Patent ID: 7720624

Claim:
An information processing method for associating point group data obtained by measuring an object of measurement having a plurality of faces by means of a three-dimensional profile measurement instrument with design data for the object of measurement, the method comprising: a definition step of defining a type of face and a characteristic value of the design data representing a profile of each of the plurality of faces from the design data for the object of measurement; a computation step of computationally determining a type of face and a characteristic value of the point group data representing a profile of a face for an indicated point selected from the point group data from information of the point group data of an area surrounding the indicated point using a computation unit; a selection step of selecting a face closest to the indicated point from the plurality of faces of the design data; a determination step of determining if the type of face of the point group data determined for the indicated point and the type of face of the design data defined for the selected face of the design data agree with each other and the difference between the characteristic value determined for the indicated point and the characteristic value defined for the selected face of the design data is within a tolerance range; and an association step of associating the indicated point and the selected face of the design data with each other when the types of face agree with each other and the difference of the characteristic values is within the tolerance range.