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Thanks for the responses. It feels better not to be suffering alone. About using offers from other companies to bargain with your current employer, caution is advised. I read somewhere it puts a damper on your relationship with the employer and you are marked as disloyal. So by the articles reasoning, if current employer tries to counter-offer you shouldn't stay. If anyone is interested I am sharing the guide I made for reference. Let me know your thoughts. Probe Management In Calypso for Zeiss CMM R2, S. Schnuerer.pdf

@Ramiro Hernandez Ahh, the classic 'we need someone to program this shiny new piece of equipment, but we do not want to pay a programmer' scenario. It is way too common. I am going to keep this short, you are most likely being financially screwed by your employer. If you have never had official training, get the employer to pay to have you trained, and then leave for a better company. They are using your 15 years of loyalty to pile on a whole other job, while most likely not compensating you at all. Run.

If you are going to probe in the direction, I would personally feel safer using mid-point, and just offsetting the probe radius manually. I'd be nervous of incorrect vector compensation.

caddyshack-judge-smails.mp4

@Tom Oakes@Christian Marti This might make you guys feel better: I had one cmm, my lemon cmm, that blew through 2 heads in 2 years. Both times it was tarration motors going out (they didn't look nearly as bad as what Tom's did). IT NEVER IMPACTED THE ACCURACY. The CMM was really my lemon cmm. Not only did it keep blowing heads, all the drives eventually got noisy and had to be replaced, some more than once. No major crashes. The machine was kept in the same room as two other identical cmms. All 3 had the same usage and same operators, but only 1 cmm was a problem. Ultimately, we found the cmm had undergone a lot of settlement (this was a brand new building with new concrete. Some concrete expert can comment and suggest what might have happened). This problem CMM settled much more than the other two in the same room. Got it releveled and lasered. The problems went away. Haven't blown a head or drive in 5 years now and no more settlement.

Hello, I hope you're doing well. Today, I wanted to ask you about your experience working as a CMM programmer. Specifically, I’m interested in understanding what a typical day looks like and what responsibilities are expected under the role of a Zeiss programmer. I’ve been working at my company for 15 years. About three years ago, we acquired a Zeiss CMM machine, and since then, I’ve been operating it. However, I’ve also continued to handle my previous tasks, which means my workload has increased significantly. Although I’ve been programming and running the CMM machine, I’ve never officially held the title or position of a CMM programmer. That’s why I’m curious—what duties are normally associated with this role? Additionally, there are times when we receive batches of 10 to 15 parts at once, which can put me in a challenging situation. From your experience: How many parts do you usually program in a day? How many parts do you typically inspect daily with the cmm? When you’re creating a new program, do you pause to inspect other parts, or do you usually complete the program from start to finish without interruption? I appreciate any insight you can share. Thank you in advance for your time. Best regards,

I had trouble with using "Own Selection". No matter which values I used, it would slide off the step. I ended up using a touch point but modified the vector to come at an angle less than 45° and used "Probe in Normal Direction". Haven't confirmed the results yet.

Good morning. I'm having trouble with the Hawk 2 cable. When I connect it, the power pack shows a blue light and the device shows a green light, but it doesn't recognize it and the alarm appears. Error FG-004 The connection to the image acquisition server was lost. There might be unexpected problems with the sensor. (no error) cannot connect to the hardware server

6.8.08. Maybe I need to update. I mean I might as well. I'll report back if IT has time today.

Unfortunately, this is widely how companies operate now. I have read previously it is called the "loyalty tax". There comes a point in which the company has decided what you are worth, and it's almost impossible to prove otherwise. It's extremely hard to convince anyone to create a new title, so once you're at the "top" in your department, that's just it. 2-3% raises every year. The only thing to combat it are offers from other companies. Use it as leverage for more money, or leave. I think I'd still be making "technician level 3" pay if I stayed at my first employer.

Very strange. I'm doing the same exact thing and it works just fine. I have tried it with 6.8.2002 and 6.8.24. What service pack are you using?

@Tom Oakes It's clearly that extremely heavy stylus system you had on it.

Ich fürchte halt, daß du gar nicht alle Einstellungen, die für eine alternative Strategie per PCM nötig wären, überhaupt parametrisieren kannst. Beim Taster bin ich im Augenblick nicht gahz sicher (hab Calypso gerade nicht an), aber schon beim Wechsel auf XXT muss man ja mitunter noch andere Sachen anpassen, für die gar keine Formeln hinterlegt werden können und somit auch nichts per PCM eingestellt werden kann.

