Patent ID: 7272254

Claim:
A method for identifying flaws in a part being inspected, comprising: generating a 3-d representation of the part, the 3-d representation comprising 3-d spatial coordinates corresponding to different locations on the part; registering the 3-d spatial coordinates with corresponding locations of the part being inspected; generating an image of the part being inspected; identifying a flaw in the part being inspected from the generated image; correlating a location of the flaw in the part being inspected to a corresponding 3-d spatial coordinate; controlling a device to perform an operation on the part being inspected at the flaw location using information of the corresponding 3-d spatial coordinates; identifying an approach vector that enables the device to contact and perform the operation on the part being inspected at the flaw location without obstruction from a portion of the part being inspected; and applying the approach vector to move the device to the flaw location without being obstructed by a portion of the part being inspected.