As manufacturing continues to evolve, your tools need to adapt and grow with your business. Autodesk Fusion 360 unifies design, engineering, electronics and manufacturing into a single software program – so that can mean a lot of updates! With new releases of Fusion 360 every 7 weeks providing continued feature updates and enhancements, it can be very time consuming to keep track of improved functionality and understand how your workflows and processes can benefit.
The Latest Manufacture Enhancements
Our September 2021 release saw a host of new features, enhancements, and we also squished a few pesky bugs. Here are some of the key changes in the Manufacture workspace available to you in Fusion 360 today.
New! Short link options for Flat Finishing: Our latest update now includes Short link options for Flat Finishing operations. This gives more control over linking by letting the user set the Maximum Stay-Down Distance, as well as the transition type to No Contact, Straight line, or Smooth.
New! Haas, Haimer, and IMCO Tools and Holders added: Under the tools tab in our cam.autodesk.com page, there are new Haas holders, Haimer holders, as well as IMCO tools (Metric or Imperial) available for download.
New! Autodesk generic simulation files in Machine Library: The Machine Library lets users manage machine tools by using Machine Configurations to define available machines and resources. These configurations can automate the settings in the Job Setup. There are many Machine Configurations available in the standard library.
In the library are the following new Autodesk generic simulation files for nutating milling machines kinematics: In addition, Fusion 360 users will have available configuration files for some of the leading machine manufacturers including Hurco, Kern and Mazak. The easiest way to get started is to copy an existing configuration that matches some of the characteristics of your machine.
Improved! Steep & Shallow – Optimised Perpendicular Passes: The Steep and Shallow strategy has a new option to output optimised perpendicular passes when using Parallel only (Set Threshold angle to 90 and shallow). When the cut direction of the tool runs parallel to a steep region, an inconstant step-over can occur, leading to greater cusp heights, greater tool loads and a poor-quality surface finish.
The new Optimised Perpendicular passes in Steep and Shallow maintains the step over regardless of the area. The autonomous nature of this new addition means it only applies the optimised passes where necessary. The result is a more efficient toolpath that machines a more consistent surface finish.
Improved in Preview! Machine Animation for NC Programs and 2D cutter compensation: Currently still in Public Preview and free to try, we’ve improved our Machine Simulation capabilities to now be able to simulate NC programs before they are exported. Users will also be able to see a machine simulation of the toolpaths with 2D cutter compensation turned on. This expands on what can be simulated more realistically, allowing users to communicate more effectively with their clients.
Improved! Wear and Inverse Wear Compensation options in Turning Profile Finishing: We’ve reintroduced Wear and Inverse wear options in the Compensation Type drop-down menu for Turning Profile Finishing. It’s another way to use compensation and improve part quality, while reducing scrap at the same time.
Updated: Milling, Turning, and Turn-mill Post Processors: We are continually working hard to bring updates and improvements to the many open-source Post Processors and Machines we offer for free. The latest can be found in our post processor offering on the Online Post Library, which can be searched by vendor, type, or name, and any recent changes to each post processor can also be seen.
Other Enhancements
The Manufacture workspace enhancements are just a selection of the overall improvements available in the September release of Fusion 360. We’ve also included new fluid flow applications in generative design, enhanced Edit-in-Place functionality in our Modeling toolset, and improved the Height Offset option for Arrange in Nesting and Fabrication.
For a more detailed overview of the latest release, visit our September 2021 Product Update – What’s New article.
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