Patent ID: 7570370

Claim:
A method for the determination of the 3D coordinates of an object ( 2 ), comprising the steps of: (I) controllably projecting a fringe pattern onto the object ( 2 ) by an imaging element in a pixel-by-pixel manner, (II) iteratively determining the local reflectivity of the object; (III) iteratively adapting the brightness of the fringe pattern of the object; and (IV) recording and evaluating the light reflected by the object ( 2 ), wherein said step (II) of iteratively determining the local reflectivity of the object; and said step (III) of iteratively adapting the brightness of the fringe pattern are performed by: (a) taking a course 3D measurement of the object without an adapted projection pattern; (b) determining a fringe projection pattern using a brightness distribution adapted to the determined object brightness; (c) performing a precise 3D measurement of the object using an adapted projection pattern whose brightness is locally adapted to the object reflectivity; and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) to increase the precision of the 3D measurement.