How to create this cam?

General Discussion
#1

I have traced a more or less circular cam, is there a way to bring the coordinates from a spreadsheet into BobCAD and create the cam? Part of the file is listed below. It was a .csv file

Name X Y Z
P0 0.0000 0.7810 0
P1 0.0136 0.7809 0
P2 0.0273 0.7805 0
P3 0.0409 0.0409 0
P4 0.0545 0.7796 0
P5 0.0682 0.7790 0
P6 0.0818 0.7782 0
P7 0.0954 0.7772 0
P8 0.1091 0.7764 0
P9 0.1228 0.7753 0
P10 0.1365 0.7741 0
P11 0.1503 0.7730 0
P12 0.1640 0.7718 0
P13 0.1778 0.7702 0
P14 0.1915 0.7680 0
P15 0.2054 0.7665 0
P16 0.2191 0.7642 0
P17 0.2330 0.7622 0
P18 0.2469 0.7599 0
P19 0.2608 0.7574 0
P20 0.2748 0.7550 0
P21 0.2888 0.7525 0
P22 0.3027 0.7492 0
P23 0.3169 0.7465 0
P24 0.3309 0.7432 0
P25 0.3451 0.7400 0
P26 0.3590 0.7361 0
P27 0.3730 0.7320 0
P28 0.3875 0.7289 0
P29 0.4019 0.7251 0
P30 0.4162 0.7210 0
P31 0.4303 0.7162 0
P32 0.4451 0.7124 0
P33 0.4594 0.7074 0
P34 0.4736 0.7022 0
P35 0.4884 0.6975 0
P36 0.5026 0.6917 0
P37 0.5173 0.6864 0
P38 0.5322 0.6812 0
P39 0.5469 0.6753 0
P40 0.5615 0.6691 0
P41 0.5763 0.6630 0
P42 0.5908 0.6562 0
P43 0.6049 0.6487 0
P44 0.6189 0.6409 0
P45 0.6332 0.6332 0
P46 0.6467 0.6245 0
P47 0.6600 0.6155 0
P48 0.6740 0.6069 0
P49 0.6872 0.5973 0
P50 0.6998 0.5872 0
P51 0.7126 0.5771 0
P52 0.7254 0.5667 0
P53 0.7367 0.5552 0
P54 0.7483 0.5437 0
P55 0.7602 0.5323 0
P56 0.7684 0.5183 0
P57 0.7821 0.5079 0
P58 0.7925 0.4952 0
P59 0.8023 0.4821 0
P60 0.8123 0.4690 0
P61 0.8217 0.4555 0
P62 0.8304 0.4415 0
P63 0.8393 0.4277 0
P64 0.8476 0.4134 0
P65 0.8551 0.3987 0
P66 0.8628 0.3842 0
P67 0.8699 0.3692 0
P68 0.8767 0.3542 0
P69 0.8827 0.3388 0
P70 0.8889 0.3236 0
P71 0.8945 0.3080 0
P72 0.8997 0.2923 0
P73 0.9047 0.2766 0
P74 0.9094 0.2608 0
P75 0.9138 0.2448 0
P76 0.9179 0.2289 0
P77 0.9218 0.2128 0
P78 0.9253 0.1967 0
P79 0.9286 0.1805 0
P80 0.9316 0.1643 0
P81 0.9344 0.1480 0
P82 0.9368 0.1317 0
P83 0.9389 0.1153 0
P84 0.9408 0.0989 0
P85 0.9424 0.0824 0
P86 0.9437 0.0660 0
P87 0.9447 0.0495 0
P88 0.9454 0.0330 0
P89 0.9459 0.0165 0
P90 0.9460 0.0000 0
#2

What version of the software are you using?
There is a way to accomplish this in the system using LUA but if you have an older version of software that does not support Lua you will not be able to accomplish this.

If you email into Support@bobcad.com the techs can assist.

#3

I’m using the latest version

Alibre Design™ Expert
Version: V26 64-bit [Build 26040]

#4

Import your data as a point file. Alibre can do this. The system should know the columns are x and y values.

Here is a bbcd file containing your partial data presented imported in 3 different ways.

As points
As a control point curve
As a through point curve

points.zip (56.7 KB)

#5

Another thought I had was to turn your points into Gcode. Then you can use a program like Wayne Hills “Gcode2dxf” (You can find it in the CNCZone forum) and import a dxf of your data into BobCad.

Did I remember that BobCad added a method to create geometry from GCode?

I don’t know gcode enough to know what I need to add to the point file to make it a valid file that will convert… Surely someone here does.

#6

I tried Gcode2dxf, the copy I downloaded off the web produced nothing but a single point at X0Y0, I kept getting an error; ‘Index and length must refer to a location within the string. Parameter name: length’.

I ended up using a script, Table_to_3DPoints_forum_V03.py in Alibre and GCode Ripper, both worked well. Alibre gave points that had to be connected with a spline and Gcode ripper, produced the DXF file.

#7

Sounds like you gor your data!

Cant alibre save it in a format BobCad can open? Why the need for gcode ripper still? For me, ripping gcode was if you couldn’t extract a point file…

#8

As far as I know, if you just had the points in Alibre it wouldn’t export them but I stand to be corrected on that. The line from the connected points or the actual dxf file were what was needed.
The use of the Gcode Ripper was just to see how it worked as I hadn’t used it before. I did have to add start points and x and y prefixes but that was fairly simple in Libreoffice.

1 Like
#9

Look at you alibre import point file option. It should give you the option to import as “points” “polyline” “control point curve” or “through point curve (interpolated curve)” etc….