This invention is a system that tracks the 3-dimensional position and
orientation of one or more bodies (20) in a volume by a light based as
well as at least one non-light based mensuration sub-system. This
overcomes the limitation of light based mensuration systems to the
necessity of the bodies (20) to be in constant line-of-sight of its light
based position sensors (26). The invention possesses most of the accuracy
and stability of its light based position measurement sub-system (24, 26,
72), but can also work without direct line of sight either for short
periods of time or within certain parts of the volume. It does so by
incorporating other sensors (31, 34), such as inertial or magnetic, which
are frequently recalibrated against the light based sub-system (24, 26,
72) while the bodies (20) are visible by the light based sub-system (24,
26, 72).