Patent ID: 8239220

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a plurality of images of a vehicle involved in an accident and undergoing a computer-implemented impact severity analysis in a computer; evaluating, in the computer, the plurality of images for pose estimate information and storing a pose estimate for each of the plurality of images; refining the stored pose estimate for each of the plurality of images via a bundle adjustment; determining, in the computer, the location of damage points for the vehicle via triangulation using the plurality of images; generating, in the computer, a crush profile for the vehicle based on a difference between the location of damage points for the vehicle and corresponding points for a benchmark vehicle, the benchmark vehicle non-damaged; using the crush profile and a crush profile for a second vehicle involved in the accident, in the computer, to optimize an overlap of damage patterns on the first and second vehicles by comparison and alignment of the damage patterns on the first and second vehicles; determining, in the computer, estimates of a principal direction of force (PDOF) for the vehicle and the second vehicle based on the optimized overlap; and determining a final PDOF for the vehicle and the second vehicle based on an iterative adjustment of the PDOF estimates if the PDOF estimates are inconsistent, and storing the final PDOFs in the computer for later use.