Abstract: The locating of the local centre of rotation of a cylindrical body from outside the body, while the body is rotating upon supporting bearings is carried out using a number of distance-measuring diode lasers mounted upon a movable chassis. Such determination of local centres of rotation can be used in the case of hot kilns to re-align the supporting sets of bearings upon which the kiln is rotatably supported. The integrated triangulation monitoring chassis is located in sequence at respective axial stations located along the kiln, adjacent the supporting bearings, and at each station a simultaneous single set of readings from three diode lasers to the shell surface enables a computer to calculate the location of the centre of rotation relative to the chassis. The location of the chassis, relative to a selected datum, is determined by the use of an integrated total station theodolite, which is repositioned, as required, to enable it to access and locate the chassis.