Patent ID: 8756085

Claim:
A computer implemented method for estimating damage to a property, the method comprising: scanning a property with a 3-dimensional (3D) scanner to generate a first point cloud representing at least part of the property, wherein said property is selected from the group consisting of: (i) a building, and (ii) a vehicle; storing the first point cloud to a memory communicatively connected to the 3D scanner; causing one or more processors, at least one of which is communicatively connected to the memory, to isolate a plurality of segments from the first point cloud, each segment corresponding to one of a plurality of objects detectable at the surface of the property, the plurality of segments including a first segment corresponding to a first object detectable at the surface of the property; causing one or more processors to generate a model point cloud representing an average of a plurality of point clusters; causing said one or more processors to compare the first segment to the model point cloud, wherein said comparison comprises causing said one or more processors to: identify a first point in the first segment, determine a first coordinate position of the first point, identify a second point in the model point cloud, wherein the second point is closer to the first coordinate position than any other point in the model point cloud, determine a second coordinate position of the second point, determine a distance between the second coordinate position and the first coordinate position, and determine whether the first point is an outlier point based on the determined distance; causing said one or more processors to identify, based at least in part on the comparison of the first segment to the model point cloud, a set of outlier points forming a first point cluster and associating the set of outlier points to a damage status; and causing the one or more processors to generate a display providing information identifying potential damage to the property based at least in part on the damage status.