In this section the steps of patching a Helmet model are explained:

B.2 Helmet

B.2.1 Patch Artist

B.2.1.1 Import the CAD model file

  1. Access the Import drop-down menu in one of the following ways:

    • From the Menu bar, choose File > Import.

    • From the Quick access toolbar, click Import.

  2. From the Import menu, click Import part.

  3. Under File selection, browse to select the file, Helmet.step.

  4. Click on Import.

The file, Helmet.step, is now imported into the session.

../_images/tut41.png

Fig. 3 Click on the image to zoom.

B.2.1.2 Define mount points

  1. After saving the CAD model, go to Property window.

    ../_images/tut42.png

  2. Click on the values of Mount point to edit them.

    ../_images/tut3.png

  3. Enter the coordinates for the location as shown below > Click on Apply.

    ../_images/tut43.png

  4. Check the View button as shown below to view Mount point on the model.

    ../_images/tut44.png

    Mount points are now defined on the model and can be visualized as:

    ../_images/tut45.png

B.2.1.3 Check and correct normals

  1. Click on the option Show orientation from the ribbon bar under the Render mode group.

    ../_images/tut601.png

  2. Select an assembly or a face of the imported CAD model for which you want to check the normals.

    ../_images/tut651.png

  3. Identify the faces whose normals are not oriented outward.

    ../_images/tut66.png

  4. Select the incorrect faces one by one and click on the Reverse button from Property window to correct the normals.

    ../_images/tut68.png

    The corrected normals of Helmet is shown below:

    ../_images/tut67.png

B.2.1.4 Shape extractions

B.2.1.4.1 Extract surface

  1. Right click on Shape extractions and click on Extract surface.

    ../_images/tut46.png

  2. Right click on the created surface and click on Select.

    ../_images/tut47.png

  3. Extract surface from the model and then click on tick.

    ../_images/tut48.png

    Surface is now extracted with the name Surface 1 as shown below:

    ../_images/tut49.png

B.2.1.4.2 Extract boundary

Patch Artist automatically extracts Patch boundary with respect to the extracted surface. You can also define your own boundary.

B.2.1.4.3 Extraction master curve

  1. Right click on Shape extractions and click on Extract curve.

    ../_images/tut51.png

  2. Right click on the created Curve and click on Select (or Create).

    ../_images/tut50a.png

  3. Extract the Curve from the model and then click on tick.

    A Curve is now extracted with the name Curve 1.

    ../_images/tut52.png

B.2.1.5 Create tape

  1. Right click on Tape types and click on Create tape.

    ../_images/tut141.png

  2. Tape is now created with the name Tape 1. The user can edit Thickness and Width by changing their values in Property window.

    ../_images/tut15b.png

B.2.1.6 Create patch

  1. Right click on Patch types and click on Create patch.

    ../_images/tut161.png

  2. Artist Studio has created a patch with the name Patch type 1.

  3. In property window,

    • select Tape of the patch.

    • select Shape of the patch

    • edit Length of the patch.

    ../_images/tut53.png

B.2.1.7 Create laminate

The Patch laminate is the root element in the hierarchical structure i.e laminate -> stack -> layer -> sublayer -> chain -> patch.

To create a laminate, follow the following steps:

  1. Create patch stack

    1. Right click on Laminate and then click on Create patch stack.

      ../_images/tut18a1.png

    2. Stack is created with the name Stack 1 and entities as shown:

      ../_images/tut191.png

  2. Create patch layer

    1. Right click on Stack 1 and then click on Create patch layer.

      ../_images/tut201.png

    2. Layer is created with the name layer 1.

  3. Generating layup

    Property window of the created layer (Layer 1) as shown below consists of various entities for generating layup.

    ../_images/tut91a1.png

    Follow this step-by-step approach to generate layup in Patch Artist:

    1. Click on the entity Surface and select a surface from the drop-down list where you want to generate Slave curves.

    ../_images/tut21.png

    1. Click on the value of next entity Master curve and select Master curve from the drop-down list.

    ../_images/tut22.png

    1. Click on the value of entity Patch type and select a patch type from the drop-down list which you have created previously.

    ../_images/tut23.png

    1. Create Slave curves

    Click on the drop-down button to change default parameters of Slave curves. Enter the values for Number of sublayers, Sublayer offset positions, Offset width and turn On or Off Trim edges at a turning point and then click on the Create button.

    ../_images/tut241.png

    1. Modify curves

    Enter the appropriate values for the entities Maximum layer width, Minimum curve length, Intersection Tolerance. After this click outside property window or click enter to modify Slave curves.

    ../_images/tut261.png

    Slave curves are created as shown in the figure below:

    ../_images/tut54.png

    1. Create patches

    Click on the drop-down button to make changes in the default settings and click on the Create button to generate patches.

    ../_images/tut931.png

    Patches are generated as shown below:

    ../_images/tut57.png

    1. Optimize layup

    Click on the Run button to optimize the layup. You can make changes here depending on the requirements and quality required.

../_images/tut951.png

B.2.1.8 Check quality of patches

  1. Select Plot from the group Quality review to view quality of the layup generated.

    ../_images/tut311.png

Quality plot is generated for the layup:

../_images/tut102.png

  1. To plot the quality of a particular sublayer select that sublayer and uncheck the other sublayers.

    ../_images/tut301.png

    Colorplot is now plotted as follows:

    ../_images/tut103.png

B.2.2 Motion Artist

Click on the tab Motion Artist to simulate the manufacturing cell. Here are the steps to work with Motion Artist:

B.2.2.1 Select robot

  1. Click on Machine data from Model explorer.

    ../_images/tut331.png

  2. Select a robot from the Property window.

    ../_images/tut34a.png

The selected manufacturing cell will appear on the screen as shown below:

../_images/tut59.png

B.2.2.2 Create deposit matrix

Enter here values for Deposit matrix to set the location of Positioner and Picker axes.

  1. Click on Robot settings under Miscellaneous group.

    ../_images/tut100.png

  2. Enter values for Deposit frame from the Patching tab and click on the Save button.

    ../_images/tut1011.png

B.2.2.3 Create Machine data

  1. Right click on Machine data and select Create machine data set.

    ../_images/tut361.png

  2. A dialog will appear for creating the machine data.

    ../_images/tut3711.png

  3. After choosing the appropriate settings click on the Create data button.

    ../_images/tut3911.png

  4. To make changes Right click on the created dataset and select Recreate machine data set.

    ../_images/tut3811.png

  5. Right click on dataset and click on the option - Optimization.

    ../_images/img3412.png

    And then click on Optimize movements.

B.2.2.4 Simulation

View simulation of the robot movements by playing Motion controller from Ribbon bar. You can visualize how positioner and picker axes are generating layups on the CAD model.