• Purchase & configure the BlueCell® software from Eurosoft to consume the XML.
  
• Purchase the Microvellum module “Parts List for BlueCell.”
  
• Create a project and work order in Microvellum.
  

This tutorial utilizes the Microvellum work order and demonstrates how to configure a BlueCell® processing station within Microvellum.

Click here to view a reference of the BlueCell commands and properties.  

Tutorial: Create and Configure a BlueCell Processing Station in Microvellum

1. Use one of the methods below to access the screen to set up a new processing station.
   
1. Click Toolbox Setup > Options > Processing Stations. 
   
2. Click the button for Edit Existing Work Order and select a work order to open it and display the processing station management screen.
   


Fig. 01 – Processing Station Management Screen



2. Click the Add button in the Processing Stations section of the screen.
   


Fig. 02 – Add Processing Station Button



3. Add a station Name in the appropriate box. (The box for Activity Station may remain blank.)
   
4. Drop down the list box and select a station Type of “BlueCell XML.”
   
5. Click the Settings tab and enter Premill Type and Auto Assign Rules as necessary for your company. See information on those subjects elsewhere in the Microvellum help system.
   


Fig. 03 – Processing Station Settings




6. Click the Associates tab and add any secondary processing stations as required to pass edgebore or single part barcodes passed through to the BlueCell parts file.
   

   Click here for the article “BlueCell Parts File (Reference)” for more information about individual XML file elements and which field will contain the values from the Processing Station Associates.
   

   You must first set up all your necessary processing stations in the Processing Station Management screen, then follow the steps below.
   

1. Click the Add button (plus mark icon) to add a blank row.
   
2. Click the cell in that new blank row in the Index column and enter or select a number that represents the priority of data to appear on the labels. In other words, if you have multiple machines that produce the same type of G-Code, such as multiple point-to-point machines or multiple edgeboring machines, the lower this number, the higher that Associate will be in priority for displaying its data on the labels.
   
3. Click the cell in that new blank row in the Type column and enter or select one of the processing station types from the list.
   

4. Click the cell in that new blank row in the Name column and enter or select one of the processing stations from the list. These are stations that have already been set up from the Processing Stations Management screen.
   

   To delete an existing Associate, select the line to delete, and click the Delete button (trash can icon). Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
   



Fig. 04 – Processing Station Associates Showing One Point-to-Point and Two Edgeboring Associates



7. Click the Files & Pictures tab to set various properties necessary to create the BlueCell XML import files.
   
1. In the “File Location” section, click the Browse button to select a folder where the BlueCell XML files will be created.
   
2. In the “Part Picture File Location” section, click the Browse button to select a folder where any part picture files for use with an auto-labeling machine are to be created.
   
1. Select the Picture Type, Pixel Size, and Zoom Factor as needed by the auto-labeling system.
   
2. If the Picture Type “WMF” is selected, you may also select the option for “Use Legacy WMF Format” if required by your auto-labeling system.
   


Fig. 05 – Processing Station Files & Picture Properties



8. Click the Custom Settings tab to set the mapping of custom data from Microvellum to BlueCell. As noted in the BlueCell overview information, there is a total of 31 data locations for each part. Eleven of these are passed by default when producing the XML file. Six of the remaining 20 are created according to the stations used when processing and the Associates defined as explained in a previous paragraph. The remaining 14 fields are user-definable and are discussed here.
   
1. Click the field on the left side of the Custom Settings window and click the arrow pointing right to add it to the list of values included in the BlueCell Parts File XML.
   

2. Click the field on the right side of the Custom Settings window and click the arrow pointing left to delete that value from the list of values included in the BlueCell Parts File XML.
   

   The values in the right half of this window are populated to the XML file in the order that they appear in this window.
   
3. Click the field in the right half of the window and click either the arrow pointing up, or the arrow pointing down to move that field up or down in the list, and thus up or down in the resulting XML file.
   


Fig. 06 – Processing Station Custom Settings

You have now completed the creation and configuration of your BlueCell station. You are now ready to process work order data with that station and the others you have created to support your manufacturing process.

Lastly, you need to configure BlueCell to import or consume the XML data produced by Microvellum, and then optimize that data. See the BlueCell help system for more information.

For more information regarding Parts File Processing Station Associates, click here.