Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (IMF) have used portable coordinate measuring machines for about a decade to help mechanics build replacement piping assemblies quicker and more accurately than using tape measures and angle finders.
However, the descriptor “portable” in portable coordinate measuring machines, or PCMMs, is a relative term. The use of PCMMs has often been limited due to the large size and heavy weight of the machines. They often have a massive granite surface to hold the components or piping assemblies being measured. These components have to be removed from a vessel or building and brought to the machine, where they are measured to create a 3D file, referred to as a virtual file.