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Introduction

What FoamSync is

FoamSync is computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software for 4-axis hot-wire CNC foam cutters. An operator provides a 2D drawing or a set of parametric inputs; FoamSync produces a 4-axis G-code program and drives the machine through it.

It is a single Windows application — design generation, scene layout, nesting, toolpath generation, machine control, and live cutting all live in one window.

What "4-axis hot-wire" means

A hot-wire CNC foam cutter typically has two motorised towers, one on each side of the foam block. Each tower carries the wire on a two-axis carriage — horizontal X and vertical Y on the left tower, horizontal U and vertical V on the right. When the towers move independently, the wire can cut a tapered shape with a different profile on the left and right faces of the block. That independent two-tower motion is what makes a machine "4-axis" instead of a flat 2-axis cutter.

The wire heats by Joule effect and slices through closed-cell foam (EPS, XPS, PU). The cut surface is the wire's lateral profile and the heat-affected zone around it.

Who FoamSync is for

  • Architectural and decorative foam shops cutting domes, vaults, building blocks, panels, and mouldings for facade, formwork, and stage construction.
  • RC and aerodynamic builders cutting NACA and tapered airfoils with spar slots.
  • Insulation shops cutting pipe shells and panel stock.
  • Operators of in-house or vendor-supplied 4-axis hot-wire machines who want a single, supported tool instead of an assembled chain of CAD plus CAM plus sender plus standalone heater controller.

What you do with it

A typical session takes one of two starting points:

  1. Parametric input. Pick a generator (dome, vault, building, NACA, pipe shell, thermal panel), set the parameters (radius, span, thickness, chord, panel count), press Generate.
  2. SVG import. Bring in a 2D profile from your CAD; FoamSync turns closed contours into cut profiles.

From there:

  1. Scene layout. Arrange parts on the CAM scene — position, rotate, mirror — with auto-nesting on a foam block of declared dimensions.
  2. Toolpath. Generate the 4-axis G-code with the collision check and the wire-safety validation pass.
  3. Cut. Connect the controller, home the machine, dry-run if needed, then start. The live DRO, the jog, the emergency stop, and the feed override are all in the same window.

The detailed walk-through is in workflow.md.

How licensing works

FoamSync is licensed software. A fresh install runs in a 7-day trial mode — every feature is previewed for evaluation, real machines run in virtual mode. To enable production output and real-machine connections, buy a licence via the Telegram bot and activate it. Activation is either online (paste the key) or offline (load a licence file from your distributor). Details: activation.md.

What's in this repository

This GitHub repository hosts public documentation and the issue tracker. The application itself is downloaded from the website.

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