1. A method for reading an automatic theodolite on-the-fly comprising the steps of: rotating the theodolite on which a camera is provided; imaging at least one target with the camera during rotation; determining the position of the theodolite when the target is imaged; and determining the position of the target from the known position of the theodolite and the image position of the target in the camera including the steps of determining a start position of the theodolite when the target is first imaged and determining an end position of the theodolite when the target is last imaged, and determining a midpoint position of the theodolite between the start position and end position which corresponds to an image target location in the center of the TV camera.