The Basics of Simulation

Now that we know how to navigate through a project, it is time to run a simulation.

Running a Basic Simulation

When you first start a new project in Autodesk CAMplete TruePath, the Execution Mode will be set to Collision Check and the Movement Mode will be Machine Mode. This means that the software will be running the simulation looking for collisions with the machine displayed. It will simulate all machine moves including tool changes.
The Home tab of the ribbon will show these options displayed:
Your tool paths, part and fixture will appear on the machine table. By default, all of the exterior machine enclosure geometry is shown, which can make it difficult to see the working area of the machine (the table and the spindle). Use the Show Enclosure and Hide Enclosure buttons in the 3D view to hide and show this geometry:

Show Machine Enclosure – Show the machine enclosure in the 3D view.

Hide Machine Enclosure – Hide the machine enclosure in the 3D view.

Note: In TruePath, hidden geometry is only hidden from display. It is still checked for simulation issues such as collisions etc.
Click the Rewind button twice. The first Rewind moves you to the beginning of the current operation, the second moves you to the beginning of the simulation.

Note: You can use the Simulation Playback buttons (Rewind, Pause, Stop and Play) on the Simulation view or use the 3D overlay icons in the lower left of the 3D view:
Now click Play to run through the simulation.
Note: Autodesk CAMplete TruePath uses the media keys on “multimedia” keyboards to access most of the simulation controls. The Play, Pause and Stop keys control the simulation, while the Volume Up and Volume Down keys control the real time simulation speed (see Controlling the Simulation Options for Real Time Mode).
The simulation will play. You will see the machine update in the 3D View as each line is simulated. The current simulation line will be displayed in the Program Editor.
If any collisions or errors are found, the simulation will pause and you will see the Simulation Error dialog. If the error occurred during a very small move or when the machine was not moving, you will see this error dialog:

Stop Simulation – Will stop the simulation immediately, since the error occurred at the end of the given NC code line.

Continue – Will continue the simulation and any new errors will continue to be reported.
If the error occurred during a long motion (with interpolated points) you will see this version of the dialog:
The error dialog will state the error occurred during an interpolated move and also show the current point index in the interpolated motion. At this point, you will see the collision highlighted in the 3D view exactly where it occurred, even through the entire move has not been completed:
At this point, you can click Pause Simulation, Stop Simulation or Continue.

Pause Simulation – This option will pause the simulation at the interpolated point. The rest of the move will not be completed until you press Pause again. When Pause Simulation is used, you will see the “Simulation PAUSED” status window will appear in the upper right:

At this point, the only way to complete the move is to click Pause again (Note that the Start, Stop and Rewind controls are no longer available:

Stop Simulation – This will resume the simulation and stop when the current move has completed. The error dialog will not appear again until the line is completed. All further simulation errors will be shown at that point:

Continue Simulation – This will resume the simulation. For the remainder of the current block being executed, the error dialog will not appear until a different error is encountered. (This “ignore” only stays active for the current NC code line being simulated)

The errors will also be shown in the Status window. For example:
Click the Expand button to show the individual errors. Collisions and Overcuts (gouges) will be shown as errors.
To go to the line that caused the error, double click the entry in the Status view:
That line will be highlighted in the Program Editor:

Note: Any lines that are causing errors will appear with a red E in the editor.
The simulation will also show you where the machine was when the error occurred. Any colliding parts will appear in red:

Real-Time, Collision Checking and Optimize Execution Modes

There are three simulation modes in Autodesk CAMplete TruePath: Real-Time, Collision Check and Optimization.

The mode is selected using Execution mode buttons on Home tab of the Ribbon:

Real Time – In this mode, the simulation runs based on the axis speeds of your machine. Collision Checking is NOT performed in this mode. It is used to examine the kinematic motion of the machine and to accurately show the behavior and timing of the machine during operation

Collision Check – This mode enables the collision detection, proximity detection, overcut (gouge) detection and material removal simulation options. Any collisions between the machine components, fixture geometry, part geometry and tool geometry will be reported in this mode. The timing of the simulation playback is not related to the kinematics of the machine.

Optimization – In this mode, the simulation runs in Collision Check mode using the same option. However, it also adds simulation based optimizations that can be applied to your project. Contact CAMplete Solutions Technical Support for more details.
As the mode changes, note that a Real-Time, Collision Checking or Optimization tab will be shown in the ribbon.

