Which computer component would speed up Calypso when handling large quantities of measured points?

[[Je...]]

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Our CMM computer lags something awful when Calypso collects large numbers of measured points (actuals). I realize that reducing the quantity of points would help improve the problem.

However, assume that the number of measured points cannot be reduced. In this scenario, which computer component(s) upgrade would have the greatest benefit for speeding up Calypso (processer, graphics card, RAM, etc.)? Are there other solutions to reducing lag in Calypso?


Jeff Frodermann
Meier Tool & Engineering
Anoka, Minnesota
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[[No...]]

It depends on how old your computer is and what exactly is lagging.
Calculation time? CAD graphics (actual points display, graphical evaluations, etc.)? Overall interaction with the software?

More RAM is never a bad idea. The graphics card is rarely the bottleneck (in my experience at least), maybe with really large models. Should you still use a spinning harddrive, consider replacement by a SSD.

How many points are we talking about? Maybe you already hit an internal Calypso limit?

[[Je...]]

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Thanks, Norbert.

Our CMM computer is four years old and was supplied by Zeiss when we purchased a Prismo Ultra. There's 32gb of RAM onboard. Calypso is installed on the primary SSD drive. We also have a standard spinning drive for backup, but Calypso doesn't interact with this.

The lag happens at multiple times, especially when getting the actual value to populate (calculation) and when getting Calypso to display the actuals either for features (arrows) or CAD presentations/saved views. The CAD models are quite intricate, but they have been simplified into one solid component, usually in .sat or .stl format. Calypso handles the model fine before actual measuring points are collected.

Some features contain as many as 3000 points but most contain between 200-1500. There are usually between 50-250 features in a measurement plan.

Jeff Frodermann
Meier Tool & Engineering
Anoka, Minnesota
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[[Ia...]]

I'd get any software that tracks GPU, RAM, CPU, etc load and temps. Task manager would even work. Have it open, and then run a calculation that typically bogs down your computer. If you don't see anything maxed out, then Calypso itself is the problem.

[[Ch...]]

Are programs stored locally or on a network?

[[Cr...]]

I found the more files you have in the "idmeaspoint" folder, the longer it takes to load. A quick solution I found was to make another folder within your program folder (Name it anything you want), cut a majority of files in "idmeaspoint" and paste them to your new folder. This seemed to speed load time significantly. And if you ever need to load measured points from a part you've moved to your new folder, just copy and paste it back into "idmeaspoint"

[[Er...]]

Windows has Resource Manager that can log GPU, drives, network, CPU, etc.

Have that running while Calypso is running and the bottleneck should be obvious. For me it is GPU and the prices are nuts right now.

[[Is...]]

Better to test with your IT department, I have detected some computers that perform very good but are not compatible with the policies of my company.
Then what we do is to test the computers available (using the same Calypso program and version) in order to check which one is the most convenient.

Looks like is more related to the processor speed however the technology and configuration of the computer affects the performance.






Also, very relevant is the CMM program, the best tool in Calypso for huge number of points is “Points Cloud”. I have single scanning sections (tactile) with more than 300 000 points (and process time is fast):







Most of times is not possible to use Point cloud because it has many limitations, then we generally use curves and we have to take into consideration how to calculate nominals and the results in order to avoid performance issues.

Would be great if Calypso may have the possibility to process with multitask, but that proposal was already rejected in myVoice site; then one common activity is to send the points out f Calypso and process them with another software while the CMM is Scanning or simply because is faster or easier with other software..

[[Je...]]

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Israel, thank you sincerely. These are great suggestions, and I'm going to implement them.


Jeff Frodermann
Meier Tool & Engineering
Anoka, Minnesota
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[[Ri...]]

SSDs typically improve just all around quality of experience for Windows as a whole. CPUs are also the next step. RAM is another huge one.

Just remember that all of these products have good and bad quality products.

I'm a huge fan of Samsun SSDs. For CPUs, well that's a touchy subject, but most of all high end workstations tend to be Intel XEON, but I am a huge AMD fanboy, so I'll just leave it at that. RAM - well once again not all RAM is created equally and there are so many things that go into that, but mainly people tend to focus on clock speed.

