machine Simulation What’s New – November 2020 edition

Andrea Amilo November 30, 2020

9 min read

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[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! Newly added posts will be marked new like this.

[icon name=”thumbs-up” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Improved! Recently improved posts will be marked like this.

Milling Post Processors

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! We added a generic post for Makino mills that supports inverse time as well as an optional 4-axis. Inverse time is a method of specifying feeds and speeds that uses cutting time rather than a constant feed rate, more effetively controlling linear and rotary motion at the same time, especially during multi-axis milling.

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! Also from Makino, we added several posts for the Makino family of vertical 5-axis CNC mills, including the Makino D200z, Makino D300, and Makino D500. These posts come preconfigured for each machine with full 5-axis support. Be sure to check the options in your NC Program for additional tweaking before you post your code.

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! For those of you looking for manufacturing in a smaller format, we added a generic post for Bantam Tools. Bantam makes desktop machines for CNC milling, including metal cutting as well as PCB milling.

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! D.Electron is an Italian manufacturer of CNC controls, and we added a generic post for their Z32 CNC Control series. Learn more about D.Electron here.

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! Beamicon2 is a CNC control from German company Benezan Electronics, and we now support this control with a generic Beamicon2 post processor. Learn more about Benezan, including their dealers or machines that use their controls, here.

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! Also joining the family is a generic post processor for the Buildbotics 4-axis CNC control, which is open-source, fully enclosed, and capable of controlling a wide variety of machines. Learn more about Buildbotics here.

Added a generic post for RichAuto DSP controllers, which are commonly used for 3 and 4-axis milling as well as CNC plasma cutting.

Updated the name and vendor for the EZ-Trak Conversational post from Bridgeport so it is now easier to find.

Added a post for the Mazak VC500 machine. The Mazak VC500 is a 5axis machine with rotary/tilt C on B trunnion setup. Out-of-the-box this post supports full 5 axis positional toolpaths, which should minimize edits to the post processor.

mazak post processorts
Image courtesy of Mazak

Turning Posts

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! A post for the Hwacheon Hi-TECH 230AL Mill/Turn has been added to the library.

We added posts for the Jyoti family of turn-mill machines. Be sure to enter the Tool ID Code in the Product ID of the tool, or leave the field completely empty if not used. The full list includes the Jyoti AX 200-M, Jyoti AX 300-M, Jyoti AX 200-MY, Jyoti AX 300-MSY, Jyoti AX-200 MSY, Jyoti-TMC-200, Jyoti TMC-250, and the Jyoti TMC-350.

We also added a generic post for PlanetCNC Turning, in addition to our generic milling post for them. Make sure to use turret 0 for the Positional Turret, Turret 101 for a quick change tool post (QCTP) on the X- post, Turret 102 for QCTP on the X+ post, Turret 103 for Gang Tooling on the X- Post, and Turret 104 for Gang Tooling on the X+ tool post.

The Centroid post for both turning and milling is new to our library. Centroid operates out of Philadelphia, and their controls are often used as retrofits for both commercial and hobbyist applications. They are available as DIY kits or full retrofit packages for a variety of lathes and mills.

In addition to the Grbl Milling post, the Grbl Turning post is now available! Grbl is one of our most widely used posts on the milling side, so we’re excited to begin offering turning support as well. Since Grbl posts tend to serve a hobbyist audience, we know that paid customization is not often feasible for most Grbl users. We wrote this blog post on Grbl post processors to help provide some guidance on finding, editing, and using Grbl posts.

We made several improvements to the Haas Mill/Turn family of posts. Sub-spindle milling was added as well as a property to define the maximum spindle speed for the sub-spindle. We also added a property to allow XY positioning for axial drilling cycles. Finally, We added a property to use G187 Accuracy Control for milling operations, which can set and control both smoothness and corner rounding values when cutting a part.

Here is the full list of Haas Mill/Turn posts that were updated: Haas CL-1, Haas DS-30SSY, Haas DS-30Y, Haas ST-10, Haas ST-10Y, Haas ST-15, Haas ST-20, Haas ST-20SS, Haas ST-20SSY, Haas ST-20Y, Haas ST-25, Haas ST-25Y, Haas ST-30, Haas ST-30SS, Haas ST-30SSY, Haas ST-30Y, Haas ST-35, Haas ST-35Y, and Haas ST-40.

To accompany recent turning development in Fusion 360, we made several parallel improvements and additions to our library. The compound threading cycle (G76) is now supported in most of our turning post processors. Check for the “Use simple threading cycle” post property to choose between compound and simple threading cycle (G92). Infeed angle support for the simple threading cycle has also been added where applicable. Use the table below to see which posts processors got which upgrades.

Post NameG76 SupportG92 Support
Fanuc TurningYesYes
GSK CNC TurningYesYes
Haas TurningYesYes
Mach4 TurningYesYes
Mazak IntegrexYesNo
Mitsubishi TurningYesNo
proLIGHT TurningNoYes
protoTrack TurningNoYes

New posts for the Mazak lathe, Masso lathe controller, CNC New GT series mill/turn, and the Mazak Quick Turn machine family.