Important: You always want to run the entire simulation using collision check mode. Real-Time is only meant to view the dynamic movement of 5-axis simultaneous tool paths.

Controlling the Simulation Options for Collision Check (and Optimization Mode)

Make sure that the Execution mode is set to Collision Check.
Note that the Collision Checking tab now appears, so select it:
Note that the Execution mode also appears on this tab.
The Movement controls also appear here (see Tool Positioning Mode and Machine Positioning Mode)

The Collision Update Speed section controls the update timing:

If the updating timing is set to slow, then simulation update will appear smoother and it will take longer to play back. If the updating timing is set to fast, the update will be more jagged, but the simulation will be run faster.

	All Positions –Update the simulation for every position being checked. This includes interpolated positions for longer moves. This will be the slowest mode, but is useful when attempting to find problem areas in the program.
	Time – Update the simulation based on time. This will update the view at a set time interval (controlled through the Options referred to below). This is the fastest playback method but the update will appear very choppy.
	Distance – Update the simulation based on distance. This will update the view based on how much the machine axes have moved. This is a good compromise for playback speed and smoothness.

In Time and Distance update modes, you can use the Slider Bar to control the update speed. Set it to smaller value (to the left) to slow the simulation down and a larger value (to the right) to speed up the simulation.

The Simulation Options section controls the various items that will be checked during the simulation:

Each item has a ON or OFF status. ON means that the option is active. To toggle the given option, click the ON/OFF button. (Note that Collisions cannot be turned OFF)

Each item also has an Error Handling button. This can be set to WARN or STOP. When it is set to WARN, if this error occurs it is logged as an error to the status view but the simulation is NOT stopped. If it is set to STOP, then the simulation will be stopped if this error occurs. To toggle this option, click the WARN/STOP button.

Any items that require a tolerance (Proximity checking and Overcuts) will have a tolerance edit box to see and edit this value. To edit the value, click the tolerance box and you can edit it.

The collision checking options are:

Collisions	Collision checking is always enabled. The STOP option will stop the simulation if a collision is found.
Proximity All	Checks for proximity collisions (i.e., Near misses). Use ON to enable this option and STOP to stop the simulation if a proximity issue is found. The tolerance value for the proximity distance can be edited by clicking the Tolerance value.
Proximity T-P	Checks for proximity collisions (i.e., Near misses), but only between the Tool and the Part. Use ON to enable this option and STOP to stop the simulation if a proximity issue is found. The tolerance value for the proximity distance can be edited by clicking the Tolerance value.
Proximity T-F	Checks for proximity collisions (i.e., Near misses), but only between the Tool and the Fixture. Use ON to enable this option and STOP to stop the simulation if a proximity issue is found. The tolerance value for the proximity distance can be edited by clicking the Tolerance value.
Overcuts	Check for gouging of the cutting tool into the design surface. The overcut tolerance can be edited by clicking the tolerance value.
Overtravels	Check for overtravel conditions. Use ON to enable this option and STOP to stop the simulation if one is found.
M1 (Op Stop)	Use STOP to stop the simulation if an optional stop is encountered. (This option cannot be turned OFF)
M0 (Prg Stop)	Use STOP to stop the simulation if a program stop is encountered. (This option cannot be turned OFF)
M30 (End Prg)	Use STOP to stop the simulation if program end is encountered. (This option cannot be turned OFF)
Advanced	Click this to edit the advanced simulation options (see Advanced Simulation Options - Page 6)

Advanced Simulation Options

Clicking Options in Real Time, Collision Check or Optimize modes will display the Simulation Options view.

Note: In Real Time, only the Errors page will be displayed.

The Checks page shows the current collision checks that are being performed:

Overcut Checking options:

Check for Overcutting (Non-rapid) – This option does the same thing as the Overcuts option on the Simulation Options section. You can adjust the overcut tolerance here, if you wish.

Use Overcut Tolerance For Rapids – This option will use the current overcut tolerance when checking rapid moves. This can be used to remove collisions that occur when the tool is touching the part in interpolation mode (G01) and switches to rapid (G0) while still touching the part. Normally, TruePath would flag that as an error. However, by enabling this option, it will only be flagged as a collision if the touch is gouging the part by the overcut tolerance amount or more.

