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Holding Level in SA

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Many metrology applications require equipment, machines, structures, and foundations to be both flat and level.
One example is aligning carts and rails that are used to transport heavy materials. The ability to accurately
measure gravity and keep track of level throughout repeated instrument moves and part alignment operations
can be a critical component in a measurement jobs success. Understanding the underlying principles and tools in
SpatialAnalyzer can help users utilize SA for many level measurement applications.

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Flatness vs Level to Gravity

It is important to understand the fundamental difference between the terms flat (or planar) and level with
respect to gravity.

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Flat refers to a planar property and measurements of flatness, parallelism, and perpendicularity can be
accurately determined and perfectly described in a Cartesian coordinate system.
Level, on the other hand, is a measure of orientation relative to the earths gravitational pull; it is a directional
measurement that depends upon the location on earth where the measurement was taken. If a measurement job
encompasses a small area such as a shop floor, multiple measurements of gravity will appear nearly planar. For
this reason, it is often helpful to use your instruments to determine a single level reference at a particular
location, or an average of several level measurements, and then consistently reference this level plane
throughout the job.
Compensated vs Uncompensated Measurements
Another point to consider is that some measurement devices have builtin level measurement capability, while
only a subset of those actively compensate measurement back to level. For example, theodolites and total
stations typically level compensate measurements, while laser trackers can have levels but they dont compensate
the measurement back to a level plane. There are several instruments that offer options to do both; so its
important to know when to choose the option that is most appropriate for your application.
Level compensators automatically adjust measurements relative to the gravity vector. They always have the
gravity vector as the zenith, which makes the horizontal plane level to gravity. This happens in the instrument
before the data is sent to SA. Most laser trackers dont use or have a level compensator, so they always report
data relative to the standing axis of the instrument. In most cases you can measure the difference between the
standing axis and the gravity vector. SA represents that as a Frame where the Zaxis is aligned with the gravity
vector. When you make the frame the working frame in SA, measurements are reported relative to a level
plane.
The difference between level compensated and standing axis instrument models can be seen in SA as shown in
the figure below.

The instrument model above on the left is using level compensation, so the data is automatically aligned to
gravity. The instrument model above on the right isnt using level compensation, so its data is shown relative to
the standing axis. Note that the points are the same, but the instrument models are in different orientations.
This difference is often very slight, but can be clearly shown in the graphic above since the angular difference is
exaggerated by 20.