Masso is a promising alternative to pc-based controllers. The post supports basic turning functionality and is a good solution for both high-end and underlying implementations. Find this post here.

masso controller new post processors
Image courtesy of Masso

The CNC NEW GT are gang tool lathes that use the GSK 980TDi control. These machines also support milling functionality and a variety of other options. Find this post here.

Mazak Quick Turn is one of the most requested post processors, so we are happy to support this entire family of live tooling lathes. This includes the M, the MS, which has the sub spindle added, the MY, which has Y-axis but not a sub spindle, and the MSY, which has Y-axis and a sub spindle. Each post processor supports its respective configuration, the max spindle speed, and Y-axis limits.

The full list includes Mazak Quick Turn 100-M, Mazak Quick Turn 200-M, Mazak Quick Turn 250-M, Mazak Quick Turn 350-M, Mazak Quick Turn 400-M, Mazak Quick Turn 450-M, Mazak Quick Turn 100-MY, Mazak Quick Turn 200-MY, Mazak Quick Turn 250-MY, Mazak Quick Turn 350-MY, Mazak Quick Turn 450-MY, Mazak Quick Turn 100-MS, Mazak Quick Turn 200-MS, Mazak Quick Turn 250-MS, Mazak Quick Turn 100-MSY, Mazak Quick Turn 200-MSY, Mazak Quick Turn 250-MSY, and Mazak Quick Turn 350-MSY.

Probing Post Processors

[icon name=”thumbs-up” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Improved! The DATRON Next post now supports Inspect Surface functions, allowing you to collect information about the geometry of freeform parts and import back into Fusion 360 to compare to the model. This post is for use with the Datron neo CNC mill. The video below shows how to use Inspect Surface on a Haas mill with the Next Generation Control but also shows an application of Inspect Surface.

There is now a results generator for the inspect surface strategy. Posting Inspect Surface toolpaths will generate a measurement result file in the standard MTIL format.

Angular probing Renishaw macro (O9843) has been added to all posts that previously supported Renishaw cycles. This allows you to probe walls at an angle where previously only walls that were along the X or Y axes were supported.

angled probe post processor

3-point bore and boss measurement Renishaw macro (O9823) has been added to all posts that previously supported Renishaw cycles. 3-point measurement allows you to measure partial holes as opposed to a 4-point measurement where this is not possible.

Image courtesy of Renishaw, Inc.

Simulation Posts

A cascading post to VERICUT is now available. This post integration allows automatic simulation of generated NC programs in VERICUT.

Robotics Posts

Universal Robots has joined the family of robot post processors! This is a generic post for Universal Robots CB-Series (URScript) and e-Series (G-code and URScript). As with all robot posts, please make sure to refer to the User Guide and of course validate in Simulation mode before you execute any code on your robot!

An ABB robot post is now available. This is a generic post for ABB robots, so make sure to refer to the User Guide for some specification and samples prior to running your robot. Always be sure to validate in Robot Studio before you load any toolpath onto your ABB robot!

Plasma Posts

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! We’ve added Masso Plasma to our selection of plasma post processors, in addition to supporting their turning controls. Masso a good option for entry level or higher-end commercial applications.

Routing Post Processors

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! Added a generic post for the Titan Series of CNC Routers by Techno CNC Systems. This post supports an optional B-axis and use of a WinCNC controller.

[icon name=”star” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] New! Added a generic milling post for the ShopSabre IS-M series of routers with Mitsubishi M8 series control.

Added a post for Maslow, an open source, upright CNC router kit for cutting 4′ x 8′ sheets of material.

Added a generic post for the BobsCNC family of router kits.

Added a generic milling post for PlanetCNC controllers as well as one machine specific post for Mekanika routers with PlanetCNC controllers.

Added a generic milling post for Estlcam.

Added a post for the VOLTER ACP Series routers, which are specifically designed for processing composite panels, HPL panels, fiber cement boards, and aluminum sheets.

Additive Post Processors

In addition to the posts below, a post for AnyCubic printers is now available for Fused Filament Fabrication. This post will simply export the toolpath in gcode format and should work with any AnyCubic family.

We developed our first additive post processors for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). Post processors for the Bresser, XYZprinting, Prusa printer, ANET 3D, Ultimaker 2, Ultimaker 3, Ultimaker S5, and Bigrep One, Studio and Studio G2, and Creality family of printers are now available for download in our online library.

dditive post processors added

Be sure that you select the printer model in the post properties of the Bigrep post processor to get the correct NC code for your particular printer model. We are excited to add support for these machines in Fusion 360 and look forward to continuing to develop our additive selection.

Posts in Development

The following post processors are in development, which means they are currently in the testing phase. If you choose to use one of these post processors, you assume all inherent risk in using it, and we ask that you proceed with caution. That being said, if you feel safe doing so and are willing to test any of them and provide feedback, let us know at cam.posts@autodesk.com.

Tell us what you think!

If you have suggestions for new posts, let us know on the Post Processors Idea page!

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