Router-CIM Automation Suite

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AutoNest Task Edit

 

TaskEdit_Icon

 

In TaskEdit., three (3) categories of information are required:

 

Stock sheet  (regular and irregular stocks accepted)
Parts to be nested
Cutting specifications
Bridge specifications (optional)

Stock sheet information includes the number of distinct stocks, size and quantity of each distinct stock. AutoNEST can handle the following types of stocks:-

rectangular stocks of fixed size
irregular-shaped stock sheets
"coil" stock in rolls or reels.

 

Information relating to the number of parts, the quantity to be nested for each part and orientation constraint …etc will also be defined in TaskEdit. Cutting information such as cutting gap, x-y edge allowances are also definable.

 

In addition, you can define the Bridge specifications for the particular task. (A “BRIDGE” is a narrow strip that links one part to another in order to maintain continuous cutting. This minimizes stop/go sequences that would lead to higher machine efficiency)

 

You can also mark the check-box “Auto-Bridge for Nested layout” to indicate that you wish to display the nested layout with bridges.

 

There is also a “Nest Now” button within the dialog box for nesting. Instead of clicking the Nesting command, the user can create/ edit Tasks and go direct into nesting.

 

Select the TaskEdit. command either from the icon menu or the AutoNEST pulldown menu. The following dialog box will appear:

 

TaskEdit_Dialog

 

Explanation of the TaskEdit dialog box is given below:

 

Task Name

Each task is given a user-specified name for future reference (.job). You can enter up to max. 31 characters (space and dot characters are not accepted).

Nesting_Browse

Enter a new task name or click to select an existing task. You will see the Pop-Up Window below (left). Select the task file and click the “OK” button.

Click the “Remnant” check-box and you will see the pop-up Window (below). Display in this list box are all task names with the suffix “_$REM”.

You can change the existing specifications and save the new specifications into a new name or overwrite using the same task file name.

 

TaskEdit_Select

 

Task Type

Referring to the pop-up windows below, there are 2 selections :-

Normal
Remnant

‘Normal’ tasks refer to all task files (*.job) created by the user.

‘Remnant’ tasks refer to tasks files (*.job) with the reserved suffix, ‘_$REM’ . For example : XYZ_$REM.job.

These tasks are created automatically when the ‘Save Remnant’ check-box is marked in the NEST OPTIONS of TaskEdit  (“Nest Options” button is located at the lower-right corner of the dialog box).

Nesting Type

By default, the ‘Extended’ check-box is un-marked which means that the nesting will run its usual course.

If the ‘Extended’ check-box is marked, then the nesting time is going to be longer as the nesting algorithms will run through an additional set of routines, compare with the original and then display the better of the two results.

By running the Extended nesting, you will get either the SAME or BETTER nested results than if you were to run without marking the check-box. But there is a trade-off, Extended nesting will take significantly longer time to run.

Cutting Gap

This is the cutting gap between nested parts to allow for the tool size.

Edge Allowance

-Regular Stock

-Irregular Stock

Sometimes, it is necessary to leave out an edge around the perimeter of the stock sheet. This is to cater for trimming or clamping purposes.

For regular or rectangular stock, the edge allowance of the 4 sides of the stock can be defined.

For irregular stock, a common edge allowance can also be defined.

Left

"Left" is the edge allowance of the regular stock in the x- direction from the left side of stock sheet.

Bottom

"Bottom" is the edge allowance of the regular stock in the y- direction from the bottom of the stock sheet.

Right

"Right" is the edge allowance in the x direction on the right side of the stock sheet.

Top

"Top" is the edge allowance in the y direction from the top of the stock sheet.

No. of Distinct

Regular Stocks  

Number of different sizes of stock sheets. (The maximum number of distinct regular stocks can be defined in ANEST.SYS under NEST@CONTROL)

No. of Distinct Irregular Stocks

Number of different sizes of irregular stock sheets. (The maximum number of distinct irregular stocks can be defined in ANEST.SYS under NEST@CONTROL)

No. of Distinct Parts

Number of distinct parts to be nested. A maximum of 1000 distinct parts is available for the current version.

