The investigation of this thesis derives from the Maker Culture and the issues that both the users and the staff are exposed to – the use and the integration of the machines requiring high tech skill level and experience to operate. The particular problem of 4 Axis CnC Mill machines integration is tackled by the research in the domains of Rapid Prototyping, Rapid Manufacturing and Computer Aided Process Planning. The research has led to design and implementation of the Add-On tailored for Fusion 360 software, which analyses the 3D model of the object to be machined and helps the user to choose appropriate parameters related to setting up the rotary machining operations.
The functionality of the solution was tested via online experiment where the performance of small sample of 8 subjects, mostly experienced CnC users, was compared to the performance of the Add-On. Experiment results showed promise as the overall performance of the Add-On surpassed the test subjects. The results also indicate possibility of simplifying the solution while focusing on the sequencing of machining orientations already defined by the user to optimise total machining time.
Despite positive results, functionality experiment should be tested further with wider sample and additional 3D models for more conclusive results. Additionally, not all implemented features were part of the functionality experiment, thus further User Experience testing is required to evaluate the usability of the Add-On.