Software copes with mad panics at Asylum
An
Alphacam product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Oct 27, 2004
South London-based Asylum Models and Effects may not be a household name, yet the organisation's capabilities will be familiar to almost everyone.
South London-based Asylum Models and Effects may not be a household name, yet the organisation's capabilities will be familiar to almost everyone.
The 30-strong company is one of the world's leading designers and producers of models and special effects used in films and TV advertising.
Examples of its award-winning work include giant body parts for the Millennium Dome, as well as the pinball machine, lighthouse, animatronic dinosaur and a one-third scale Formula 1 Ferrari seen in recent advertisements for Ford, Hyundai and Shell.
And although the company can be asked to recreate just about anything from chameleons to spacemen, the one constant is that the finished job will invariably be required on an extremely tight lead time.
To respond to this, Asylum has invested in state of the art three-axis and, more recently, five-axis CNC machining equipment supported by Licom's AlphaCAM software.
According to Asylum's Jason Szukalski, the Licom system "is worth five model makers", not only through its modelling capabilities, but also its accuracy and productivity, when compared with more traditional methods.
"Take the 'perspex' model of a Walther handgun we produced for the James Bond film, 'Die Another Day'".
"In effect, it was a hybrid between a Walther PPK and P99, which I designed directly in AlphaCAM as an assembly of prismatic and sculpted parts", Szukalski explains.
"Once the concept had been proven, it was a simple task to undertake a dimensional check on the components before seamlessly creating the CNC machining programs".
"Likewise, AlphaCAM's ability to accept Ford's CAD data as an Iges file really streamlined the creation of five-axis machining programs for the mould used to produce the Fiesta model in their recent 'pinball' advert".
Szukalski also finds the Licom software's modelling capabilities enable him to check clearances in assemblies easily, as well as to plan jobs more effectively.
Equally, when it comes to the manufacturing stage, he confirms that AlphaCAM's inherent repeatability and accuracy are far superior to anything even the most skilled modelmaker could achieve.
"It has the flexibility to set tolerances, step-overs, and select the most effective machining regime for each job", he continues.
"Clamps or other constraints can be automatically taken into account and the software's toolpath simulation routines also provide me with accurate cycle times".
In some cases - such as the production of a life-size interior of a spacecraft for a forthcoming feature film - Szukalski uses the software to divide large elements of the model into slices that can be assembled like a giant rapid prototype LOM (laminate object model) for subsequent hand finishing.
"It mirrors the versatility of our machining capabilities and can still prove a faster overall method than cutting a large mould tool using a five-axis machine", he says.
Szukalski harnesses the Licom system to speed up the production process in other ways too; notably through the software's ability to program symmetrical left and right hand halves of models in moments - safe in the knowledge that the components will fit together perfectly.
"Effectively, AlphaCAM enables us to accurately manufacture parts that just could not be made by hand", he adds.
He is equally impressed by Licom's post-sales support and has found the transition from three- to five-axis machining a natural progression.
The fact that he is self-taught on AlphaCAM simply underlines the intuitive nature of the software.
"In our business it's all about speed".
"I've tried several other CAD/CAM systems, but found them long-winded by comparison".
"I can honestly say that I've never found anything I couldn't do with AlphaCAM", he concludes.
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