Although I am loathe to do any trial and error with a 0.8mm, it may be worth experimenting with the clamping of the machine axis during self centering, or using the "own selection" to set the directional forces. Adding a bit of downward force will likely help keep the probe from slipping off. My screenshot is from a +Z point in an empty program, so the Fz is simply -200 by default

@Christian Marti Absolutely not. However, does it mean the sensor no longer works? I am running some simple accuracy and repeatability checks right now. Then, I will be running our CMM Check artifact program. We are also working on a plan to deal with it. I'd like to know what caused it. Is it a failure of the sensor or was there an external trigger that caused it? I will post results shortly.

@Peter Somogyi Hopefully someone else chimes in, but I believe what you are looking at are datum target points, not necessarily for evaluation alignment, but target points for fixturing when machining or creating a checking fixture.

I always document accomplishments & cost saves performed throughout the year. Most managers that I have had barely know what is involved with metrology in general, let alone CMM programming. I have even had one of my bosses thank me for providing this information, so that they can have documention of examples of how my work "Exceeds Expectations", so that they could get me a larger raise/promotion... Not all managers are created equal, and not all managers are worth working under. If I had a manager that spewed out a blanket disclaimer that is on *every* job description as evidence that my efforts to help the company save money was not recognized, then I would "read the writing on the wall" and strategize my career path accordingly.

It is an absolute shame. I still can't get it to work to be honest. I've tried right clicking everywhere.

That's what I'm actually doing today and will have to keep doing if I find no other solution. Not really a problem, but I wanted to make sure there is no easier way.

That's why I said shame on them for the way this was implemented. It took me 18 years and this thread to even discover this functionality 🤯

Danke für die schnellen Nachrichten. Das mit den Reitern in der Strategie kenne ich. Ich müsste da halt jedes Programm abändern. Per PCM wäre das nur die Datei die geladen werden muss. Also Copy Paste.

Wie Martin sagt, dafür gibt es die alternativen Strategien. Vorgehensweise ist grundätzlich folgende: Im Strategiefenster kannst du oben bei den Karteireitern eine zweite Strategie anlegen (weiß jetzt nicht ob mit Rechtsklick und Kontextmenü oder anders - hab das lange nicht mehr gebraucht). Dieser neuen Strategie gibst du einen Namen und kannst dort dann komplett getrennte Sicherheitsdaten, Tastersysteme und Antaststrategien festlegen. Ab dann ist dieser zweite Strategiename in jedem Messelement verfügbar. Später beim CNC-Start kannst du dann auswählen, welche Strategie benutzt werden soll.

But honestly, do you believe this head can heal itself? I have a few gray hairs and have been doing this job for 20 years. But with something like this, I don't believe in repeatability or accuracy anymore. Sorry. Crazy Folks 😎

Hi all, I’m currently developing a parametric inspection automation flow in ZEISS Inspect that: Imports CAD and mesh data via script Performs prealignment Allows the user to choose the inspection type (e.g., surface comparison, thickness, etc.) via a widget Then automatically performs the corresponding measurement What I’m trying to figure out now is: How to link the user's selection from the widget to the correct inspection routine dynamically. Once something like a surface comparison is created, how can I programmatically select/highlight only the areas that are out of tolerance (e.g., outside the defined deviation threshold)? Ideally, I would like to then generate snapshots/images of those flagged regions and export relevant data (e.g., coordinates or deviation values) — all handled via script. I’ve been able to: Successfully import CAD and mesh Align the parts Run a scripted surface comparison Capture basic input from the user using gom.script.sys.execute_user_defined_dialog But now I’m trying to close the loop: use that input to run the right inspection routine and handle all the post-processing automatically (selection → snapshot → export). If anyone has experience with: Dynamic inspection routing based on GUI inputs Accessing deviation map data or result objects to filter/select flagged regions Automating snapshot generation from those views ...I would love to hear how you approached it (code snippets especially welcome). Thanks in advance — any help appreciated!

Hello all, I am bringing this subject to the general forum from a PiWeb thread, although I tried using a suggestion from that thread. I want to add in several user defined fields header information to the Excel reports that are created in Calypso (not through PiWeb). Using a suggestion on the other thread, I found the user defined fields I needed, and made changes to the Excel template and INI files. Steps I took: 1. Made copies of original Characteristic .xlt and .xls files, and ReportINI .xls and .xlsx files for editing. 2. Added correct username fields to all 4 files for additional header info 3. Moved 4 original files to temporary folder 4. Placed 4 new modified files in excel_report folder, replacing the old ones. 5. Selected the new template in the Define Report tab and then ran the program. The new template with the new user defined field names shows up, but is empty of all data, including fields I didn't touch. I was pretty sure this would work but something is not clicking. Any thoughts? Appreciate any help. Thanks. C. Collins