 

TaskEdit_CutGap

 

TaskEdit_CutGapIRStock

Define R-Stocks   ‘A’

When you click the TaskEdit_DefineRStock  button, the following dialog box appears.

 

TaskEdit_StockSpec

 

You can add, change or delete the stock specification by clicking the TaskEdit_Add, TaskEdit_Edit or TaskEdit_Remove button respectively. Highlight one of the stock sizes in the “Available Stocks” list box and then pick the TaskEdit_Edit button or click the TaskEdit_Add button.

 

The following pop-up windows will appear:

 

TaskEdit_AddEditDialog

 

Width

Length

The width and length dimensions of the stock sheet.

For 'Imperial Units' users, you can either enter in feet and inches or purely in inches. In the latter case, the inches will automatically be converted into feet and inches if Architectural-Imperial or Engineering-Imperial units are chosen.

Quantity

Quantity of stock-sheets of that particular size to be used in the task. Maximum quantity allowed for each distinct stock is 9999.

Coil

For stock sheets in reels or rolls, the length of the stock sheet can be extended beyond the specified dimension to accommodate the nesting results.

If the ‘Coil’ check-box is marked, AutoNEST will have the liberty to increase the Length as much as it takes to pack all the parts optimally.

Priority

The priority of using the stock sheets when different stock sizes are available. You can define the order of priority in which AutoNEST should use the stock sheets.

      1   has the highest priority.

      99 has the lowest priority.

If two or more stock sizes have the same priority number, the system will automatically decide based on the material utilization.

To specify the PRIORITY between regular and irregular stocks, ‘Nest Optionsà ‘Nest Regular Stock First’.

Cost per Stock

The cost per piece of Stock.

 

Define IR-Stocks   ‘B’

 

By clicking the TaskEdit_DefIRStock button, the dialog box below appears.

 

TaskEdit_IRStockSpec

 

You can add, change or delete the irregular stock specification by clicking the TaskEdit_Add, TaskEdit_Edit or TaskEdit_Remove button respectively. You can highlight more than 1 stock name and then select the TaskEdit_Edit button or click the TaskEdit_Add button.

 

The following pop-up window will appear:

 

TaskEdit_IRStockSpecEdit1 TaskEdit_IRStockSpecEdit2

 

Name

Show the name of the Irregular stock (.stk). If a list of irregular stock is selected, “$$$$$$$” will appear.

Quantity

Quantity of that particular irregular stock to be used in the task.

Maximum quantity allowed for each distinct stock is 9999.

Priority

The priority of using the stock sheets when more than one is available. You can define the order of priority in which AutoNEST should use the Irregular stock.

      1   has the highest priority.

      99 has the lowest priority.

If two or more stocks have the same priority number, the system will nest the smallest Irregular stock first.

To specify the PRIORITY between regular and irregular stocks, see ‘Nest Options’à ‘Nest Regular Stock First’.

 

Define Parts   ‘C’

 

By clicking the TaskEdit_DefineParts  button, the dialog box below appears:

 

TaskEdit_PartSpec

 

Whenever a part name from the listing of ‘Available Parts’ is highlighted, a viewer will display the part profile with the overall dimension of the part profile. The overall length and breadth dimensions will be rounded off to the nearest integer value.

 

Available Parts

Display a list of parts that are available in the part directory. You can highlight a list of parts and click the TaskEdit_Add button to add them to the ‘Selected Parts’ list box.

 

The following pop-up window appears when the TaskEdit_Add button is clicked:

 

TaskEdit_PartSpecEdit

 

Both the Add and Edit pop-up windows allow editing. The TaskEdit_Remove button will remove the part specification from the ‘Selected Parts’ list box. The TaskEdit_Add button will place it back to the ‘Selected Parts’ list.

 

If you select the TaskEdit_Edit button the above pop-up windows will appear.

 

Explanation of the above dialog boxes is given below:

 

Name

Show the name of the part that you have selected. If more than 1 part is selected, ‘$$$$$$$$’ will appear.

Basic Quantity

Number of that particular part required to be nested.

Each part has a maximum quantity of 9999.

Filler Quantity

Numbers of that particular filler part to be nested. Each filler part has a maximum quantity of 9999.

