Guys - most likely the problems you are having are the data corruption errors caused by your PCs during CAM tool paths calculations.
Small little (uncorrected) error or skipped bit and the whole calculated "thing" is just GARBAGE.
CAM tool paths calculation is quite intensive and resource demanding process - it needs REAL WORKSTATION PC
with REAL workstation components to run reliably and give you consistent results.
If you are using "regular over the counter PC" or even a "powerful gaming PC" -
and it was working OK for you - it is just pure LUCK - and it will end soon or later.
And when it does - you will loose more money (and time) then if you've invested in REAL workstation PC in the first place.
Personally I do NOT like buying ready made WORKSTATION PCs from big manufacturers like DELL, HP or Lenovo
because they use proprietary components and you are locked to their service and parts if you need one.
I prefer to custom build my own PCs from the best universally available components - much easier to service them later on.
Here are a few "MUST HAVE" when building or shopping for one:
- - professional Intel chipset motherboard with Intel XEON processor and ECC memory support (like: Supermicro X9SRA)
- - minimum of 32GB of ECC memory (Error Correcting Code)
- - minimum of 240GB SSD - Solid State Drive - Hard Drive (professional - like: Intel 520 SSD)
- - 90+ Gold or Platinium SeaSonic PSU (power supplay unit)
- - if your CAM software uses video card for calculation - your video card also needs to have ECC memory (like: nVidia Quadro 6000)
- - good computer case with plenty of air circulation for cooling of ALL components inside
- - Windows 7 x64 (64-bit) PRO or ULTIMATE !!!
we can all concede that certain computers are certainly better than others, however "workstation computer" are not two words that really should go together, as they do not form a coherent phrase. its like saying Amphibious Frog.
anyway all that to say the best computer in the world is limited by its software; in most circumstances that software is capable of detecting computational issues such as a memory stack overflow. in this case however it is a lost cause to be going through the computer looking for computational errors; the fault of the software - it is not likely. we've discussed how even doing the simulation in the sum3d has resulted in no error, so no arithmetic is at fault here.
i suspect the actual arms of the machine itself are at fault. if memory serves, they are powered and fed data (and controlled feedback) through the old IDE drive cabling, which as we may well know are aluminum wires that are easily broken (especially after repeated bending) and are not as conductive as a braided wire (which would be much easier to short circuit and lose data).
i believe the error to be roland-side, because if this were a computer hardware or sum3d error, it might be more prevalent in each user's system. software being so needy with the hardware, and all.
i say this based on the experience of working in a past lab where the same *symptom* arose, in completely different machinery, computers, and data transmission. different G code as well. same error - a machining stage was skipped, or more commonly in that system the issue of halting Z axis.
no error messages generate in both lab's circumstances. nothing in sum3d now, and nothing in the Laserdenta proprietary nesting code either.
the machine is at fault; the question now is how to service it. nobody but glen has been able to provide anything from roland to help with this error, but i got money says he isnt the Service advisor or team lead to robotic machine design.