Plot Unit Vectors

Simple method to plot unit vectors in 3d

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This function plots unitvectors X Y and Z or (e1, e2, e3) from an origin.
This function is fairly robust in that it can take 2 types of input. It can take a transformation matrix of the form
trMatrix = [1 0 0 0; pos' unitx' unity' unitz'] as:
fcn_plotUnitVectors(trMatrix).

Or it can take it as a combination of [1x3] vectors as:
fcn_plotUnitVectors(origin[1x3], csX[1x3], csY[1x3], csZ[1x3], vectorScale[1x1],colorSel)
colorSel can be a string used to format the vector as well.

The default coloring is
unit1 - red, unit2 - green, unit3 - blue

You can also set your own linestyles, for example:
if you have colorSel = ['''k'', ''LineWidth'', 5'] as the input, it will set the color to black and the thickness of the line to 5

Use: Easiest use is fcn_plotUnitVectors(trMatrix), however the vectorScale is not dynamic so it will need to be changed in the code if it doesn't suit your data.

Cite As

James West (2026). Plot Unit Vectors (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/28608-plot-unit-vectors), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

General Information

MATLAB Release Compatibility

  • Compatible with any release

Platform Compatibility

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux
Version Published Release Notes Action
1.0.0.0