Build With the Logs We Actually Have

The scan gives us a digital counterpart of the physical log. AbbyCam^© works with that measured geometry rather than replacing it with an ideal cylinder.

A log can be positioned, rotated and related to the rest of the structure using the shape it actually has.

That distinction is important. We are not asking the timber to match the computer model. The computer model starts with the timber.

Build It on the Computer First

Once the scanned logs are available digitally, they can be assembled into the building before we start cutting them.

Position, orientation and geometry can be checked while changes are still inexpensive. A log can be moved, rotated or used somewhere else without lifting several hundred kilograms of timber and discovering the problem after the chainsaw has already been used.

Digital work is cheap compared with cutting the wrong material.

Calculate Where the Logs Meet

Where two natural surfaces meet, the connection depends on both of those surfaces.

Because we know the measured geometry of the logs, the required intersections, grooves, notches and other connections can be calculated from the actual pieces of timber.

This replaces much of the traditional cycle of positioning a log, scribing it, removing it, cutting it, returning it to the building and checking the fit.

The computer and robot do not make the logs identical. They allow us to work accurately with the fact that the logs are not identical.

From Building Geometry to Manufacturing

A digital building model by itself does not cut wood.

Once the geometry is established, AbbyCam^© converts the required work into manufacturing operations. The information calculated from the building and its individual logs becomes the basis for the robot program.

Generic CAD and CAM systems are powerful tools, but natural-log construction has its own geometry, sequencing and manufacturing requirements. AbbyCam^© exists to connect those pieces — from the scanned log, through the building, to the machine that cuts it.