Fanuc simulator for turning??

[Pete Deal]

I'm continuing to figure this Fanuc thing out. In my case Fanuc 21T on a Miyano BND lathe. I am programming by hand. I may try to get my CAM working for at least the main spindle but for now am programming it by hand. I have several editor/back plotter programs but all I've tried are not real satisfactory. I know that very few are programming mills by hand these days but for the lathe it seems pretty practical for lots of parts. It would be really nice to have a good simulator for the code though. The ones I have don't have any way to tell the program where machine zero is or know anything about the tools. I did find one program that looks pretty good but its $2500+ and simulates the whole process almost like a CAM simulator. For a lathe it would be ok to just see a correct tool path to know that I haven't done anything stupid prior to loading into the machine.

Anybody know of anything good?

 

[Mtndew]

Cimco Edit works pretty well with Fanuc code.
It's main function is a code editor but it has 2D backplotting capability from the code it reads so you can see if your program is borked.
Pretty sure they have demos you can download but you might have to contact them first.

https://www.cimco.com/software/cimco-edit/

 

[sinha]

Toolpath can be plotted on the graphic screen of the machine, without physical tool movement, if the Dynamic Graphic Display option is enabled.
This is the only reliable method because an offline simulation software may show slightly different result, because of a different parameter setting.

 

[DouglasJRizzo]

Fanuc does have simulator software for both Manual Guide i and G code.
It's about $400.

 

[DouglasJRizzo]

Toolpath can be plotted on the graphic screen of the machine, without physical tool movement, if the Dynamic Graphic Display option is enabled.
This is the only reliable method because an offline simulation software may show slightly different result, because of a different parameter setting.

I've never really like the Dynamic Graphic function. I've preferred to simulate in Manual Guide i whenever available.

 

[Pete Deal]

Toolpath can be plotted on the graphic screen of the machine, without physical tool movement, if the Dynamic Graphic Display option is enabled.
This is the only reliable method because an offline simulation software may show slightly different result, because of a different parameter setting.

Maybe you don’t remember but I’ve been through this already with you on this in another post. This feature isn’t enabled on my machine. The button is there but doesn’t do anything.

Besides, it would be useful to be able to simulate it right at the pc while writing the program. Not that i’d load and press go after simulation but as a sanity check.

 

[Pete Deal]

I’ll check out cimco edit and the fanuc simulator. I saw the fanuc simulator but haven’t pursued it. Something I saw made me think it was much more expensive.

 

[sinha]

In my opinion, it is better to go for Fanuc NC GUIDE, as it will show the exact toolpath, with all finer details being correct, especially with regard to the canned cycles.
However, a final verification on the machine is still desirable, because of a possible difference in parameters.

 

[Mtndew]

It's about $400.

I was going to suggest that, but for some reason I thought it was over $2,000.
$400 is a much better price lol.

 

[DouglasJRizzo]

I was going to suggest that, but for some reason I thought it was over $2,000.
$400 is a much better price lol.

Yeah, the $2k one is a full blown simulator that can even drip feed.
The $400 one is "basic" version that comes in hand for proving things out.

 

[Pete Deal]

I talked to the Fanuc rep today about that and he said they didn’t have anything (pc software) that would do a good job simulating the 21t control. He said it’s all oriented to the newer controllers.

 

[DouglasJRizzo]

I talked to the Fanuc rep today about that and he said they didn’t have anything (pc software) that would do a good job simulating the 21t control. He said it’s all oriented to the newer controllers.

True. But it would still be somewhat close.
I guess if you want a high degree of simulation accuracy you'll need 3rd party like CIMCO or one of the others.