The dead end of feature recognition
In conventional CAM, you import a 3D model and the software attempts feature recognition: analyzing geometry to classify holes, pockets, and profiles. For prismatic parts with simple external features, this works reasonably well.
For manifolds, such a process breaks down. You have dozens of intersecting internal holes: cavities, ports, through-drills, threaded connections, many of which share common diameters and depths but require completely different machining sequences depending on their type, not just their geometry. A C10 cavity and a Sun 11A cavity might look geometrically similar but require entirely different tool sequences.
When feature recognition makes a wrong call, the programmer has to catch it. In practice, this means clicking through every hole manually and verifying the assignment which eliminates most of the time savings the automation was supposed to provide.
HydroCam’s approach: feature definition, not recognition
HydroCam sidesteps the recognition problem entirely by working directly with HydroMan, PARO Software’s manifold design environment. When you load a .mnf file into HydroCam, it already has the complete feature definition for every hole: cavity type, exact depth, diameter, locating shoulder depth, thread specification, and 3D coordinates. There is nothing to infer.
This is the foundational architectural decision that makes everything else in HydroCam possible.
The sequence library
The library is where you encode your machining knowledge. Each sequence is a named recipe for how to produce a specific type of hole or cavity. A sequence defines:
Applicability parameters: which cavity types the sequence covers, the range of locating shoulder depths it can handle, which machines and materials it’s valid for.
Operation list: the ordered list of machining operations: center drill, through drill, form tool passes, threading, reaming, with complete tool assignments and default feeds and speeds.
Conditional logic: e.g., a conditional pilot drill that is only inserted when the through-drill step doesn’t satisfy the pilot hole requirements for the subsequent form tool.
Operation order within a sequence is guaranteed. HydroCam will never execute the form tool pass before the counterbore, regardless of how it interleaves this sequence with operations from other holes. The intra-sequence ordering is a hard constraint.
Building the library is front-loaded investment. It’s not trivial for a comprehensive set of cavity types across multiple materials, you’re looking at significant setup time. But it’s a one-time cost per sequence, not per manifold.
Program generation
Once the library exists, programming a manifold follows a structured wizard:
Fixturing: Define how the raw block is mounted per face. For 3-axis machines, each face is a separate fixture. For 4-axis machines, HydroCam handles tombstone pallet configurations and lets you optimize rotational orientation to group faces and minimize refixturing. This step is also where crossing-hole sequencing becomes critical: if two holes intersect off-center, the larger hole must be drilled first to prevent drill deflection when the smaller drill enters at an angle through the side wall of the first bore.
Library check: HydroCam matches every hole in the model to a sequence. Warnings are raised for holes with no matching sequence, or for tools that are missing from the configured tool magazine. You can manage the tool list here - exclude specific tools, force a different selection and HydroCam will regenerate sequence assignments accordingly.
Program editor: The full program is assembled and displayed as an ordered list of operations across all fixtures. HydroCam interleaves operations from different sequences to minimize tool changes, all center drills across all holes are batched, then the through drills, and so on. The operator can reorder operations at this level, adjust feeds and speeds (including feed rate ramps with depth-based stamps), override the drilling cycle type, and set tool numbers.
Export: G-code is generated per fixture file, ready for the post-processor and machine.
What you can and can’t override
Full control at every level but within defined constraints:
Tool selection: manual or automatic; can exclude tools per-job
Feeds and speeds: set in tool definition, overridable per sequence, overridable again per operation in the program editor, with depth-based ramp capability
Operation order: reorderable in the program editor, subject to intra-sequence constraints
Material dimensions: configurable per-job, used for coordinate origin calculations
What’s not yet implemented (slated for V2): inserting or deleting individual operations from an assembled program. Currently, all operations come from sequence definitions. If you need an engraving or a custom non-standard operation added to a specific manifold, that requires a sequence.
Validation
HydroCam does not validate feeds and speeds or simulate toolpath collisions. This is an intentional design decision: the combinatorial complexity of validation creates risk of false positives and false negatives using the same assumptions as the generation logic. External simulation software with a digital twin of the machine is recommended for pre-production validation when needed.
In practice, once a sequence has been successfully run and validated, reuse is reliable. The risk surface is the library setup phase, not subsequent program generation from proven sequences. If you want to learn more please visit our product page or watch this video.
