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Create a braiding program

Guide — at the end, a checked time program with a setup exists for a machine, and the switching plan has been printed or saved as a PDF

Prerequisites:

  • A model licence for the machine has been assigned to you in the licence portal, and your role has View Braiding Simulator and Edit Braiding Simulator, see Licence and rights.
  • For the switching plan: the desktop app. Steps 1 to 6 also work in the web app.
flowchart LR
  A["Open machine"] --> B["Create setup"]
  B --> C["Check setup"]
  C --> D["Create and record<br>program"]
  D --> E["Take-up and speed"]
  E --> F["Check"]
  F --> G["Save"]
  G --> H["Output switching plan"]
  F -. Collision .-> D

Step 1: Open the machine

  1. In the navigation, click Braiding Simulator (reference: Start page).
  2. Select the machine on the left.
  3. On the right, below the section Setups and programs, click New setup.

The empty machine appears in the simulator screen, with the Set up task open.

Tip

If the machine already has a suitable setup, click Open in its card, adjust the setup in step 2 and save changes with Save instead of Save as new setup….

Step 2: Create the setup

  1. In the Set up task (reference), a click on an empty position places a carrier.
  2. Color the carriers: click a carrier and choose Individual colors in the selection card, or select several carriers with Ctrl + click and choose Color… or Color by running direction.
  3. If needed, set Ply count and Arrangement.
  4. Under Yarn, enter the Material diameter; only then does the preview calculate in millimeters.
  5. On machines with tubes, thread in axial threads or a core by clicking the tube.
  6. Choose Save as new setup… and enter a name.

Step 3: Check the setup

  1. If a program is selected under Program at the top, select — no program — there. Without a program, the simulator checks the setup with the start position of the switches and gears.
  2. Open the Check task (reference) and click Check current arrangement.
  3. The result must be ✅ Collision-free — repeat after … steps.

If the setup itself does not run collision-free, adjust it before you write a program.

Step 4: Create and record the program

  1. At the top, choose ⋯ next to Program > New program… and enter a name. The program belongs to the selected setup and takes over the current switch position as its start.
  2. Open the Program task (reference).
  3. If a switch should be in a different position from the beginning, click it without recording. This changes the program's start position.
  4. In the playback bar, click Record and then Start.
  5. At the point where the changeover should happen, press Pause (or enter the step under Go to step).
  6. Click the switches that should change; with a shift lever, one switch is enough.
  7. Let the run continue and switch back later. At the end, click Stop recording.

You do the fine-tuning in the timeline: move commands, insert or delete steps. You take over commands from another program of this machine with Copy section… in the right-click menu of the timeline.

Step 5: Set take-up and speed

  1. In the timeline, click step 1 in the Speed row and enter the horngear speed.
  2. Click step 1 in the Take-up row, choose the Quantity that you want to specify (for example Braiding angle), and enter the Value.
  3. If a section needs a different take-up, click there in the Take-up row or drag over the range.

Reference: Take-up and Speed. In the 3D preview you see the braid with these values.

Step 6: Check and save

  1. In Check, click Check current arrangement. The check uses the program selected under Program at the top.
  2. If the result is ❌, jump to the collision with Jump to step and correct the command in the timeline; then check again.
  3. If the repeat is much longer than the program, accept the suggestion length ….
  4. Click Save (Ctrl+S).

Step 7: Output the switching plan

  1. Open the Output task (reference).
  2. Check the orange notes; if, for example, the speed is missing, times and take-up lengths are unknown.
  3. Click Print… or Save as PDF…. For further processing in Excel, choose Save as CSV….

Result

  • On the start page, your setup appears as a card under Setups and programs, with the program indented below it.
  • The check shows ✅ Collision-free — repeat after … steps.
  • The switching plan is available as a printout, PDF or CSV.

If something does not work

  • The machine is missing or does not open: Licence and rights.
  • Save stays gray: your role needs Edit Braiding Simulator, or a colleague is currently editing the same machine.
  • New program… asks for a setup: a program always belongs to a saved setup. Save the arrangement first (step 2), see Setup and program.
  • A pitch change has no effect: see Pitch in this run.