Enable named coordinate systems

AVEVA Point Cloud Manager 4.4.2 and later enables you to reposition datasets through the Point Cloud Manager interface using Named Coordinate Systems. There are two main workflows where you may find this functionality useful, which are described below:

• Adding a manual transform and/or rotation

• Aligning and repositioning using Benchmarks

  Any existing volumes/measurements/mark-ups and so on within the Point Cloud Manager project will remain in their original position if the data is moved through either of the methods below. Therefore, we recommend that Coordinate Systems are set up before the project is made available to Engineering Users.

Enabling the named coordinate systems functionality

To use the Named Coordinate Systems functionality, you must first enable it in the Point Cloud Manager Project options.

You must have Point Cloud Manager installed in Advanced Mode to enable this functionality and create, modify or delete Coordinate Systems.

To activate the Named Coordinate Systems functionality:

1. Go to the File > Options > Project tab, and enable Coordinate Systems.

   

2. In the Project Management Panel, you will now see a new node called Coordinate Systems. Under this node will be the default Coordinate System which represents all datasets in the project in their original position. You will also see a new node under each dataset within the project called Default Plant Reference Frame which represents that dataset in its original position.

   

Adding a manual transform and/or rotation

If the translation distance and/or rotation angle is known, you can reposition the Point Cloud Manager dataset by adding a manual transform.

To do this:

3. In the File > Options > Project tab, enable Coordinate Systems.

4. Within the Project node, right-click on the dataset you wish to reposition and select Reference Point Cloud > Reference Point Cloud with Manual Transform.

5. In the Frame Name field, enter the desired name for the Plant Reference Frame that will be created (for example, Plant Aligned) and the x,y,z translation and/or z rotation you wish to apply.

   The value you enter is how much the dataset will be moved by, not the position it will be moved to.

   

6. Select OK to confirm the Plant Reference Frame creation.

7. On selecting the OK button, a new Coordinate System and Plant Reference Frame with the same number will be created within the project node. To activate a Coordinate System or Plant Reference Frame, either double-click it or right-click it and select Activate. The active Coordinate System and Plant Reference Frame will be shown in bold text.

   

8. If you want to reposition other datasets in the project, you can do so by repeating the instructions above. If you want to link multiple Plant Reference Frames together under one Coordinate Frame, select the Plant Reference Frames you want to link to by clicking the left mouse button and Ctrl key on the keyboard. Then right-click and select Link.

For ease of use, you may wish to make a Coordinate System the default view for all users when opening the project. This is particularly useful for users who will load the project through a CAD link as the default Coordinate Frame will be active and this cannot be changed.

To make a Coordinate System the default view:

• Right-click on the Coordinate System and select Set as Default. This makes the user-created Coordinate System the default view when the project is opened. This enables to view the data, instantly after opening the project, in its moved and/or rotated position without activating a Coordinate System.

  Note: You must run Point Cloud Manager in Advanced Mode to set a Coordinate System the default view.

Because entities such as measurements, markups, volumes, and so on, are not moved when a Coordinate System is activated, it is recommended that you store your entities in groups that are related to the currently activated Coordinate System.

To do this:

9. As a Project Administrator, right-click in the Project node of the measurement/markup/volume Management Panel and select New > Group.

10. Right-click the new group and select Rename to name the group the same as the Coordinate System. This can then be repeated for all the Coordinate Systems in the project.

After Engineering users enter the project, they can then activate the group that matches the Coordinate System they are working in by right-clicking and selecting Activate. All entities that they create will then automatically be placed inside that category. This helps users to keep track of which entities are relevant for which Coordinate System.

The Named Coordinate Systems project tab is displayed in the following image:

Aligning and repositioning using benchmarks

When the explicit rotation/translation is not known, you may wish to align the dataset using points inside the laser scan data itself.

To do this:

11. In the File > Options > Project tab, enable Coordinate Systems.

12. Next, create benchmarks on the points you wish to use to orientate the data. This is likely to be on two pieces of structure or two pieces of pipework. Therefore, the benchmarks can be created based on either point measurements or tie-ins (although they can be created through the user-entered positions if desired).

13. To create the benchmarks, right-click on the dataset you wish to align and select New > Benchmark. The dialog shown below appears:

    

14. In the Name field, enter a name for the benchmark.

15. In AVEVA Point Cloud Manager Position, you can either manually enter the position or select from the From Point section. Here you will see any point or tie-in measurements in the project that you can use to set the benchmark position.

16. Double-click on the point measurement or tie-in you wish to create the benchmark on. This fills in the x,y,z position fields for you.

17. After you have filled in the fields, you can select Save and New to save that benchmark and create a new one.

18. Fill in the fields for the second benchmark as above and select Save to save the benchmark and exit the dialog. You will see the new benchmarks stored under the dataset node within the Project tab.

19. To align the dataset based on these benchmarks, select both the benchmarks (select the origin benchmark first), then right-click and select Reference Point Cloud > Set as new X/Y Axis depending on whether you wish to align the benchmarks as the X or Y axis. This creates a new Plant Reference frame under the dataset node (which will also now store the dataset benchmarks) and a new Coordinate System under the project node.

    

20. Double-click on the new Plant Reference Frame or Coordinate System to show the data in its aligned position. The active Coordinate System and Plant Reference Frame will be shown in bold text.

Repositioning data

After the data has been aligned, it can also be moved to a specific position based on one of the dataset benchmarks.

To do this:

21. Right-click on the benchmark you wish to use to reposition the data and select Reference Point Cloud > Set Current Frame on Coordinate.

    Note: The Reference Frame containing the Benchmark you are using to reposition the data must be active.

    

22. Enter the coordinates of the position you want to move that benchmark (and subsequently the laser data) to and select OK. The laser data is now moved to the desired position.

Making a coordinate system the default view

For ease of use, you may wish to make a Coordinate System the default view for all users when opening the project. This is particularly useful for users who will load the project through a CAD link as the default Coordinate Frame will be active and this cannot be changed.

To do this:

23. First activate the desired Coordinate Frame by double clicking on it or right-clicking and selecting Activate.

24. Then, right-click on any Default Plant Reference Frames within the project and select Delete. On deleting the final Default Plant Reference frame in the project, the Default Coordinate System is automatically deleted. This makes the user-created Coordinate System the default when the project is opened, and therefore allows you to instantly view the data in its moved/rotated position without having to activate a Coordinate System.

As the entities such as measurements, markups, volumes and so on are not moved when a Coordinate System is activated, it is recommended that project users store their entities in groups that are related to the currently activated Coordinate System. To do this:

25. As a Project Administrator, right-click in the Project node of the measurement/markup/volume Management Panel and select New > Group.

26. Right-click on the new group and select Rename to name the group the same as the Coordinate System. This can then be repeated for all the Coordinate Systems in the project.

After Engineering users enter the project, they can then activate the group that matches the Coordinate System they are working in by right-clicking on it and selecting Activate. All entities that they create will then automatically be placed inside that category. This helps users to keep track of which entities are relevant for which Coordinate System.

The Named Coordinate Systems measurement tab is displayed in the following image:

End user usage

The Plant Reference Frames are only visible to users that have Point Cloud Manager opened in Advanced Mode (such as project administrators). Anyone using Point Cloud Manager in non-advanced mode will only see the Coordinate Frames at the top of the project tab.

To activate the desired Coordinate Frame, either double-click on it or right-click and select Activate.

Non-advanced mode users cannot edit or delete existing Coordinate Systems, or create new ones.