Patent ID: 6974373

Claim:
An apparatus for measuring the physical characteristics of an animal positioned within a target zone, the animal having first and second sides and a top portion, said apparatus comprising: (a) an animal positioning device for defining the target zone and for positioning the animal therewithin, said animal positioning device comprising first and second sides, a floor and an upper portion; (b) a first camera disposed on said first side of said animal positioning device for obtaining a first range image comprising an image of the first side of the animal; (c) a second camera disposed proximate to said upper portion of said animal positioning device for obtaining a second range image comprising an image of the top portion of the animal; and (d) data processing means operably associated with said first and second cameras for acquiring said first and second range images produced thereby to produce a plurality of acquired range images and for processing said plurality of acquired range images to first produce a three-dimensional point cloud data set corresponding generally to the shape of a least a portion of the surface of the animal and then to produce a three-dimensional mesh surface image corresponding generally to the shape of at least a portion of the animal.