To use Directed Automatic Feature Recognition

You can use Directed Automatic Feature Recognition to recognise holes, bosses, pockets, and sides automatically. You can then specify which of the recognised features you want to add to the Part View.

1. Select Home tab > Part Program panel > AFR menu > Directed AFR to display the Directed AFR wizard.
2. Select the features you want to automatically recognise.
3. If you select Hole, you can choose to add constraints to how FeatureCAM recognises holes:
   • Maximum Hole diameter — This is the threshold between Holes and Pockets. For cylinders larger than the value entered, a Pocket feature is created instead of a Hole feature.
   • Exclude hidden holes — Select this option to ignore blind holes that are on the opposite side of the part.
   • Include partial holes — If you want to recognise only holes with 360º cross-sections, deselect this option.
   • Make all holes be created at a constant Z height — Select this option if you want to create all hole features at the same Z height, regardless of the position of the hole in the solid.
   • Merge disjoint holes — Select this option to merge disjoint holes into a single feature. Disjoint holes are coaxial holes that are stacked on top of each other and share the same diameter and center location.
   • Merge hidden holes — Select this option to merge disjoint holes even if there is material between the holes in the solid. For example, select this option to merge two holes on opposite sides of a solid into a single Hole feature all the way through the solid. This is only available when Merge disjoint holes is selected.
4. If you selected Boss, Pocket, or Side, select Exclude features smaller than to ignore features whose maximum dimension is smaller than the distance you specify.
5. Click Next to display the verification and selection page of the wizard. All recognised features are listed in the left-hand panel.
6. Select the features you want to keep from the list. Use the curser to select individual features, or use the buttons to include features in or exclude features from the selection. Optionally, you can select features directly from the graphics window and the corresponding feature in the list is selected.
7. Select whether you want to merge or group any features:
   • Merge same parameter holes into pattern — Select this option to merge holes with identical dimensions into a pattern. By creating a pattern, you can later edit the whole pattern in a single dialog.
   • Merge same height pockets into a feature — Select this option to merge same height pockets into one feature.
   • Add new features into a group — Select this option to create a group of features, which can then be treated as one object.
8. Click Finish to add the selected recognised features to the Part View.

To use Directed AFR with turn/mill and Multi-axis parts

For turn/mill and multi-axis parts with round stock, you can choose whether to recognise features along the setup Z axis or around the index axis.

1. Select Home tab > Part Program panel > AFR menu > Directed AFR to display the Directed AFR wizard.
2. Select the features you want to automatically recognise.
3. If you select Hole, you can choose to add constraints to how FeatureCAM recognises holes:
   • Maximum Hole diameter — This is the threshold between Holes and Pockets. For cylinders larger than the value entered, a Pocket feature is created instead of a Hole feature.
   • Exclude hidden holes — Select this option to ignore blind holes that are on the opposite side of the part.
   • Include partial holes — If you want to recognise only holes with 360º cross-sections, deselect this option.
   • Make all holes be created at a constant Z height — Select this option if you want to create all hole features at the same Z height, regardless of the position of the hole in the solid.
   • Merge disjoint holes — Select this option to merge disjoint holes into a single feature. Disjoint holes are coaxial holes that are stacked on top of each other and share the same diameter and center location.
   • Merge hidden holes — Select this option to merge disjoint holes even if there is material between the holes in the solid. For example, select this option to merge two holes on opposite sides of a solid into a single Hole feature all the way through the solid. This is only available when Merge disjoint holes is selected.
4. If you selected Boss, Pocket, or Side, select Exclude features smaller than to ignore features whose maximum dimension is smaller than the distance you specify.
5. Click Next to display the DAFR - Feature Alignment page.
6. Select the alignment:
   • Along the setup Z axis — Select this option to recognize the features aligned with the setup Z axis.
   • Around the Index axis — Select this option to recognize features aligned radially around the index axis.
7. If you are aligning the feature around the index axis, specify the angle:
   • Automatic — Select this option to use Directed AFR to recognise the selected feature types at all angles. This is available only for Hole, Boss, and Pocket features.
   • Specify angles — Enter the index angle or click the blue Index Angle label to pick two points on the graphics window that represent the direction of the feature's Z axis.
   • Normal to surface — Click Pick surface and select a surface in the graphics window that you want to align the feature perpendicularly to. If you selected the back of the surface, select Reverse direction to reverse the direction of the alignment.
8. Click Next to display the verification and selection page of the wizard. All recognised features are listed in the left-hand panel.
9. Select the features you want to keep from the list. Use to curser to select individual features, or use the buttons to include features in or exclude features from the selection. Optionally, you can select features directly from the graphics window and the corresponding feature in the list is selected.
10. Select whether you want to merge or group any features:
    • Merge same parameter holes into pattern — Select this option to merge holes with identical dimensions into a pattern. By creating a pattern, you can later edit the whole pattern in a single dialog.
    • Merge same height pockets into a feature — Select this option to merge same height pockets into one feature.
    • Add new features into a group — Select this option to create a group of features, which can then be treated as one object.
11. Click Finish to add the selected recognised features to the Part View.