OPEN MIND Develops Synergy Between CAM and CAD with hyperCAD-S

22 August 2013

The new hyperMILL® 2013 from the CAM/CAD developers OPEN MIND Technologies AG offers a number of new, powerful features, extensive functional upgrades and greater ease of use. The most significant advance comes in the shape of the new 'hyperCAD-S®' CAD core, which is optimally matched to the hyperMILL CAM solution. hyperCAD-S® is a brand new modern CAD system with the core, graphics, database, user interface and API all being new software designs.

After an intensive analysis of the CAD market, a decision was made by OPEN MIND Technologies AG to launch their own CAD solution for hyperMILL, specifically designed for CAM machining. The new system is integrated much more closely with CAM-specific tasks than before. The newly-developed hyperCAD-S core is perfect for imported data. Users can easily modify any of the geometry elements at any time. Curves and free-form surfaces are depicted using Bezier and NURBS geometries. As well as all the standard basic design elements, the core also provides a number of elements that specifically aid CAM programmers, including tool paths, polygon networks, point clouds and a rectangle element.

"Our user interface for hyperCAD-S is modern and user-friendly, and we made sure to accommodate all the latest ergonomic considerations," says Wolfgang Weiss, Product Manager at OPEN MIND.

"We are fully familiar with the needs of our hyperMILL users, and having an independently developed solution allows us to tailor the CAD functions to these needs. This begins right in the kernel with the definition of objects. A normal CAD kernel provides only two main types, surface and line. Our system, on the other hand, maps the mathematical definition of the elements, such as cylindrical, level, free-form, rotary and other surfaces. This allows us to accurately filter the NC programming according to specific elements. Such a functionality only makes sense in the CAM environment," continues Mr Weiss.

Again, the overriding design principle was to answer the question of 'What do CAM users want?' The result is a clearly structured user interface that does not rely on any buried functions hidden from view.

hyperCAD-S is a 64-bit system and offers a broader range of functions than the hyperCAD Geometric Engine. "There are significant differences. Our new software for Selection and Visibility for example is a definite improvement and particular attention was given to leveraging the 64 bit environment for extremely fast loading and execution times, even when working with very large models," concludes Mr Weiss.