This is ‘optional’ quantity, to be used provided all the basic quantities have been nested and there is available space. AutoNEST will decide how many filler parts to be utilized in order to fill the stock to an acceptable layout.

Maximize

For single part tasks, mark the ‘Maximize’ check-box to specify ‘fill-up’ the whole stock sheet with the maximum quantity of parts. Not valid for coil stocks.

Priority

The priority of each and every part to be nested.

      1        has the highest priority.

      9999 has the lowest priority.

AutoNEST will nest according to the priority settings i.e. parts of Priority 1 will be nested first, followed by Priority 2, then 3 and so on. If two or more parts have the same priority, AutoNEST will decide automatically which part is to be nested first.

Orientation

To allow for orientation constraints of the part during nesting.

Format A

         0              --     No rotation allowed.

         0 90         --    0 and 90 orientations allowed.

         0 180       --    0 and 180 orientations allowed.

         0 90 180  --     0, 90 and 180 orientations allowed.

         ALL        --     All orientations allowed. No orientation constraints.

 

Besides the above allowable orientations, you can specify any required angles of orientation (separated by SPACE). For examples :-

        0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 ….      

Format B

This new format is helpful if the Orientation angles consist of a long list and if the angles increase by a constant value.

        (step 10  0  180)  

where:

step is the reserved word to denote “increment angle”

10 is the increment angle (must be greater than 0 and a positive value)

0 is the Start Angle (real nos., range -360 ~  +360)

180 is the End Angle  (real nos., must be greater than Start Angle)

If represented in Format A ….

   (0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140..….180)

Support + 180

Mark the check-box, to allow the part to orientate to the specified angles and their +180 combinations.

This option is not applicable when Orientation=ALL.

Nesting Step Angle

To allow a part to orientate step-incrementally in the defined angle during nesting.

 

 

Nest Options   ‘D’

 

Click the TaskEdit_NestOptions command button to bring up the dialog box as shown:

 

TaskEdit_NestOptionsDialog

 

This dialog box allows the user to define control parameters for specific nesting output requirements.

 

The default settings are recommended for all users who do not require special nesting output conditions.

 

The options available are explained as follows:

 

‘D1’

Nesting Start Point

 

4 nesting start points are available depending on the user’s nested output requirements. Click one of the 4 corner points to set start point. Point chosen shall remain as default until it is changed.

 

‘D2’

Packing Direction Control

It is recommended for the packing direction to be set to ‘Auto’.  However, if required either “Horizontal Packing” (pack along the x-axis) or “vertical packing (pack along the y-axis) can be selected.

Auto

AutoNEST will automatically decide the best packing direction based on the material utilization of the nesting. This is the default setting. See illustration below.

Horizontal Packing

When this radio button is marked, only the last nested layout will be packed horizontally.

However, when the “All Stocks” check-box is marked, then all the nested layouts will be packed horizontally. See illustration below.

Vertical Packing

     

When this radio button is marked, only the last nested layout will be packed vertically.

However, when the “All Stocks” check-box is marked, then all the nested layouts will be packed vertically. See illustration below.

 

Auto Packing:

TaskEdit_AutoPack

Horizontal Packing:

TaskEdit_HorizPack

Vertical Packing:

TaskEdit_VertPack

 

‘D3’

Multi-Stock

Control

There are 3 options available.

Auto
Extended – Best Yield
Extended – Lowest Cost

“Auto” is the default setting and is the fastest option where the nesting engine will appraise the parts and stocks and then automatically selects the largest suitable Stock to nest.

“Best Yield” – in this option the nesting engine will iterate through each Stock size to nest the available parts. For each nested Stock, it will compare the nested utilization area of Stock and then select the one with the highest utilization. It will continue to iterate until all the parts or stocks are used up.

“Lowest Cost” – in this option the nesting engine will iterate through each Stock size to nest the available parts. For each nested Stock, it will compare the Nested Area per Cost of Stock and then select the one with the highest Nested Area per unit cost.

For this option to work, the “Cost per Stock” must be specified.

Both the “Best Yield” and “Lowest Cost” will take a longer time to nest.

