Patent ID: 7436522

Claim:
A method for determining the 3D coordinates of the surface of an object, comprising the steps of: measuring the 3D coordinates of a partial surface ( 5 , 6 ) of the object ( 1 ) by a 3D measuring device ( 3 ); measuring the position and orientation of said 3D measuring device by a tracking system ( 2 ), wherein said determination is effected by at least one detector placed on said 3D measuring device for detection by said tracking system ( 2 ); determining the 3D coordinates of an adjacent partial surface ( 7 ) of the object ( 1 ) by the 3D measuring device; performing a matching method to determine and minimize an error function of a detector ( 4 ) of the 3D measuring device and/or tracking system for certain of said 3D coordinates measured at said steps (a) and (c) that fall into a overlap region between said partial surface ( 5 , 6 ) and said adjacent partial surface ( 7 ); wherein said matching method minimizes the different measured distances of said certain 3D coordinates of points in said overlap region.