To create a Geometric PLP alignment item

The Geometric PLP alignment enables you to align a part to the CAD model using a plane, a line, and a point for which you know the nominal coordinates. With this method, you can use a mixture of measured and constructed items to specify the alignment axes, and you can update and remeasure constituent items individually.

To create a Geometric PLP Alignment item:

1. Select the Definition level in the inspection sequence.
2. Click Home tab > Create panel > Alignment arrow > Geometric PLP Alignment. The Geometric PLP Alignment dialog is displayed.
3. Enter a Name for the alignment. The name is used in the inspection sequence, in the Report and Info tabs, and when referencing the item in other items.
4. Select a Plane item and an entry in the Orientated normal list to specify the axis represented by the plane normal.

   Click to select an item from the CAD view using the mouse.

5. Select a Line item and an entry in the Orientated direction list to specify the axis represented by the line.
6. Select a Point item to specify the origin of the alignment. If the point is offset from the alignment origin, use the X, Y, and Z boxes to specify the position of the point relative to the origin.

   Click to load the nominal coordinates manually.

7. Click Edit Offset if you want to apply an offset to the alignment when the selected items are not all aligned with the major axes, or where points selected for the alignment do not match the CAD.
8. If one or more of the features used in the alignment are measured using a point cloud, select the alignment used to calculate the measured values of the point cloud in the Reference alignment list.
9. If the inspection sequence contains constructed features that use measurements taken by different measuring devices or from different device positions, select the Use transformed data check box. This converts the device coordinates to CAD coordinates so that all calculations use a common reference system.

   The check box has no effect when all coordinates in the inspection are collected with one measuring device in one position, or when the inspection sequence contains no constructed features.

10. To include the details of this item in the report, select the Output in report check box.
11. Select Automatically use feature nominals to load the nominals of the Point into the alignment and position the CAD model relative to the point's nominal position. Deselect this check box to create the alignment without loading the point nominals.
12. Click OK. When the reference items are measured, PowerInspect aligns the CAD model to the Machine coordinates.