Patent ID: 7809184

Claim:
A method for automatically verifying, calibrating or surveying an instrument, said instrument including a reference system, the method comprising: detecting a geometry of i) the instrument and ii) the reference system based on a scan of the instrument and the reference system; calculating a three-dimensional model of the instrument based on the detected geometry of the instrument and the reference system; verifying, calibrating or surveying the instrument based on the geometry of the three-dimensional model; recording, via a camera unit, emission characteristics and/or reflection characteristics of the reference system from different angles of observation; ascertaining from the emission characteristics and/or reflection characteristics a quality, condition or shape of the reference system or of individual markers of the reference system based on the angle of observation; calculating an optical outline of the reference system from the ascertained quality, condition or shape of the reference system and/or of the individual markers of the reference system; and combining the optical outline of the reference system with the ascertained quality, condition or shape of the reference system or with the individual markers of the reference system.