***The more the number of distinct Stocks, the longer it will take to nest for “Best Yield” or “Lowest Cost” options***

If either “Best Yield” or “Lowest Cost” option is selected, the Stock Priority will be ignored.

 

‘D4’

Parts Priority Control

 

 

 

 

Max. No. of Priority per Stock

This function works in conjunction with “Priority” of parts as defined in “Define Parts”  ‘C’.

There are 2 Parts Priority parameters to enable you to control the nesting of parts.

Max. No. of Priority per Stock
Min. Nest-able Remaining Space (%)

 

“Max. No. of Priority per Stock” enables you to limit the no. of Parts of different priorities to be nested into a stock.

This is to avoid the confusion on the production floor where the operator, after cutting has to sort the parts and placed them into their respective “carts”.

Min. Nest-able Remaining Space %

“Minimum Nest-able Remaining Space” percentage – is the parameter for the remaining space after ALL the parts of the specified Priority have been nested onto the stock.

If 0 is defined, then any remaining space is considered “nest-able”, AutoNEST will try to find suitable parts to fit onto the remaining space.

If 10 is defined, the remaining space must be >=10% of the stock size to be considered “nest-able”, AutoNEST will then try to find suitable parts to fit onto the remaining space.

If 100 is defined, then any remaining space is considered NOT “nest-able”, AutoNEST will not attempt to nest into the remaining space after ALL parts of the specified priority have been nested.

‘D5’

Other Nesting Options

The nesting options are:

Consider Common Line
Ignore ‘Hole’ within Part
Nest Regular Stock First.
Save Remnant
Min. Remnant X / Y

 

Consider Common Line

      TaskEdit_ComLin

Select this option if you want AutoNEST to consider packing of the parts along their common edges.  This feature will save cutting time.

However, AutoNEST will consider the common line packing together with the quality of the nesting.

Ignore ‘Hole’ within Part

Mark this check-box to ignore all “holes” and cut outs within Parts during nesting. So that no parts will be packed into these “holes” or cut-outs.

Nest Regular Stock First

Mark this check-box to nest regular stocks first. The default is to nest irregular stocks first.

Save Remnant

Mark this check-box to save the remnants of the stocks automatically after every nest, as long as they are of the minimum X and Y size or more. By default, the original profile of the rectangular stocks will also be saved with the remnants. However this can be changed in ANEST.SYS @REMNANT_CONTROL.

By default these remnants will be saved into the Part/ Irregular Stock directory. The names of the remnant stocks will be Taskname_$REM1-1.stk, Taskname_$REM2-1.stk, Taskname_$REM2-2.stk and so on.

The naming convention is as follows :-  *_$REM(LAYOUT_NO)-(NO) where the suffix “$REM” can be defined in @REMNANT_CONTROL of ANEST.SYS.

In addition, a Task will automatically be created bearing the name, Taskname_$REM.job.

Min.Rem.X

Min.Rem.Y

The minimum remnant size as in the X and Y dimensions. The default dimension is 600 x 600. The maximum value is limited to 6 digits (Eg. 999999).

Shear Nest

Mark this check-box to indicate “Shear Nesting” for that particular task.

Shear Blade Limit

When the ‘Shear Nest’ check-box is marked, you will be able to enter the ‘Shear Blade Limit’. See below.

TaskEdit_Shear1

 

TaskEdit_Shear2

 

‘D6’

Single Part Nest Control

This portion of the dialog box will be grey-out unless the Task consists of only ONE Part.

For Single-part nesting, there are 6 options or controls. They are:-

Density - Single array
Quantity - Single array
Quantity - Mixed array
Extension - Long Nest
Allow Part Mirror
Nest Half Quantity with Mirrored parts

The illustrations will give you a better understanding of these control settings

Density-Single array

The most-dense packing pattern in a single array.

Quantity-Single array

The highest quantity of parts nested in a single array.

Quantity-Mixed array

This is the default option. Maximum quantity of parts nested onto the stock sheet.

Extension-Long Nest

This nesting option will take the longest time compared with the other three. It will go through more iteration to produce either the same or better results than Quantity-Mixed array.

Allow Part Mirror

If this option is checked, the nesting will consider the part (single) and its mirrored image during the nesting.

