Patent Document ID: 8212812
Application ID: 12122800
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for modeling a vehicle, comprising: receiving an image that includes a vehicle; and automatically constructing a three-dimensional (3D) model of the vehicle, wherein the 3D model is constructed by: (a) taking a predetermined set of base shapes that are extracted from a subset of vehicles, wherein 3D active shape models of the vehicles in the subset of vehicles are each defined by a combination of base shapes, and wherein the base shapes include surface markings and high curvature regions, the surface markings including a front windshield of a vehicle, rear window of the vehicle and side-bottom frame of the vehicle all of which are represented as 3D edge points in the active shape model, and the high curvature regions are represented as viewing direction dependent occluding contours of the vehicle; (b) multiplying each of the base shapes of the predetermined set by a parameter; (c) adding the resultant of each multiplication to form a vector that represents a shape of the vehicle in the image; (d) fitting the vector to the vehicle in the image; and (e) repeating steps (a)-(d) by modifying the parameters until a difference between the fit vector and the vehicle in the image is minimized, wherein a plurality of fit vectors form the outline of the vehicle in the image.