Establishing True North Orientation for Large Industrial Structures Using Integrated Laser Tracker and Geodetic Coordinate Systems

Abstract

How do you tie a laser tracker control network to True North? Not an abstract question for anyone building something big and long: Jonathan McLaughlin's list of the places it matters runs to shipbuilding, rail systems, naval defence, dry docks, bridges, ship lifts, dams, long machine foundations and nuclear facilities. The talk works through integrating laser tracker measurement with geodetic coordinate systems so that dimensional control on a structure of that size is referenced to the world rather than only to itself.