AI CAM
A proposed AI planner for machining. Your programmer keeps the final say.
AI CAM is a proposed workflow. It would read the 3D model and the customer’s drawing and draft the setups, tools, operations and cycle time. Your programmer would check the plan, then program, simulate and post in your CAM system as usual.
What changes
Your CAM system keeps the maths. AI CAM would draft the planning.
Toolpath engines are mature. The hours go into the decisions around them: how to hold the part, which features to cut with which tool, in what order and how fast. That is the work AI CAM is meant to draft.
Stays with your CAM system
- Toolpath calculation and simulation
- Post-processors and machine definitions
- Tool library, holders and templates
- Collision checking and verification
- The program your machine runs
Proposed for AI CAM
- Orientation, setups and stock
- Workholding, from vice to soft jaws
- Features from the model, callouts from the drawing
- Tools, strategies, feeds and speeds
- Machinability findings and a cycle time
How it would work
From model to a plan your programmer can check.
AI CAM would do the planning. Your programmer keeps the decisions that need judgement.
- 01
Add the part
Start from the customer’s 3D model, and add the PDF drawing if you have it.
- 02
Model and drawing read
Features, stock and orientation would come from the model, and tolerances, threads, finishes and notes from the drawing.
- 03
A plan, operation by operation
Setups, tools, strategies, feeds and speeds drafted for every operation, with a cycle time.
- 04
Program, simulate, post
Your programmer changes what they would do differently, then programs, simulates and posts the part in your CAM system as usual.
Illustrated
What the plan would look like.
Illustrations on a sample sensor housing, SH-410, showing what AI CAM is meant to produce.
Operation plan
Every operation, with its numbers.
Each operation would list its tool, stepover, stepdown, speeds, feeds and stock to leave, so your programmer can check and change them before programming the part. Nothing would reach a machine until your programmer posts it.
- FaceT1 · Ø50 face mill0:34
- Adaptive roughT4 · Ø12 end mill1:24
- Tool
- T4 · Ø12 3-flute carbide
- Stepover
- 1.2 mm · 10%
- Stepdown
- 10 mm12 mm
- Spindle
- 10,000 rpm
- Feed
- 3,000 mm/min
- Stock to leave
- 0.3 mm
- Rest roughT6 · Ø6 end mill0:48
- Finish pocketsT5 · Ø10 end mill0:46
Illustration of the proposed workflow
Model and drawing
Read from the drawing, not only the model.
Tolerances, fits, threads, surface finishes and notes usually live on the PDF, not in the model. AI CAM is meant to read them and turn each into the right operation: an H7 bore gets a boring pass, an M8 thread gets spot, drill and tap, an Ra 0.8 floor gets its own finishing pass. Where your library cannot make a feature, it would say so.
- Ø28 H7Bore, 17 deepRough, semi-finish Ø27.8, bore to sizeBoring headNot in your library
- 4 × M8 × 1.25 ↧ 14Threaded holesSpot drill, drill Ø6.8, tap M8T9 · T11 · T12
- Ra 0.8Pocket floorSeparate floor finish, 0.2 mm leftT5 · Ø10 end mill
- 0.5 × 45°Break all edgesChamfer top and bottom edgesT8 · Ø6 chamfer mill
Illustration of the proposed workflow
Before you commit
What the part needs, before anyone programs it.
- 1Side port Ø8 is out of reachNo tool reaches it from setup 1 or 2. Add a setup, or run it 3+2.
- 2Pocket corners are R2.5Your smallest end mill is Ø6. Add a Ø4, or ask for R3.
- 3Rib is 1.5 mm thick12 mm deep between pocket and bore. Finish in two depths.
- 4Ø28 H7 boreNeeds a boring head. There is none in your library.
Illustration of the proposed workflow
Problems flagged while there is time to ask
Features no tool can reach, corners tighter than your smallest cutter, thin walls and tolerances your library cannot hold would be flagged as soon as the part is open, while you can still ask the customer or quote the extra work.
Illustration of the proposed workflow
A cycle time the quote can use
The cycle time would come from the planned operations on your machines. CAS Quotation already estimates 3-axis machining time from the 3D model and prices it on your machine rates. Using AI CAM’s cycle time there instead is part of the proposal.
Explore CAS QuotationFAQ
Questions from programmers and shop owners.
Is AI CAM available now?
Not yet. AI CAM is a proposed workflow. The film and screens on this page are illustrations on a sample part, not output from a working product. Request early access to tell us how your shop programs.
Would it replace our CAM system or our programmers?
Neither. Your CAM system would still calculate, simulate and post every toolpath. AI CAM would draft the planning that comes before, and your programmer would review and approve every operation.
Which tools, machines and post-processors would it use?
Yours. It would pick from your tool library and holders, stay within each machine’s spindle speed, power and travels, and leave posting to the post-processors you already use.
How would feeds and speeds be set?
From the tool, the material and the engagement, limited by the machine’s spindle speed and power and by the stick-out in the setup. Values your shop has proven would take priority, and every value would be visible on the operation.
What machining would it cover?
The proposal covers milling on 3-axis and 3+2 machines, including drilling, tapping and chamfering. Tell us about your turning and 5-axis work when you apply.
What happens to our customers’ models and drawings?
They stay in your workspace and are used only for your work. They are never shared with other shops.
How would it connect to quoting?
CAS Quotation already estimates 3-axis machining time from the 3D model and prices it on your machine rates. The proposal is for the cycle time from AI CAM’s planned operations to replace that estimate, so the quote and the program agree.