Calypso Crash Course

[[Ni...]]

Good Morning Everyone,

There are a few questions I have regarding how I make my programs on Calypso.
There are some things that I've done just because Zeiss told me to do it that way and I am now trying to understand why and if the other options that are presented help or not.

1.What is the difference between "Base Alignment" and "Base Alignment [CNC]"? Zeiss guy told me to never use CNC and that it was used when measuring multiple parts on the table.

2.Manual Alignment for Base Alignment defines the nominals of the part correct? And once we switch to "Program_Name Base Alignment" the part will move to where the original part was during the manual alignment, correct? Will using Start Alignment move the whole program if the part is sitting a little bit in a different location?

3.What exactly does Looping do besides proving if the fixture is stable. Will looping the alignment multiple times average out my nominals? or will it move and center the starting point of the program to part, something similar to what Start Alignment does?
I understand it is to imitate how when we measure a part with a caliper we never pick the same points twice so checking multiple times gives a better understanding of the part.
But what exactly does looping do in calypso?

Thank You

[[SH...]]

I don't work with CNC base alignment and I have not trained to use it.

I think CNC alignment define the nominal of the part.
Yes.
if your base alignment is constrained in all its degrees of freedom and offset between base alignment and start alignment is correct, then it should work.

loops in the base alignment are used when you are working with unstable features for base alignment such as points ,3D lines, circles..
It is common in RPS alignment.

[[Ni...]]

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So if I have unstable features, adding a few loops will help give me better accurate results? What exactly is it doing to make that happen?

[[Jo...]]

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So very simple answers are:
1. "base alignment" is you driving the machine. "base alignment cnc" is CMM driving the machine(with lots more data and better vectoring)
2.Part nominals are from your model, or the alignment you type in... Start alignment is merely an underdefined or more simple alignment that Calypso knows the relationship to the rest of the part. (it does not have to be the same features used in cnc alignment)
3. Looping refines the known part location by calculating the delta from the last cnc run. It simply helps correct vector, location errors from part variation or loading position.

You can use a simple base alignment and then a more complex secondary alignment to report cartesian dimensions in.

[[Ow...]]

To add to the loop reason.
If you don't use any of the base alignment features to reference results, it may not be that big of deal but, if you do (a lot of people do) it plays a big role in repeatability.
In a nutshell, Say you wanted to run 10 parts and then put them back on and run them again to see how it repeats, you're going to wish you looped the alignment, if refencing from it.

[[Cl...]]

I agree. I loop every alignment in every program. If you just loop
an alignment 2x, and watch the alignment both times, you'll see
the difference in probing. You will see it go from sloppy during
the first iteration to near perfect on the second iteration.

[[Ni...]]

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So would it be better to use "base alignment CNC"? I've told it is always better to let the machine calculate its own dimension instead of manually doing it.
Even though Zeiss guy told us to not use "Base alignment CNC"?

[[Jo...]]

IDK the rational behind that.. Calypso basic course instructed to USE cnc alignment. CNC alignment is the last one executed, though it may be from a previously loaded part, it provides a last know part position. Often times I use a very simple start alignment, maybe without rotation, and let looping cnc alignment take over. As long as the part is sufficiently oriented so the probe does not collide and is within probing range, it will "find" the true alignment.

You lost me regarding calculating dimensions and nominals..

With setup instructions, and reasonable part placement you should only ever manually align the part once, the first time it is on the table.

I also apply filter and outlier removal on those features used in alignment, and constructions since it is the raw data I don't wont trash in there.

[[Ty...]]

From my understanding...
"Base Alignment" establishes part position from last manual alignment.
"Base Alignment (CNC)" establishes the part position from the last part measured.

The way I use them is...
If I'm running multiple parts in a row and plan on manually aligning the first part, I will use "Base Alignment". - If 1 part drifts Y+, I don't want my 0,0 moving.
If I have a fixture for parts that I run every once in awhile and the fixture is being placed relatively in the same location, I will use the CNC. - The fixture won't be in the same exact spot as my original alignment months ago, but it will be very close to the last time I measured and I'd like it to update to the slight positioning change of the fixture

[[Ma...]]

As many mentioned - CNC align is that which CMM runned - without CNC - thats the alignment manually scanned in program editor or in autorun with manual alignment checked.

So when you measure on fixture, which is on extact spot, then NON CNC will run always on same points.
CNC will use last saved alignment from last run of same program - because of it you don't see CNC until first run of program.