New help animating cutting paper
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I'm being the ball on this so I was hoping someone might be able to help me figure this out. I have to explain how a cutting process at my company works. Here is the process:
Sheet size is 32"L x 27"W of coated paper. We cut chips out of this sheet with a final size of 2"x1". Simple...but there are some constraints which prevent us from getting the maximum output per sheet.
- We trim each side by .5" so the actual "live" area is 31"x26".
- Regardless of the potential outage, the above "live" sheet is quartered in perfectly equal sections (15.5"x13")
- Each quarter is now ready to "chip" but the first cut is a trim of .25" on the long side (now 15.25"x13")
- The LAST cut must be .8" (machine constraint) so we can only get 14 cuts at 1" since we have 14.45" to cut from.
- We rotate the 14 cut strips to cut them into 2" lengths. On this cut we trim .20" and have to allow for a .8" final cut (this is scrap) leaving 12" from which we get 6 cuts.
- The result is 84 chips per quarter or 336 chips total.
I need to use something very visual (an animation) to show the we could get 409 (~20% gain) if we focused some time on this problem.
Anyone have ideas on how best to do this?
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Hi W (and welcome)
To be honet,SU is not the ideal tool tomake animations other than walk-/flythrough ones unles you use some plugins which may make your life (a bit) easier.
What exctly do you want to animate here?
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Yes, I was afraid of that. I'd like animate the sheet being cut for the trim, then being quartered, then into strips, and so on. Ideally I would draw up a simple cutter for effect but I would settle for just the sheet. The problem is that after coming to work for my company (2 months ago) I quickly realized that there is a serious lack of structured, data-driven problem solving. Having been trained at Toyota, the one thing I know is that when you have an issue/problem/opportunity you have to "go to gemba" (in this case the manufacturing floor) to see it.
No one is used to that and we tend to meet in the conference room which is far removed from the shop floor. If they won't go to gemba (yet) then my challenge is to take gemba to them. That's what I need the animation for. Any thoughts on other software which would be better suited.
I have 3ds max, Cinema 4D, After Effects, and Flash. However, my experience level in all but AE is limited right now.
Thanks for the response.
William
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Hi William,
Have a look maybe at "Morisdov's" proper animation plugin. It MIGHT be something that can help you as it does object animation as well.
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@wwholcomb said:
I'd like animate the sheet being cut for the trim, then being quartered, then into strips, and so on ...
Here is a work in progress clip of an animation for packing a container with bathtubs.
[flash=425,344:20lkjm70]http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/TL8q17qSKrk[/flash:20lkjm70]
I can animate each bathtub separately if necessary.
I intended to do something similar for cutting plywood and other similar standard sheets. I could bring that forward if you think that would be useful and are not in too much of a hurry. If so, upload or send me any pix you think may be useful.
Chris
Update:
It is the first day of Chinese New Year with nothing much happening around here ... so I decided to make a start. Anyway, it is a good example to support my analytical animation fixation - see http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=16011.Here is my proposed control interface, which is a Sketchup plugin with web dialog (made with html and javascript connected to Sketchup via a ruby script):
This is used to set the criteria and generate and position the pieces, starting with the first piece and then continuing with the cut pieces. Pieces not being worked on will be set to alternate sides. This should emulate the production cycle.The controller can also be used to show the effect of amendments or for manual animation using previous and next; or it can be fully automated with the controller hidden.
Settings can be in metric or imperial, units or percentages. Turn is there not only on the assumption that the cutting axis is fixed but also to cope with irregular cross cuts. There could be options for 3D views but I am not sure they would be worthwhile. Reload is there just to make checking the code easier and will be removed.
If you think it would be useful, I will be happy to send you the plugin files when they are complete without any obligation or responsibilty on either side.
Anyway let me know what you think.
Chris
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Here's some very preliminary coding for a single cycle just to see if this kind of animation would suit your purpose. Here is a video clip in case anyone else is interested in this type of thing ...[flash=400,300:1x2no254]http://www.youtube.com/v/5Y4RFyNm5Vo[/flash:1x2no254]
and screenshots of web dialog at different stages.
Please note:
The coding is for PCs only.
Unzip the .rb file and folder to Sketchup plugins subdirectory and open sheetCuts from plugin menu.
This is not a traditional rectangle optimisation tool (although it could have one) but a device to produce:
... instructions for automated or attended machines
... animation for checking handling, sequence, timing and so on
... various preferences, details, analyses and other options (nothing compiled yet)Click on underlined words to select offset percentage or dimension, trim or cut, and to set rotate and settings. The number of cuts is calculated automatically. The final offcut is shown. Inputting a new number of cuts overwrites the automated calculation. I think this satisfies your PM request?
Prev and Next will later be available to review and edit.
I think this will be useful as a device for designing plywood or MDF furniture and sheet metal panels and so on. If you can find a use for it for your paper cutting problem, all well and good, but it will take a little time before it is really functional.
Chris
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