Use Cases

Verification

More and more often, programs for NC machines are generated automatically or by means of off-line programming solutions. Such programs need to be checked for correctness, collisions and reachability constraints.

Performance

Analysis of machine program performance often reveals considerable potential for improvement. A simulation based on high-accuracy controller emulation reveals whether dynamic machine limits are reached how bottlenecks can be avoided.

Planning

Machine vendors, system integrators and factory planners can use VZM to evaluate the benefit of different machine kinematics, jigs and fixtures for a production facility during planning and development.

Features

High-performance Collision Detection
Display of collsion detection result Collision checks can be run for either one single or a large number of programs at once, without any need for user intervention. Results are displayed by highlighting the colliding parts or can be exported to report files. A vectorized (SSE, AVX) multi-core implementation makes full use of modern CPUs such that finely resolved, very long programs and complex machine models can handled efficiently. The collision detection algorithm can be configured to require a minimum distance between parts instead of hard collisions, exclude some parts from testing, and to optionally stop at the first collision for increased efficiency in NC program validation.
Precision Performance Analysis
Performance limit display Interfacing with a high-quality controller emulator such as the Siemens 840D Virtual NC Kernel (VNCK) enables the collection of very accurate, detailed program timing data. Graphical representations of performance limitations can then be used to detect slow NC code paths and improve the performance of existing machines.
Composite Layup Simulation
Layup Simulation The process of composite material deposition by Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machines can be simulated as well. Gaps in the layup become immediately visible and errors in machine program generation are detected quickly. Statistics computed based the geometry of the deposited laminate provide insight in how AFP machine productivity can be improved. Optionally, empirical information on production process interruptions (such as AFP cutter cleaning) can be entered for more realistic, material-dependent productivity estimates.
External Interfaces
Import of STL geometry Machine and workpiece geometry can be imported from files in STL or 3DXML format. Such files contain tessellated geometry and can often be accessed directly from machine manufacturer websites or generated by any CAD software. Hole and fastener data can be loaded from IGES or plain text files for maximum flexibility. Engineering data such as reference curves can additionally be imported from IGES to simplify the verification of programmed features.
Exotic Kinematic Chains
Parallel Kinematic Chain Almost any type of kinematic system, both serial and parallel chains, can be set up with the kinematic assembly module. For many specialized systems such as tripods or C-frame riveting machines, pre-defined dialogs are available, while a very general spline-based interpolation approach can be employed to model innovative systems that cannot be modelled at all by some other simulation systems.

Availability

VZM is available with a non-exclusive source code license which allows arbitrary modifications of the system by the licensee. The source code license option is recommended for large installations and enterprise customers as it automatically guarantees long-term access to the software and the possibility to adapt it to proprietary processes.

As an alternative for small and medium enterprises, node-locked licenses for the application binaries (i.e. without source code and libraries) can be obtained as well. Please request a quote by email.

As a standalone software, VZM is independent of any particular CAD-system license or interface. Graphical interfaces and high-performance visualization capabilities make use of the Qt libraries and OpenGL. Most of the underlying simulation functionality is, however, entirely independent of any graphical toolkit and can therefore also be licensed for integration in other software packages.