Esprit CAM and Kompas-3D CAD integration

At the request of LO CNITI, Rubius has developed Kompas FX, a module for integrating Esprit CAM with Kompas-3D, a CAD system commonly used in Russia.

Esprit is a system for programming DP Technology’s (Hexagon group) CNC machines. It’s one of the top 10 most popular CAM systems in the world, with its users including Boeing, NASA, Ford, and Audi. However, the lack of integration with Kompas-3D prevented Esprit from entering the Russian market. Engineers had to convert 3D models into STL format, adapt them, and fix any errors that occurred. This increased the production time and the cost of the finished product.

Kompas FX enables working with files without conversion, supports associative relations between models in Esprit and Kompas-3D, and transfers the model geometry and tree from CAD to CAM with all the data from the product’s designer.

Using the Kompas FX module, Esprit users can:

• open component files (.m3d), assemblies (.a3d), drawings (.cdw), fragments (.frw), and specifications (.spw)
• edit model topology
• read object properties
• edit component and assembly embodiments, and select geometry to design the machining algorithm
• save the model tree as an Esprit file (.esp)
• resize the model within the tolerance limit: to the middle of the tolerance range, to the upper and lower limits
• view component specifications
• work with the model together with a Kompas-3D designer. If the project was edited in CAD, Esprit will notify the user, download the updated file if needed, and update the machining trajectory

The integration module also offers new features to Kompas-3D users. With Kompas FX, a designer can launch G-code generation right from the CAD system. Trajectories for 2.5-axis milling, turning and electrical discharge machining are calculated automatically.

Since Kompas FX implementation, we kept updating it with new features for 6 years as new Esprit and Kompas-3D versions were released. As a result, users need less time to prepare a detail for production, printed products have higher quality, while Esprit has the highest level of integration with Kompas-3D among CAM systems in Russia.