However, it must be noted that checking this option does not mean that nesting will use the mirror counterpart of the single-part. Nesting’s main objective is to nest as many parts as possible and in so doing will try both the single part and its mirror counterpart to achieve that objective.

“Allow Part Mirror” can be used in conjunction with any of the above 4 options

Nest Half Quantity with Mirrored Parts

If this option is marked, the nesting will nest half the defined quantity in the specified orientation and the other half in mirrored image of the first.

If the quantity specified is “Maximize”, the nesting will half the stock in the specified orientation and the other half the mirrored image. If there is remaining space, again the same logic applies – half in 1 orientation and the other a mirrored image.

“Allow Part Mirror” has no bearing on this option, by default half of the total parts nested will be the mirror image.

 

TaskEdit  - Users can enter multiple tasks but TaskEdit_Save each task at a time. To exit, click TaskEdit_Close button. For every task created, there are two corresponding files with extension .JOB & .XML being written on the default Task directory set in the Sysdata.  For example:

     

Task Name        :        SAMPLE      

Filenames        :        SAMPLE.JOB

                                           SAMPLE_JOB.XML

 

Illustrations for Single Part Nest Control

 

 Density - Single Array

TaskEdit_SingleArray

 

 Quantity - Single Array

TaskEdit_QuantitySingleArray

 

 Quantity - Mixed Array

TaskEdit_QuantityMixedArray

 

Extension- Long Nest

TaskEdit_ExtLongNest

 

Allow Part Mirror (coupled with the Quantity-Mixed Array option)

TaskEdit_AllowPartMirror

 

Nest Half Quantity with Mirrored Parts

TaskEdit_NestHalfQty

 

Define Bridge   ‘E’

 

By clicking the TaskEdit_DefineBridge button, the dialog box below appears:

 

TaskEdit_DefineBridgeDialog

 

Bridge Width

A “BRIDGE” is the narrow strip that links one Part to another in order to maintain a continuous cutting process.

The width of the strip. Any numerical value is accepted, even zero.

Other Settings

 

 

Use system min. recommended values

These are the other bridge specifications that you can define for the nested tasks.

Mark this check-box if you want to use the minimum system default values which are :-

         Min. Corner Offset : 0.0

         Min. Angle : 45

         Max. No. of Bridges per Part : 5

Min. Corner Offset

The minimum distance to maintain from the edge of Bridge to the nearest corner.

Min. Angle

The angle formed by the Bridge and the part. The accepted range is 45 – 90 (degrees). See the following illustration.

Max. No. of Bridges per Part

The maximum number of bridges to be allowed to link to any one part. See the following illustration.

 

Bridge_Ex1

 

Define Skeleton Cut-Off   ‘F’

 

By clicking the button TaskEdit_DefineCutOff the dialog box below appears:

 

TaskEdit_CutOffDialog

 

Offset Distance

The gap between the skeleton-cut-off and the part profile (also called ‘skeleton-bridge’).

X-Spacing, Y-Spacing

X and Y spacings of the skeleton-cut-off.

X x Y (equal spacing)

Instead of entering the real values of the X and Y spacings, you can enter eg. 4 x 2 meaning the stock will be drawn such that there are 4 equal spacings in the X-direction and 2 equal spacings in the Y-direction.

 

TaskEdit_Skeleton

 

TaskEdit_NestNowButton

This button will enable you to do nesting whilst in TaskEdit, without having to go to the Nesting or BatchNesting commands.

If one or both check-boxes-‘Auto-Bridge for Nested Layout’ and ‘Skeleton-Cut-Off’ are marked, the layout(s) displayed will show the nested results with bridging/skeleton-cut-off.

TaskEdit_BridgeButton

This button will enable you to view the nested layouts with Auto-bridge/Skeleton-Cut-Off.

Important : make sure that you have nested the Task first, before clicking this button.

 

This button is helpful if the Bridge/ Skeleton-Cut-Off specifications has been changed and you need to re-do the Bridging / Skeleton-Cut-Off– without having to go through the nesting process.

 

Unless one of the check-boxes for ‘Auto-Bridge for Nested Layout’ or ‘Skeleton-Cut-Off’ is marked, this button will be grayed-out.