Creating Stylus systems in planner, after they already exist.

[[Ro...]]

I created all my tips the old fashioned way, i loaded them onto the base and manually took hits on the qual sphere.
I didn't have an offline seat for a year or two, so all the stylus systems in my library were created this way.
now im doing some more complex parts on more complex fixtures i would like for my styli to be more accurately represented in planner, but i dont know how to make the visual representation of these styli that i already have match what they actually are.
Example: 602030-9011-000 stylus on a 20mm extension mounted to a standard Vast xt cube.
or at the very least can i make it so a specific catalog probe is floating in air with the center of the ruby located where Calypso thinks it should be?
Ive never used the Stylus system creator, can it be done after the fact?

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[[De...]]

Yes, you can create them after the fact.

If the probes aren't available from Zeiss you can use the generic items shown in the pic below to build just about anything.

Only probes that Zeiss has added into the stylus system creator are available as 'pre-built' probe tips.

If you purchase a probe tip to use on your machine and it is not listed in the default tips, you can still build it using the generic components and save it as a stylus system so you can use it again.

When you need to use the stylus tip later, you can use the insert stylus system from the right click menu in the tree to insert it at any position within the probe you are building.

Using the generic items it is possible to build most things, sometimes it might not be a perfect match, and it can also take some messing around but you can usually sort something out to be pretty close to reality.


Once you have the stylus system created and saved as an .ssc file, you can then use import stylus system command on your planner/simulation seat to load that stylus system into planner.

One important note, if you already have a probe with that name in planner you need to delete it prior to importing another of the same name.

[[Ro...]]

Ok im going to claim stupidity on this.......
So i opened stylus system creator and im guessing the first step is to Load a probe, but i have no idea where those files are stored.
I even spent about 15 minutes using windows search for "MasterProbe" and other stylus systems in use, but search found Zero probe files.
Also, When you export a probe it saves them as "*.PCF" files, but Stylus System Creator uses *.SSC" files (acronym i guess), and i cant change the extension its looking for.
I'm using windows 6.2

Update, when you go to File-Import it asks me to load an SCL file, but i have no SCL files, i only have PCF files.
and the default search location is my desktop.......

[[De...]]

The files created inside of stylus system creator are .ssc files.

They can be imported into planner / simulation from the menu shown below.

They also can be opened and edited inside of Stylus System Creator. They cannot be used except for on a simulation \ planner seat. Also, they have no calibration information attached to them. They are used to provide a visual representation of the physical shape of the stylus system.

SSC files are essentially a representation of the physical makeup of the probe. So for instance you start with a VAST plate, in Z- direction you add a 60mm long x 11mm diameter extension, then finally a stylus tip at the end. You might have to 'build' the stylus tip from the generic components, or maybe you are using one of the 'default' ones from Zeiss. If you make your own from generic components, you define a stylus tip via the right click menu.

The .pcf files are used inside of Calypso to provide information on the size and location offsets of the stylus tips of a given stylus system to the location of the master probe.

You can't simply import your .pcf probes from Calypso into Stylus system creator, you need to create them based on their physical attributes. A .pcf file does not know what extensions hold stylus tips apart, it only knows the locations of the tips. The SSC file knows what components are actually used to create the stylus system.

So for each probe you need to measure the components the probe is made with and either select them from the list inside stylus system creator, or else make them from the generic items.

Step 1) You need to 'virtually' build the probe inside of the Stylus System Creator software. (on offline seat)

Step 2) You Import that probe as a .SSC into Calypso. (on offline seat)

Step 3) You (optionally) export the .pcf file of the probe out to a known location (on offline seat)

Step 4) You import the .pcf file (on CMM)

[[No...]]

Additional remarks:
1) While building a probe in stylus creator, you don't "load" the elements. Instead you select them from a list in the program, usually starting with a probe plate.
2) Before saving a probe, open the stylus settings (icon with red probe tip) and give your styli names and numbers like you would in Calypso. If you replace an existing probe with the SSC, make sure they match exactly.
3) If you build a stylus from generic elements, make sure you right click the sphere in the list and define it as a probe tip in the context menu
4) When saving the SSC, at least fill out the name filed in the window (it usually has a small yellow warning triangle if it's empty). This determines the name of the probe in Calypso when you load the SSC on the offline seat
5) If case you have defined probe rack assignments and you replace an existing probe by either loading the SSC or PCF file, be aware that this probe will vanish from ALL defined rack assignments. This is a bug that exists in Calypso since they introduced rack assignments (4.6). I guess they never fixed it because nobody (except me 🙄 ) is using rack assignments.