Patent ID: 7068836

Claim:
A method of mapping a surface, the method comprising: a) using a single movable reference independent scanner, projecting an image along a projection axis onto a surface to provide a surface image, wherein said image includes a variable feature which varies in a direction substantially orthogonal to a plane formed by the projection axis and a point of a view axis; b) receiving a representation of said surface image along said view axis; c) determining a location at a point of said surface image based at least partially upon said variable feature of the representation of said surface image; d) repeating steps a), b), and c) thereby acquiring a series of frames wherein each of said frames comprises a plurality of said location points; e) performing a single frame registration of said frames; f) displaying the surface mapped from said single frame registration, including breaks in said mapped surface, thereby enabling the scanner's operator in determining the areas where additional scanning is needed; g) repeating steps a)–f) until the entire surface is mapped using said single frame registration; h) performing a cumulative registration of said frames, wherein said cumulative registration may result in multiple cumulative models of said mapped surface; and i) when said multiple cumulative models result, an user manipulating said multiple cumulative models graphically thereby assisting in said cumulative registration.