PlaneA

Standard Word: CoordinatePlaneA

Variable: Coordinate.PlaneA

Type: Double

In 3+2 axis milling operations, the active plane (or coordinate system) must be rotated to set the cutting tool vector axis as the Z axis.

To do this, the NC control unit functions are used. e.g; PLANE SPATIAL (in Heidenhain), CYCLE800 (in Siemens), G68.2 (in Fanuc and Mazatrol).

All these functions perform plane rotation in 3 steps.

The rotation axis for each rotation step vary according to the control unit.

For example, in the G68.2 function (Fanuc and Mazatrol) first rotation takes place around the Z axis, second rotation takes place around the X axis, and third rotation takes place in rotated Z axis. In Heidenhain’s PLANE SPATIAL function, first rotation takes place around the X-axis, second around Y axis and third around Z axis. In Siemens, on the other hand, these rotations can occur in different axes depending on the selected mode of the CYCLE800.

Regardless of the NC control unit, all plane rotation angles are calculated automatically by MANUSpost at operation starts and the calculated rotation angles for all these steps are assigned to 3 different variables:

First rotation: “Coordinate.PlaneA” Second rotation:“Coordinate.PlaneB” Third rotation:“Coordinate.PlaneC”

And these 3 variables can be used in any script.

These rotation angles are calculated separately for each 3+2 axis operation according to the settings defined in PLANE “Cutting Mode”.

In addition, the words “CoordinatePlaneA”, “CoordinatePlaneB” and “CoordinatePlaneC” are created from this variable. These words are then used in the Format Positioning At Safe Position. command.

Important Note: These variables return the correct value of the first plane rotation angle if and only if the “Cutting Mode” for that operation is defined as PLANE. In other operations where TCPC and other cutting modes are active, special words starting with Positioning. expression should be used instead to find the correct plane rotation angles. For example, if TCPC mode is active in an operation, the word “PositioningTCPCModPlaneA” word should be used instead of “CoordinatePlaneA” word.