System, method, and apparatus for detection of damages on surfaces

A system comprising:

• a handheld portable computing device that comprises at least one image capture device, wherein the portable computing device is configured to:
• capture, using the at least one image capture device, one or more images of a portion of a surface of interest that has a damage;
• receive a user input identifying a type of the damage;
• responsive to identifying the type of damage as a deep scratch based on the user input, a deep scratch detection engine of the handheld portable computing device is configured to:
• transform the one or more captured images to a colorspace stretched image, wherein to transform the one or more capture images to a colorspace stretched image, a pixel density enhancing engine of the handheld portable computing device is configured to generate a final image having an enhanced resolution using the one or more captured images;
• and a colorspace stretching engine of the handheld portable device is configured to stretch a colorspace of the final image to define an edge of the deep scratch in more detail within the final image;
• process, by a color gradient detection engine, the colorspace stretched image to determine a color gradient in the colorspace stretched image;
• determine that pixels of the colorspace stretched image that correspond to the color gradient are within a threshold narrow band of pixels;
• and
• responsively, identify the pixels corresponding to the color gradient as the deep scratch;
• and
• present the colorspace stretched image via a display of the portable computing device.

A system for detecting and sizing a damage on a reflective surface comprising:

• a portable computing device that comprises a video capture device, an assistive light source, a processor, a display, and a wireless transceiver, wherein the portable computing device is configured to:
• capture, using the video capture device, a video of a portion of the reflective surface having the damage and a ruler positioned adjacent the damage, wherein the ruler and the portion of the reflective surface having the damage are exposed to a light from the assistive light source;
• receive a user input identifying a type of the damage;
• and
• transmit the user input and the video;
• and
• a server that is communicably coupled to the portable computing device via a network, wherein the server configured to:
• receive the user input and the video from the wireless transceiver of the portable computing device;
• responsive to receiving the video and based on the type of the damage, generate a set of final images from the video;
• identify the ruler in the set of final images based on a geometry and/or a color of the ruler;
• remove pixels corresponding to the ruler from the set of final images to form a modified set of final images;
• based on the type of the damage, transform the modified set of final images to an output image that highlights the damage on the reflective surface;
• add the pixels corresponding to the ruler to the output image;
• calculate the size of the damage highlighted in the output image comprising the ruler using the ruler as reference;
• and
• transmitting the output image comprising the ruler and the calculated size of the damage to the portable computing device for visual representation on the display.

A portable computing device that is configured to detect and size a damage on a surface of interest, the portable computing device comprising:

• a flash that is configured to direct artificial light towards a portion of the surface of interest that has the damage and a ruler that is placed adjacent the damage;
• a camera that is configured to capture one or more images of the portion of the surface of interest that has the damage along with the ruler that is placed adjacent to the damage;
• a dent detection engine that is configured to:
• create, using the one or more captured images, a final image having an optimal reflection pattern;
• and
• responsive to identifying a ruler in the final image based on a geometry and/or a color of the ruler and removing pixels corresponding to the ruler from the final image by a damage sizing engine of the portable computing device, convert the final image to a false color image that highlights the dent;
• a deep scratch detection engine that is configured to:
• create another final image having an enhanced resolution by superimposing the one or more captured images;
• responsive to identifying a ruler in the other final image based on a geometry and/or a color of the ruler and removing pixels corresponding to the ruler from the other final image by a damage sizing engine of the portable computing device, convert the other final image to a colorspace stretched image that highlights the deep scratch,
• wherein the damage sizing engine is configured to add the pixels corresponding to the ruler to at least one of the false color image and the colorspace stretched image, and wherein the damage sizing engine is configured to calculate a size of at least one of the dent and the deep scratch using the ruler as a reference;
• a display that is configured to visually present at least one of the false color image, the colorspace stretched image, the size of the dent, and the size of the deep scratch based on a type of the damage.

A system comprising:

• a handheld portable computing device that comprises at least one image capture device, wherein the portable computing device is configured to:
• capture, using the at least one image capture device, one or more images of a portion of a surface of interest that has a damage;
• process the one or more captured images by a dent detection engine and a deep scratch detection engine of the portable computing device in parallel;
• convert, by the dent detection engine using a saliency algorithm, the one or more captured images to a false color image in which less salient features are damped and more salient features are enhanced, wherein the less salient features include reflections from the surface of interest and the more salient features include the damage on the surface of interest;
• convert, by the deep scratch detection engine, the one or more captured images to a colorspace stretched image;
• determine a type of the damage based on whether the dent detection engine or the deep scratch detection engine provides a positive identification of the damage;
• wherein when the dent detection engine provides the positive identification of the damage, the damage is a dent, and wherein when the deep scratch detection engine provides the positive identification of the damage, the damage is a deep scratch;
• present at least one of the false color image and the colorspace stretched image via a display of the portable computing device.