Accuracy of Alignment Procedures Used for the Creation of 3D Models

3D laser and optical scanning are advanced technologies that are widely used for creation of state-of-the-art, highly accurate documentation of physical objects being of particular importance in Cultural Heritage to preserve the most precise representation of a piece of art. However, the process of creation of a 3D model from data obtained on the process of 3D scanning is a complex procedure which implies the use of specific software tools to achieve good results. One of the phases is the alignment step (also called registration) which connects the data objects obtained after the scanning phase. This procedure might be done with the help of different software programs and algorithms, giving results that might differ. The goal of this work is to estimate the accuracy of creation of 3D models which can be created using different software tools that are usually employed for the alignment procedure.