Patent ID: 9131224
Filing Date: 2015-09-08
Classification: B64C,G01N,G01S,G06F,G06Q,G06T,H04N,H04R

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method of inspecting a structure, the method comprising: spraying a chemical on at least part of a structure; deploying one or more three-dimensional (3D) scanners to scan an area of the structure; generating, via an image sensor of the one or more 3D scanners, image data based on one or more electromagnetic (EM) waves that are emanating from the scanned area of the structure and that are received at the image sensor; analyzing the generated image data to detect luminescence for each of a plurality of subareas of the scanned area of the structure, at least some of the detected luminescence emanating from the chemical sprayed on the at least part of the structure; analyzing the detected luminescence for the plurality of subareas to identify a first subarea from the plurality of subareas having a topographical feature corresponding to potential damage; causing the one or more 3D scanners to scan the first subarea having the topographical feature corresponding to potential damage; generating, by one or more processors, a plurality of 3D data points corresponding to the scanned first subarea, wherein each of the plurality of 3D data points has a coordinate set relating to vertical, horizontal, and depth distance measurements; storing a point cloud at one or more memory devices, wherein the point cloud comprises one or more of the generated plurality of 3D data points; automatically analyzing, by the one or more processors, the stored point cloud to identify one or more features of the scanned first subarea, wherein the one or more identified features represent potential damage; generating, by the one or more processors, an estimation of the condition of the scanned first subarea based on the one or more features identified from the analysis of the stored point cloud; and storing the generated estimation at the one or more memory devices.