Machine technical documentation Operational document

DOC3.14.1 AUTOMATIC NESTING (OPTIONAL)

Automatic Nesting is particularly useful when there are many pieces to process and the different combinations can no longer be managed easily by the operator.
Different solutions may be available depending on the set parameters. They are shown on the monitor and the operator can select the preferred configuration.

Buttons

	Add The operator can create a configuration.
	Delete The operator can delete a configuration.
	Edit The operator can edit a configuration.
	Execution All configurations are calculated and the results are added to the list on the right.

Edit configuration

Automatic Nesting allows customisation of the parameters used to calculate the positioning of pieces within the work area for a configuration.
Depending on the type of pieces to be processed, some strategies may be better and more efficient.

Name	Name of the configuration shown in the list.
Distance Slab	Distance that the pieces must maintain from the edge of the slab when positioned.
Num. solutions search	Number of solutions calculated by Nesting. The best solution is selected from all those calculated.
Num. displacement tests	Number of attempts made by moving the piece if it does not fit within the slab perimeter.
Displacement value	Value by which to move the piece in an attempt to position it within the slab perimeter.
Num. attempts on the same slab	Number of attempts to position the piece within the same perimeter if it does not fit.
Solutions calculation timeout	Maximum time allowed for calculating each individual solution.
Use list order	Requires attempts to position the pieces within the perimeter in the order in which they appear in the pieces list.
Use custom order	Allows the order in which pieces are to be positioned within the slab perimeter to be selected based on certain properties. To enable a sorting criterion, select the corresponding checkbox. The criteria are applied from top to bottom. This means that the pieces are sorted according to the first criterion. If two or more pieces have the same value for the property associated with the first criterion, they are sorted according to the next criterion, and so on for each criterion in the list. For each criterion, either ascending or descending order can be selected.
Force piece before moving to next	Allows selection of whether to try positioning the piece in different locations within the slab perimeter or to move on to positioning the next piece without further attempts.
Fixed starting point	Allows the perimeter point from which to start inserting the pieces to be selected.
Fix Rows - Columns mode	Allows selection of whether pieces are to be arranged by rows, by columns or randomly during insertion.
Piece rotation mode	Allows selection of the logic used to rotate pieces during attempts to position them within the slab perimeter.
Use largest inscribed rectangle	When enabled, the pieces will be inserted within the largest-area rectangle contained inside the perimeter. Otherwise, Nesting will try to arrange the pieces over the entire available surface of the perimeter.
Enable Deep Nesting	When disabled, the pieces are inserted on the slab so as to optimise use of the material-handling system with suction cups for collision resolution. When enabled, it allows more complex piece combinations to be searched for, although their arrangement may collide with use of the handling system.

Executing Nesting

Pressing the blue arrow next to each item in the list calculates the Nesting using that configuration.
A preview of the result is added to the section on the right. It shows the arrangement of the pieces within the perimeter and the percentage of slab area covered by the pieces.

If the piece arrangement is not satisfactory, press the blue arrow again to recalculate the result.

After all Nesting configurations have been executed, the results are arranged so that those occupying the largest slab surface area are shown first.

Once the preferred configuration has been selected, press the confirm button and the pieces will be positioned on the slab according to the selected arrangement. The operator can still change the position of the pieces in the work area.

NOTE

The pieces are inserted on the slab taking into account subsequent use of the suction cup material handling system to resolve collisions between pieces and taking into account defects marked on the slab.