Open your 3D object in Fusion 360. In this example the 3D object is a stamped piece of metal.

The goal of this project is to automatically create a robot program that will cut all those holes with a leaser cutter. Programming that by hand would take too long.

1.Select theDesignsection of Fusion in the top left-hand corner.

2.Select theToolstab. This is where you will find the RoboDK plugin.

3.Click on the buttonto load the part to RoboDK.

The part has been imported in the active reference frame of your RoboDK station. Make sure that the part has been imported in the right orientation. In this example, you will have to modify the orientation of the part.

Follow the next steps to modify the orientation of your part:

1.Double click theLaser cutting part. In this example the part is called Laser cutting part v2.

2.Click onMore optionsin the open menu.

3.Go toMove geometryand enter 90 in the X axis (light blue) as shown in the image above.

4.Click onApply Moveto save the orientation.

The RoboDK plugin has another feature in Fusion 360 that will help you import your cutting path to RoboDK.

1.Go back to Fusion 360.

2.In the RoboDK plugin menu, selectLoad Curve(s).

3.SelectCurvesin the open menu.

4.Select the edges of the four big circles as shown in the image below.

Now you will need to give RoboDK an orientation for the robot tool.

1.SelectFacesin the open menu.

2.Select the faces you wish the tool to be normal to as shown in the image below.

Now you can configurate the settings:

1.In the same menu, go toBasic Settings.

2.Uncheck theUse Fusion Themeif you prefer to keep RoboDK in its default behavior.

3.Enter anObject Nameto name your path. In this example it will be Path 1.

4.Enter aReference Nameyou want it to be exported in. In this example it is named Part, the same as in the RoboDK station.

5.SelectUpdatein the Program Update Level to have more options afterwards as shown in the image above. This is optional.

6.Click onOK.

You should now be able to see the imported path in RoboDK. In this example, the orientation is wrong again and you will need to modify the orientation as you did for the part before.

1.Double click your path, in this example it isPath 1.

2.Click onMore optionsin the open menu.

3.Go toMove geometryand enter 90 in the X axis (light blue).

4.Click onApply Moveto save the orientation.

The next step is to verify if the order in which the path sections will be executed is correct by selectingPath1 Settings➔Update➔Simulate. In this example, only one of the four circles has been selected as shown in the image below.

1.Double click on your path settings, herePath1 Settings.

2.Make sure the that the robot, the reference, and the tool are the right ones.

3.Click onSelect curve.

4.Select the other circles.

5.ClickDone.

You can now notice that the approach and retract movements are a bit too long in terms of length.

You can easily modify those values by:

1.Double click on your path settings, herePath1 Settings.

2.Enter a smaller value in theApproachandRetract盒子。在这个示例中,您可以输入25毫米。

3.Click onUpdate➔Simulate.

The next step is to consider the radius of the laser. In this example, the laser is cutting too much material.

How to set up your laser radius:

1.Go back to Fusion 360.

2.Got to the tabSolid➔Create Sketchto create your sketch.

3.Select one circle and click onOffsetin the top menu to create a new path.

4.Considering that the diameter of the laser beam is 2mm, the radius will be 1mm. Enter 1 in theOffset positionbox as shown in the image below.

5.Repeat those steps for the 3 other circles.

6.ClickOk.

You can now load the curves into RoboDK.

1.Go to theToolstab.

2.Click onRoboDK➔Load Curve(s).

3.SelectCurvesand click on the sketch in each circle.

4.SelectFacesand click on the face you wish the tool to be normal.

5.In this example, theObject Name(Basic Settings) is Path2.

6.ClickOkto import the path into RoboDK.

您可以修改的方向Path2解释ed above. If you come closer, you can see the difference between the two paths. You can now delete the Path1.

The next step is to verify if the path sections you loaded are correct by:

1.SelectingPath2 Settings➔Updateto make sure that the path is at the right position.

2.Click onSelect curveand select the other circles as shown in the image below.

3.SelectDone.

You can reduce the size oh theApproachandRetractmovements as explained above. In this example, you can enter again 25mm. Don’t forget toUpdate➔Simulateyour Curve Follow Project to save your settings. You could do the same steps for all other holes of this part.

This way of building a laser cutting program works for RoboDK’s Fusion 360 plugin, but it also works for all the CAD plugins.