Gravity Measurements in SA
A level measurement is inherently a planar measurement where the planes normal vector is aligned to the
gravity vector. When measuring level with an instrument (without a level compensator), SA creates a frame at
the instruments origin where the Zaxis is aligned with gravity. This measurement is made relative to the
instrument standing axis. When the measured level frame is made the Working Frame, the stations
measurements are reported relative to the level plane centered at the station.
SA automatically associates the level frame to the instrument model. That association means when you locate
the instrument relative to the object being measured, the measured level frame automatically moves with the
instrument.
Performing Alignments while holding Level in SA
Construct a Level Frame on the Object using Frame Wizard Constructing a Level Frame on the object
being measured is a common technique in leveling applications. That is easy to do using the measured level
frame. Use it to set/control the constructed frames primary axis with SAs Frame Wizard. When the
constructed frame is made the working frame, data is reported level and relative to the object (e.g., machine,
foundation, and structures). The process steps are detailed below:
Measure a set of points on key features of the object.
Use the Instrument Interfaces function: Devices >>Level >>Measure. A level frame is constructed
at the origin of the station.
Start SAs Frame Wizard: Construct>>Frame>>Frame Wizard.
Select the ZAxis of the Measured Level Frame as the primary axis control.
Select key feature points on the object to define either the X or Y axis direction.
Select a key feature on the object as the Frames Origin.
Name the Frame.
Make the new Leveled frame the Working Frame.
Measure at least three (preferably six or more) easy to see target locations to use to align/locate new
stations to the gravity reference.
Aligning New Stations to the Gravity Reference Level FrameWhen a new station is added to a job and it
doesnt have a level compensator, it needs to be aligned to gravity reference or Level plane. There are a
number of techniques to get it gravity aligned.
Locate the station using at least three or more points that are known relative to the gravity
reference.
Measure a Level Frame from the new station and do a Locate>> Frame to Frame using a known
Level Frame as the Reference and the newly measured level frame.
Use a Relationship Fit to locate the station relative to level points and features on the object.
Transformation Degrees of Freedom After a station is set up and leveled in SA, it has to stay leveled. The
degrees of freedom control section in SAs transform dialogs provide the tools to hold level during alignments.
They work by restricting motion relative to the working frame, not the individual instruments frame.
Therefore, to prevent rotation of the instrument relative to its own gravity measurement (Rx and Ry), you
must turn off Rx and Ry when solving for the transformation to prevent the instrument from rotating off its
gravity reference. Otherwise, the rotational axis of the instrument will change and the level constraints will
be lost.
Straightening Instrumentsit is important to align an instrument with the current level working frame to
ensure that correct degrees of freedom are constrained during the alignment. In SA, this can be accomplished
using either one of the Instrument>Straighten commands. There are two separate commands depending on
whether or not your instrument has an active compensator.
Instrument>Straighten (make Zaxis align with working frame)this provides a quick way to orient
a compensated instrument or the instrument model with the working frame.
Instrument>Straighten (align level frame Zaxis with working frame)
This command was recently
added to provide an easy to way to use the level measurement taken by an uncompensated instrument
and rotate the instrument so that its level measurement is aligned with the working frame (not the
model frame). This command can operate on any frame associated with an instrument (by using
Instrument> Object Associations> Associate Objects with Instrument). This can be used to align a
station(s) to an averaged level frame, if needed.
Examples of How to Hold Level in SA:
Checking the position of your measurements directly: The biggest advantage to having the level
measurement frame tied to the instrument is that it moves with the instrument station as the instrument is
moved in the job file. Multiple instruments can be moved, adjusted, and aligned as necessary without the
threat of losing the level measurement relative to the measured points. At any time, a level frame from any
instrument can be set as the working frame and in doing so, the X, Y, Z position of all points or objects
measured by that station in the job will be updated to report relative to this new frame. With the level frame
as the working frame, the Z heights of points or objects can be directly compared to determine if they are
level relative to each other.

Comparing measurements to a level plane: It is often required to compare a set of measurements directly to
a level plane to determine if the part is level and determine the individual measurement deviations from this
level plane. To do this, follow the simple procedure below.
1. Measure your part and take a level measurement (Devices>Level>Measure in the instrument interface if
you dont have a compensated instrument) or simply build the instrument model frame using
Construct>Frame>On Instrument>Base if the instrument is compensated.
2. Make this level frame the working frame in the job.
3. Fit a plane to the points and built its centroid cardinal point.
4. Use Construct>Plane>Normal to Object through Point (selecting the Level Frame measurement and the
center point of the fit plane for its location). This will build a level plane at the centroid of
measurements for your reference.
5. Use Query>Points to Objects toselect the measurements and the level plane to build a vector group
displaying the point deviations from level.
BestFitting and comparing measurements to a nominal data set while holding level: Another common
scenario is to compare measured points directly to nominal points while holding the instruments level, or
leveled BestFit. A simple method to accomplish this is below.
1. Import the nominal points into the job file. Data is imported relative to the working frame, so be sure to
set the frame representing Level in your job (such as world) as the working frame before bringing in the
points.
2. Measure the nominal points and take a level measurement (if you dont have a compensated instrument)
or just build the instrument model frame using Construct>Frame>On Instrument>Base.
3. Use the appropriate Instrument> Straighten command to align the instruments gravity measurement with
the working frame.
4. Rightclick on the instrument and select Locate>BestFit, then turn off Rx and Ry in the Degrees of
Freedom section when you perform the fit.

The instruments level can be held in this way for most alignment operations in SA, such as relationship fitting
and even USMN.
Questions? Do you have any hints or tips of your own that youd like to share? Contact NRK at
support@kinematics.com.
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