DP Technology’s cutting-edge ESPRIT® 2012 computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software will be exhibited May 2 and 3 in Charlotte, N.C., where Design & Manufacturing South is scheduled to take place at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Billed as a one-stop shop in which manufacturing professionals can find the answers they’re looking for amid changing technologies and a shifting marketplace, Design & Manufacturing South offers something for everyone.

ESPRIT will be exhibited at booth No. 720, where visitors will receive one-on-one demonstrations and presentations of features available within the latest generation of ESPRIT, which offers upgrades in all machining disciplines, including enhancements to turning, milling, mill-turn and wire EDM cycles.

For turning, the “park” cycle has been redesigned in ESPRIT 2012 to allow a machine tool’s head or turret to be parked. Increased versatility is achieved with the enhancement of allowing parking on each axis, which can be individually controlled using one of the four modes available — not parking the axis; moving the axis to home, as it would be set for a tool change; the tool moves to the input position in the operation coordinate system, or the axis moves to the input position in the machine-coordinate system.

For milling, ESPRIT 2012 offers an enhanced method of treating features used for contouring operations. Rather than allowing the tool to "roll" over the edge when at or near the starting depth, the feature edge can be extended to maintain the desired shape.

For wire EDM, new feature extension settings make it possible to extend the extremities of the feature so the wire path can start or end outside of the material when contouring or with EDM turning operations. This allows the wire path to be extended without actually modifying the feature.