New nesting tool ...

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Husky
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New nesting tool ...

Post by Husky » Thu Jul 18, 2019 5:47 am

Wow - that's is already looking very neat. Thanks for working on it. :D

1. Question: Quantity,
If I have only one part but need to nest it e.g. 50 times then I have to put 49 copy's into my drawing. Would it be possible to tell the nesting tool how many of that part are needed to be nested?

2. Question: Meaning of "Not placable"
If I have 10 parts, start the nesting tool, choose a solution with the alert "Not Placable 1" then the tool will still nest 10 parts. What means "Not Placable"? This test drawing has no duplicates or open contours ...

Husky-2019.07.17-03.png
Husky-2019.07.17-03.png (67.38 KiB) Viewed 10751 times

3. Question: Option for "Move and copy,
If I prepare a nesting and apply the nesting solution the selected parts are moved into the frame. That force me to prepare my drawing just for the nesting task or I will loose my drawing arrangement.

If I could tell (option) the nesting tool to move and copy the selected parts instead of just moving them then I could keep my original drawing untouched - except of visibility of layer etc..
BTW: Many DIY people are using a paper print to transfer shapes to the material (clue on). With my mentioned option, the powerful print preview tool and/or the Paper_Space functionality are then the perfect tools to be able to keep everything as usual in one drawing.
Yes I know, you could use undo but in that case you will loose the nesting and for every additional nested paper print you have repeat that task ...

4. Question: Nesting only for QCAD CAM application?
I know that it looks like the nesting tool is today only interesting for CAM processing but the old school processing needs nesting too. Only a fool doesn't cares how to handle the resources like e.g. a plywood sheet with the best possible outcome to keep the project cost acceptable. And not every QCAD Pro lover use the QCAD CAM solution for different reason.

Any chance to get the nesting tool in QCAD Pro too?
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andrew
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Re: New nesting tool ...

Post by andrew » Thu Jul 18, 2019 8:23 am

Husky wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 5:47 am
1. Question: Quantity,
Yes, maybe in a future version.
Husky wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 5:47 am
2. Question: Meaning of "Not placable"
It means that some parts were not nested. Not sure what was wrong in this case.
Husky wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 5:47 am
3. Question: Option for "Move and copy,
Good idea, yes.
Husky wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 5:47 am
4. Question: Nesting only for QCAD CAM application?
The nesting module may not seem like much but it's actually quite an addition in terms of effort that is behind it. So it's more a pricing decision rather than a question whether it would be useful to QCAD users. QCAD users can always resort to other solutions available such as deepnest.

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Husky
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Re: New nesting tool ...

Post by Husky » Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:30 am

Thanks for your response.
andrew wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 8:23 am
The nesting module may not seem like much but it's actually quite an addition in terms of effort that is behind it.
I never doubted that. :D

andrew wrote:
Thu Jul 18, 2019 8:23 am
QCAD users can always resort to other solutions available such as deepnest.
I understand your train of thought but think about all scenarios. :wink:
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Husky
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Re: New nesting tool ...

Post by Husky » Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:42 pm

Trying to understand the tool .... :wink:

If my alignment is Left-Bottom why is a solution offered Right-Top?

Husky-2019.07.19-02.png
Husky-2019.07.19-02.png (54.03 KiB) Viewed 10691 times

Husky-2019.07.19-03.png
Husky-2019.07.19-03.png (53.43 KiB) Viewed 10691 times

and BTW: Every alignment option exist twice in that list ... :wink:

Husky-2019.07.19-04.png
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andrew
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Re: New nesting tool ...

Post by andrew » Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:08 am

Husky wrote:
Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:42 pm
If my alignment is Left-Bottom why is a solution offered Right-Top?
I cannot reproduce that here. Perhaps attach the file? It's also odd that you are getting 1 non-placeable part. Can't reproduce that either.
Husky wrote:
Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:42 pm
and BTW: Every alignment option exist twice in that list ... :wink:
"Left - Bottom" means align left with first priority, bottom second priority.
"Bottom - Left" means align at bottom with first priority, left second priority.

For examples that show the difference, please refer to:
https://qcad.org/tutorial-nesting#Examples

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andrew
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Re: New nesting tool ...

Post by andrew » Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:18 am

Could it be that you are selecting the sheet as well as the parts? It looks like it in the screenshots. That would mean that the sheet is also a part. It would certainly explain the 1 non-placeable part ;)

When doing that, I can reproduce the weird alignment. Let's just say in that case the behavior is "undefined". I.e. do not select the sheets, only the parts to nest. Then click the sheets after starting the nesting tool.

Never mind about the file.. mystery solved ;)

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Husky
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Re: New nesting tool ...

Post by Husky » Sat Jul 20, 2019 6:25 pm

andrew wrote:
Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:18 am
Could it be that you are selecting the sheet as well as the parts? It looks like it in the screenshots.
Yikes - yes I did. :oops: Sorry for the confusion!
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tukuyomi
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Re: New nesting tool ...

Post by tukuyomi » Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:58 pm

Wow that tool picked my curiosity. After seeing the few screenshots at the website, I DLed the Trial CAM version to give it a go. And to tell you, It kinda worked for really simple tasks but failed at a somewhat more complex task -- still simple for a human to do, that is.

Please can you give the attached DXF a spin ? I did manually nested the green example. I would expect the Nesting tool to do something similar.

Thanks for your feedback and for your work, as always :)
Attachments
00.dxf
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andrew
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Re: New nesting tool ...

Post by andrew » Mon Jul 22, 2019 5:53 pm

Yes, I can see that that will probably not work.

Please understand that a nesting tool is not a puzzle-solver. It proceeds more or less at random (insertion orders based on size with random variations, random angles, best position according to alignment), improving always the best fit to increase the odds to find an even better fit. Especially in cases like this one, where only a very narrow combination of angles and positions lead to a fit and the possible positions and angles depend on pieces not even inserted yet, the nesting tool is unlikely to find the best solution.

Our website shows some examples where a nesting tool can be useful (mainly for many parts that are significantly smaller than the sheet).

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Re: New nesting tool ...

Post by tukuyomi » Wed Jul 24, 2019 8:03 am

I understand what you mean, thanks. This explains why it is hard to do, even for some softwares we use at work.

Thanks for your reply :)

Oh also, you mentioned "Deepnest" in an above post. Can you shed light on it, please ?

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