Detection of surface irregularities in coins
AssigneeUltra Electronics Forensic Technology Inc.
InventorSerge Levesque
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Detection of surface irregularities in coins. Three-dimensional topographic data of at least one surface of a coin, having at least one feature, is acquired and used to determine characteristics of the coin features, based on vector components of normal vectors at various points on the surface of the coin. The feature characteristics are then compared to reference feature characteristics. Based on this comparison, an irregularity indication is provided if differences between the feature characteristics and the reference characteristics are found.
Claims20
A method for detecting an irregularity in a coin having at least one feature, comprising:
- acquiring 3D topographic data of at least one surface of the coin, the 3D topographic data comprising at least one region of interest;
- determining vector components of a normal vector for at least some points of the at least one region of interest;
- defining, with a numerical value, least one feature characteristic from the vector components of each normal vector that fall within a given threshold;
- comparing the numeric value of the at least one feature characteristic against numerical values of reference feature characteristics;
- and
- providing an irregularity indication based on a difference between the numerical values of the at least one feature characteristic and the reference feature characteristics.
A system for detecting an irregularity in a coin having at least one feature, the system comprising:
- a processing unit;
- and
- a non-transitory memory communicatively coupled to the processing unit and comprising computer-readable program instructions executable by the processing unit for:
- acquiring 3D topographic data of at least one surface of the coin, the 3D topographic data comprising at least one region of interest;
- determining vector components of a normal vector for at least some points of the at least one region of interest;
- defining, with a numerical value, at least one feature characteristic from the vector components of each normal vector that fall within a given threshold;
- comparing the numerical value of the at least one feature characteristic against numerical values of reference feature characteristics;
- and
- providing an irregularity indication based on a difference between the numerical values of the at least one feature characteristic and the reference feature characteristics.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.