Patent Document ID: 9875574
Application ID: 14108976
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of automatically identifying a deepest point on a surface of an anomaly on a surface of a viewed object, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining an image of the surface of the viewed object with an imager; displaying on a monitor an image of the viewed object; determining the three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of points on the surface of the viewed object using a central processor unit; determining a reference surface using the central processor unit; determining a region of interest that includes a plurality of points on the surface of the anomaly using the central processor unit; determining a depth for each of the plurality of points on the surface of the anomaly in the region of interest using the central processor unit; determining the point on the surface of the anomaly in the region of interest having the greatest depth as the deepest point on the surface of the anomaly using the central processor unit; displaying on the monitor a graphical indicator at the location of the deepest point on the surface of the anomaly on the image of the surface of the anomaly; monitoring the movement of the graphical indicator in the region of interest using the central processor unit; detecting whether the graphical indicator has stopped moving using the central processor unit; determining a depth for each of a plurality of points on the surface of the anomaly proximate to the graphical indicator using the central processor unit, identifying the point on the surface of the anomaly proximate to the graphical indicator having the greatest depth as the deepest point on the surface of the anomaly proximate to the graphical indicator using the central processor unit; and moving the graphical indicator to the deepest point on the surface of the anomaly proximate to the graphical indicator.