Check Cutting Surface/Part During Rapid Retract – This option does more detailed collision checking when the tool is retracting from the part to eliminate collision reported when rapid off of the part or when retracting from a pocket or drilled hole.

Collision Checks – This grid lists the current collision checking pairs for the simulation. You can disable specific checks if you are SURE that they will not collide. For example, if the part is small, you can disable checks of the part and fixture against the tilting axis. This can be used to speed up the collision checking process. Use EXTREME CAUTION when making these changes. If you are unsure, contact CAMplete Solutions for advice.
The Interpolation page controls how TruePath simulates points in between the programmed positions:
In general, you should not change anything in this dialog. Contact CAMplete Solutions if you are interested in making changes to these settings.
The Errors page shows any critical errors that are checked during simulation:
Normally, if any of the above errors are found during simulation you can un-check it’s Stop? column. However, the errors will still be reported in the Status window.

Controlling the Simulation Options for Real Time Mode

Real-Time mode runs the simulation timing based on the dynamic speeds of each object. The axes will move matching the “real time” way the machine would actually run. In order to achieve this smooth play-back, collision checking is not performed.

Important: Real-Time mode should only be used to analyze the motion of 5-axis tool paths. Even then, the path should always be re-simulated using Collision Check mode to check for any possible collisions or other problems.

To switch to Real-Time mode, make sure that the Execution mode is set to Real-Time.

The Real-Time tab will appear in the Ribbon:

Note that the Execution mode also appears on this tab.
The Movement controls also appear here (See the following section for details)
The Real-Time playback section controls the playback simulation speed:

Real Time Speed Factor – Controls the speed so you can slow down or speed up the simulation. The slider and the arrow buttons allow you to increase or decrease the speed, or you can type the desired percentage directly into the edit box. A value of 100% means that the simulation reflects the feed rate on the machine as accurately as possible. Increasing the speed beyond 100% makes the simulation behave the same as it would at 100%, only faster (the machine’s feed limits are not enforced).

Rapid Override (G0) – Override the rapid feed rate exactly like the Rapid Override on a machine. The machine’s feed limits are enforced during playback. The maximum value for the Rapid Override is 100%.

Feedrate Override (G1) – Override the cutting feed rate exactly like the Feed Override on a machine. The machine’s feed limits are enforced during playback.

The Simulation Options section controls the various items that will be checked during the simulation:

Each item has a ON or OFF status. ON means that the option is active. To toggle the given option, click the ON/OFF button.

The Real-Time simulation checking options are:

Overtravels	Check for overtravel conditions. Use ON to enable this option and STOP to stop the simulation if one is found.
M1 (Op Stop)	Use STOP to stop the simulation if an optional stop is encountered. (This option cannot be turned OFF)
M0 (Prg Stop)	Use STOP to stop the simulation if a program stop is encountered. (This option cannot be turned OFF)
M30 (End Prg)	Use STOP to stop the simulation if program end is encountered. (This option cannot be turned OFF)
Advanced	Click this to edit the advanced simulation options (see Advanced Simulation Options – Page 6)

Tool Positioning Mode and Machine Positioning Mode

Autodesk CAMplete TruePath offers two movement modes for simulation: Tool Positioning Mode and Machine Positioning Mode.
These are controlled on by the Movement section on the Real-time, Collision Checking or Optimization tabs:

The modes are defined as:

Tool Positioning Mode – Your original CL data is simulated without regard for the actual motion of the machine. Any machine specific moves such as clearances, retracts and tool changes will NOT BE SIMULATED. This mode is only meant to examine the CAM CL data. In this mode, the machine is not shown, the part stays still and cutting tool follows the tool path only.

This is recommended only for analysis of tool path data, not for project verification.

Machine Positioning Mode – The true 5-Axis motion of the machine is simulated and all clearance moves and tool changes are simulated. The machine model is shown with the part mounted on the work table and cutting tool in the spindle.

This is the recommended simulation mode for verifying your project.

	Show Machine Enclosure – Show the machine enclosure in the 3D view.
	Hide Machine Enclosure – Hide the machine enclosure in the 3D view.