Yes, I thought the photo was of some sort of cake to celebrate Edgecam’s 30th anniversary. I was wrong. But that does not take away from the fact that the software manufacturer was founded in 1983.
This space observatory antenna was designed in Edgecam.
Yes, I thought the photo was of some sort of cake to celebrate Edgecam’s 30th anniversary. I was wrong. But that does not take away from the fact that the CAD/CAM software manufacturer (originally marketed as Pathtrace) was founded in 1983 and has been going strong ever since, taking advantage of the latest in computer technology for the sake of more efficient design and manufacturing.
According to Edgecam General Manager Raf Lobato, in the early stages of Edgecam, “Most CAM software was designed for mainframe systems. When the first generation of PCs came along, Pathtrace embraced these small machines, believing they were the future, and created PMS (Pathtrace Manufacturing System) for the popular Commodore Pet.” In 1988, the company developed PAMS (Pathtrace Advanced Manufacturing System) for the emerging IBM PC market, which allowed users to select commands from onscreen menus rather than needing to know the commands to enter at the command line.
The first version of the software was created for use on the Commodore Pet.
The Edgcam name was applied in 1995, on the same day Windows 95 was released. This version took a DOS-based, textual, menu-driven system into a Windows look and feel, with graphical icons to make the system more intuitive for the user. In 1999, Edgecam adopted the solids-based technology, supporting all major solid kernels to eliminate the need to translate the CAD data and allow import of all formats with no loss of integrity.
Edgecam’s efforts to provide leading edge technology throughout its history have led to its use in 26 countries today, with more than 100 direct employees and 52 resellers around the world. The brand became part of the Planit Group in 2006, which, in turn, was acquired by Vero Software in 2011. Edgecam will be celebrating its milestone 30th anniversary with reseller conferences in Prague, Phoenix and Bangkok.
SolidCAM aims to align its product development and customer engagement strategies to address the evolving needs and challenges of the manufacturing industry.
The software’s PrimeTurning Strategies are said to permit turning and facing in all directions, which is said to deliver dramatic increases in high-volume production.
This California shop owner applies five-axis strategies for more efficient milling of parts with challenging geometries, free-form surfaces and deep cavities.
