Preparing for Layout Planning
An asset that moves correctly in the Editor is not yet a good building block for a layout. In the Layout Planner it is dropped onto the floor, rotated, and connected to its neighbours. That works smoothly when the asset stands on the floor, points the right way and carries snap points at its connections.
Floor and pivot
Section titled “Floor and pivot”When an asset is placed, the planner puts its pivot on the cursor and its lowest point on the floor. By default the pivot is the bottom centre of the bounding box.
- Use To Ground and Pivot to Bottom in the Transform section of Quick Edit so the asset stands on the floor with its origin where the planner expects it.
- For an asymmetric asset — a robot with a long arm, an L-shaped fixture — the bottom centre may lie over empty floor. A
WebPivotmarker sets the pivot explicitly; it is authored in Unity. See Pivots.
Orientation
Section titled “Orientation”Use Align Y Up if the CAD data arrived lying on its side. Turn conveyors and stations so their transport direction runs along a main axis — that makes the planner’s rotation steps and the snap points line up.
Snap points
Section titled “Snap points”Snap points let the planner connect assets: a conveyor output meets the input of the next conveyor, and the two then move as one chain. A snap point is an empty node at the connection, whose name says what it is:
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
Snap-ZN-convroll | Input of type convroll |
Snap-ZP-convroll | Output of type convroll |
Snap-ZB-convroll | Bidirectional connector of type convroll |
To add one:
- Select the asset’s root and add an Empty Child.
- Move it to the connection, at the edge where the neighbour attaches. The outward direction is taken from where the node sits inside the asset.
- Name it
Snap-<axis><N|P|B>-<type>. The Editor has no rename field yet; rename the node through an AI assistant connected over the AI bridge (web_editor_rename), or author the snap points in Unity before export.
Use the same type id on every asset that is meant to connect — convroll only ever meets convroll. Compatibility rules, chain mode and flipping are described under Snap Points.
Save into the project
Section titled “Save into the project”Save the asset. It lands in the project you are working in, and the project is the first library the planner offers: the asset can be placed right away, without publishing or registering it. To share assets across projects, put them into a catalog of their own — see Library and Catalogs.
Check it in the planner
Section titled “Check it in the planner”Open a layout in the Planner workspace and drag the asset from the project tab. It should land on the floor centred on the cursor. Turn on Show All Snaps: a marker sits at every free connector, and dragging the asset near a compatible neighbour pulls the two together.
With the asset prepared, continue with the use case:
- Layout Planning — arrange assets into a line
- Virtual Commissioning — connect the twin to a PLC
- Discrete Event Simulation — analyse material flow
- Machine Information System (3D HMI) — operate and monitor with live data
See also
Section titled “See also”- Snap Points — how connectors behave in the planner
- Library and Catalogs — where placeable assets come from
- Quick Edit Reference — the Transform tools