GPUs - well Nvidia is the king of GPUs, but once again clock speed, and memory size play a huge factor here.

[[Ri...]]

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You can use basic PCM to have measure Point data saved to another drive and or folder with ease.
Here is an example I use.

"S:\Quality\CMM data\#CMM ZMP Files\"+getRecordHead("order")+"\"+getRecordHead("partnbLong")+"_"+getRecordHead("partrv")+"_"+getRecordHead("operation")+"_"+getRecordHead("partnbinc")+"_.zmp"

With the above, no files for Measuring Points are saved locally in your program folder.

[[Je...]]

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Thanks, Rick. This looks awesome.

Is it possible for this to work without the PCM addon? Can I enter it in the variable name parameters for the multiple report?



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Jeff Frodermann
Meier Tool & Engineering
Anoka, Minnesota

[[Ün...]]

Without PCM, you can save measurement points with whatever naming you want. Don't forget to write .zmp at the end of the line

[[Me...]]

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I might be talking old school but something in the back of my head says your bus rate, feed through is only as fast as your slowest HD. That said going from 32 to 64 gig ram is about a 15-20% increase in speed. 128 brings it up to about 25%. It's a bell curve.
A computer 4 years old is old. SSDs are antiquated. NVMe are the rule now. Raw data straight in straight out.
I find that whatever comp Zeiss sells you, it's a chevy. But not a corvette. All THAT said it's probably Calypso crunching #s.
You running in features or characteristics?

[[Ri...]]

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NVMe is just the interface. I assume you are talking about SATA SSDs being antiquated, but I would challenge you on that as well. While NVMe has a much higher potential read/write speed - until Windows allows for direct storage utilization it doesn't mean anything.

Quality SATA SSDs are still extremely great value.

[[Me...]]

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I agree that SSDs are great. But as you point out, in a sense are being replaced by something faster. Windows....(sigh), that's another story. Which is why my next laptop is Linux based.

[[Ri...]]

I was just trying to point out that SSD just means Solid State Drive. For the longest time SATA cable interface SSD have been what most people used. They are still extremely fast. The new interface is NVMe which attaches via the PCi bus. The latest craze is the NVMe M.2 SSD which are the very small form factor SSDs that look almost like a RAM stick. Most newer laptop use these.

People keep knocking on HDDs as well which is silly because nothing beats the price and storage capacity of a HDD. SSD for your OS and Applications - HDD for storage of large files.

I wouldn't worry so much about it either way because there is so much left on the table for Calypso to utilize before needing to shell out big bucks for the latest generation of tech.

[[Je...]]

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Thanks, Kevin! We are running measurement plans in order by feature, if that is what you are asking. I will look into the potential bottleneck being the HD. It may very possibly be the weakest link in this system. I have a feeling that I'm dealing with a number of problems, HD being one as well as CPU & GPU. Time to write a new purchase requisition. I customized a computer online the other day, and the specs. I am wanting lead to a price tag between $10,000 to $16,000! 😮



Jeff Frodermann
Meier Tool & Engineering
Anoka, Minnesota


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[[Th...]]

That's a very expensive PC build, but if you're getting someone else to pay for it then why not? At 5 figures you could probably run anything on it.

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Off topic, but I felt compelled to add to this: M.2 only describes the physical form factor of the drive and its connector. They can use either NVMe or SATA as the interface. An M.2 SATA drive will still communicate over the SATA bus, where an NVMe drive will use PCIe.

[[Ri...]]

Yep. You are correct.

NVMe is potentially so much faster than SATA, but just like DDR3 to DDR4 to DDR5 RAM it is also about the specs of those products.

There are some trash NVMe SSDs on the market. Lol.

I built a new home PC a couple of years ago with a Samsung 870 Evo. I have boot times of less than 5 seconds. I am extremely pleased with the speed of my SSD.

Sometime this year though I plan to upgrade my motherboard, and go with a Samsung 980 Pro. I am excited for AM5 this year. 🙂