Method of Monitoring a Surface Feature and Apparatus Therefor
AssigneeApplied Research Associates New Zealand Limited
InventorsWilliam Richard Fright, Mark Arthur Nixon, Bruce Clinton McCallum, James Telford George Preddey
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Abstract
Dimensions of a surface feature are determined by capturing an image of the surface feature and determining a scale associated with the image. Structured light may be projected onto the surface, such that the position of structured light in the captured image allows determination of scale. A non-planar surface may be unwrapped. The surface may alternatively be projected into a plane to correct for the scene being tilted with respect to the camera axis. A border of the surface feature may be input manually by a user. An apparatus and system for implementing the method are also disclosed.
Claims26
1-78. (canceled)
A method of producing a planar form of a non-planar surface including a surface feature comprising:
- a. projecting structured light onto the surface;
- b. capturing an image including the surface feature;
- c. determining the three-dimensional coordinates of structured light elements within the image;
- and
- d. unwrapping the image based on the three-dimensional coordinates of to the structured light elements to produce a planar form of the surface.
A method of producing a projection of a surface feature comprising:
- a. capturing an image of a surface feature;
- b. determining from the image the coordinates of a plurality of points of the surface feature in three-dimensional space;
- c. determining a plane in which at least a subset of the coordinates lie;
- and
- d. projecting the image onto the plane to produce a transformed image.
A method of determining at least one dimension of a surface feature, including:
- a. capturing an image including a surface feature;
- b. determining a scale associated with the image;
- c. manually inputting at least part of an outline of the surface feature;
- and
- d. determining at least one dimension of the surface feature using the manually input outline data.
An apparatus including:
- a. a camera for capturing an image including a surface feature;
- and
- b. a portable computing device including:
- i. a display configured to display the image and to allow a user to manually input at least part of an outline of the surface feature;
- and
- ii. a processor configured to determine a scale associated with the image and to determine at least one dimension of the surface feature using the manually input outline data.
A portable apparatus including:
- a. a camera for capturing an image of a surface feature;
- b. a portable computing device including a processor adapted to determine a scale associated with the image;
- and
- c. a positioning module allowing the position of the apparatus to be determined.
A healthcare apparatus including:
- a. camera for capturing an image of a surface feature on a patient;
- b. one or more auxiliary sensors for determining a physical or chemical parameter associated with the patient;
- and
- c. a portable computing device configured to receive image data from the camera and output from the auxiliary sensors, including a processor adapted to determine a scale associated with the image.
An apparatus including:
- a. camera for capturing an image including a surface feature;
- and
- b. one or more structured light projectors configured to project structured light onto the surface, the structured light including two or more structured light components, each projected at a different angle to the camera's optical axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.