CAM operations: pockets, profiles, engraving, 3D
Toolpaths computed by the Oprela server (FreeCAD + OpenCAMLib): pockets with islands, profiles, facing, engraving, 3D roughing and finishing — with ramped entries and the check on the robot.
What it is
In the Robotics Studio, for a cell with a spindle, the group "Paths and recipes" has a "CAM operation (FreeCAD)" panel. The Oprela server computes the toolpath with FreeCAD and OpenCAMLib, and in a few seconds it appears on the part as ordinary paths. Then as always: recipe → reach, collision and motion check on your robot → program.Operations
| Operation | What it does | What it needs | |---|---|---| | Pocket | clears inside an outline to a depth; islands stay | a closed contour (the first ticked is the outline, the rest islands) | | Profile | the tool runs beside the outline: outside cuts the part out, inside a hole | a closed contour | | Face | skims the top flat in a zigzag | a contour, or the whole part from above | | Engrave | the tool follows lines at a shallow depth | lines (e.g. from a DXF / SVG drawing) | | 3D roughing from the stock | layer by layer, clears everything around the part, leaving an allowance | a part from a file | | 3D waterline | constant-height loops around the surface — steep areas | a part from a file | | 3D surface | parallel lines dropped onto the surface — finishing gentle areas | a part from a file |The tool, rpm and feeds come from the chosen spindle recipe. You give the depth, the step down, the stepover (% of the diameter), the pocket pattern (rings, zigzag, spiral), the profile side, the cutter for 3D (ball or flat).
A robot is not a machine tool
- Ramped entries. Every entry into material goes down along the path itself at an angle (3° by default): a closed contour round and once more at full depth, an open line out and back. A bit without centre cutting does not push into the material, laminate does not burn. Straight-down entry can be chosen when needed.
- No needless retracts. The passes of one level are linked at depth where the move between them lies inside the area the tool clears anyway. A 100×60 pocket with an island: 4 entries instead of 48 retracts.
- Time with acceleration. The motion check counts the cycle time with speeding up and slowing down, and warns where the tool reaches its feed only millimetres after the entry (a deeper cut there). The cell's own accelerations go into the cell's equipment (motion_limits); without them assumed values are used, and the system says so.
Ready recipes
Under the paths — "Ready recipes": HPL laminate — router Ø6, 1 flute (18,000 rpm, 20 mm/s, 0.067 mm per tooth, passes of 6 mm, conventional milling) and drill Ø5. Created and approved in one click. The values are a start — check on a test piece.Limits
- Machining is from above, along −Z of the part: the side to machine must face up in the part's own coordinates.
- 3D operations only for a part from a file.
- 4–5 axes are not computed: make such a toolpath in a CAM (Fusion 360, SprutCAM, FreeCAD) and import it as G-code / APT — Oprela checks it on the robot.