Collision avoidance tilts the tool axis, in a user defined way, to avoid collisions between the shank/holder of the tool assembly and the model.
This page contains the following:
Tilt method — Choose how the tool moves to avoid a collision.
Holder clearance — Enter a specified “safe” area around the tool holder which is taken into account when checking for collisions.
Holder clearance
Shank clearance — Enter a specified “safe” area around the tool shank which is taken into account when checking for collisions.
Holder clearance
Shank clearance
Smoothing distance — Enter the distance over which to smooth the tool axis movement. When using Stepped on Surface, or with sudden changes in direction in the original toolpath (such as a right-angled corner), you get rapid changes of orientation of the tool axis which leaves dwell marks. To prevent this, the Smoothing distance blends the change in orientation and gives a much improved surface finish.
It is easier to see the effect of changing the Smoothing distance if you draw the tool axis, click Toolpath tab > Draw panel > Display > Tool axes.
A Smoothing distance of 2
A Smoothing distance of 20
A Smoothing distance of 60
Tilt direction — Select how to specify the geometry used to orient the tool axis. This is available only if you select a Tilt method of Specified direction.
Tilt pattern — Select the curve used when you select a Tilt method of Specify direction and a Tilt direction of Towards curve or From curve. The curve must be a pattern with a single segment.
Create pattern — Click to create a new empty pattern.
Selected pattern — Select a pattern from the list. If no pattern is displayed, or is selected, then no pattern is selected. The list contains a list of all available patterns.
Curve Editor — Click to display the Curve Editor tab, which enables you to create and edit patterns. The assumption is that you first extract curves from the model, and then modify the curve to create the exact pattern you need.
Select picked pattern — Click to select a pattern by picking in the graphics window.
Clicking displays the Pick Entity tab. Select a pattern in the graphics window to close the Pick Entity tab and display the pattern in the Selected Pattern field.
Collect curves — Click to copy the selected curves into the pattern.This provides a fast, powerful means of extracting curve geometry from a surface model and copying it into the active pattern/boundary. For more information, see the collecting curves example.
Point — Enter the coordinates of the fixed point.
— Click to display the Position dialog. Use the dialog to manually enter coordinates and locate items in the graphics window.
Direction — Specify the direction of the line from the fixed point.
— Click to display the Direction dialog, which enables you to edit the direction of an item.
Draw tilt direction — Select to display the tool axis direction.
If you specify Towards Point or From Point, then PowerMill displays the specified point:
If you specify Towards Line or From Line, then PowerMill displays the specified line:
If you specify a Fixed Direction, then PowerMill displays the specified line with an arrow on it to indicate the direction:
If you specify a Lead, Lean, or Surface Normal, the option has no effect.
For more information see Basic collision avoidance example and Collision avoidance example.