Michael F. Bryan / Tools

Coordinate frame visualiser

Explore a body’s position and orientation across local and Earth coordinate frames.

Updated 3 Oct 2026Source
Scene · local → bodyshowing: full rotation
NDzxEy
local NED bodyView
AnglesNED · zyx · intrinsic
yaw about z0.6109 rad°
pitch about y′0.3491 rad°
roll about x″-0.2618 rad°
Sequence
startafter 1after 2after 3
  1. 00start · body axes coincide with the local frame
  2. 01yaw 35.0° · about z
  3. 02pitch 20.0° · about y′
  4. 03roll -15.0° · about x″
Frameshared with the position mode
Localtangent frame at the anchorBodyx forward · y right · z down
Body axes in NEDthe columns of R[ned←body]
body x
N +0.770E +0.539D −0.342
body y
N −0.627E +0.740D −0.243
body z
N +0.122E +0.402D +0.908
Rotation matrixR[ned←body] · 3×3 · invert and copy
R[ned←body]Takes body coordinates · gives NED coordinates.
body xbody ybody z
N+0.7698−0.6265+0.1222
E+0.5390+0.7405+0.4015
D−0.3420−0.2432+0.9077
the inverse of a rotation is its transpose
Quaternionthe same rotation as four numbers · editable

Same rotation as R. Non-unit input is normalised on commit; a zero or non-finite quaternion is rejected. Committing one finishes the sequence.

Point Pone point, two descriptions · also draws P in the scene
P in NEDmP in bodym

Body coordinates are R[body←NED] · (P − origin). Turn the body and the NED triple stays put while the body triple changes.

Pose T4×4 · carries R and the body origin
T[ned←body]Takes body coordinates of a point, with a fourth coordinate of 1 · gives NED coordinates.
body xbody ybody zorigin
N+0.770−0.627+0.122+0.000
E+0.539+0.740+0.402+0.000
D−0.342−0.243+0.908+0.000
0001
rotation transposed, origin becomes −Rᵀ·t
Originm · body origin in NED

R never becomes T; T contains R.