SmartCAM

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Please improve this article if you can. (December 2006)

SmartCAM was originally developed in 1983 by Point Control Company of Eugene, Oregon USA, and the product was a pioneer in the computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) marketplace. By the mid 1990s, SmartCAM was a market leader in worldwide licenses of the stand-alone software.

History

After a series of corporate acquisitions beginning in the mid-1990s, development of SmartCAM was halted late in 1998.

Late in 2003, SmartCAMcnc Gregg Olson, an early development manager for Point Control Company, reached an agreement with UGS (then owner of SmartCAM) to acquire exclusive development and marketing rights to SmartCAM. The new company was formed in Eugene, Oregon. In December 2005, the company moved to neighboring Springfield, Oregon.

In Q1 2005, began releasing updated and improved versions of SmartCAM, the first in almost seven years. SmartCAM remains extremely popular with a large established user base, primarily due to its unique ability to allow control of each toolpath element, and to the flexibility of its design allowing users to customize the product as required.

[edit] Products

SmartCAM consists of the following individual applications for milling, turning, fabrication and wire EDM:

  • SmartCAM Production Milling - 2½-axis machining with fourth axis positioning.
  • SmartCAM Advanced Milling - for 3-D production needs. It supports 3/2 axis machining (3 simultaneous, plus 4- and 5-axis positioning.)
  • SmartCAM FreeForm Machining - adds complex-surface/solids capability for a full range of parts from 2-axis work to complex 3-axis molds, dies, and prototypes.
  • SmartCAM Production Turning - for 2-axis lathes.
  • SmartCAM Advanced Turning - for 2-through 6-axis lathes and mill/turn centers.
  • SmartCAM Advanced Fabrication - creates optimized toolpath and NC code for a variety of CNC machines, including punches, burners, lasers, waterjets, punch/plasma, and punch/laser combinations.
  • SmartCAM Advanced Wire EDM - provides wirepath for both 2- and 4-axis wire EDM machines.
  • Predator CNC Editor for SmartCAM - is an OEM version of the DNC and CNC Editor version developed by Predator Software, Inc.

[edit] External links