Method for tire tread depth modeling and image annotation

A method for measuring a tread depth within a region on the surface of a wheel assembly tire, said region having an axial width and an arcuate length along a circumference of the wheel assembly, comprising:

• acquiring image data representative of at least a portion of the tire surface including said region;
• processing said acquired image data to generate a two-dimensional representation of said region, said two-dimensional representation denoting both an outer surface of the tire tread and a lower surface of the tire tread over an axial width equal to the axial width of said region;
• and
• wherein a measure of tread depth at a selected location within said region on said surface of said wheel assembly tire is determined by a comparison of said denoted outer surface within said two-dimensional representation at an axial position of said selected location along said axial width of said region with said denoted lower surface within said two-dimensional representation at said axial position of said selected location along said axial width of said region.

A method for presenting a visual display of tire tread depth information associated with a vehicle wheel assembly, comprising:

• acquiring tire tread depth measurement data from a plurality of points within a tire surface region;
• processing said acquired tire tread depth measurement data to generate at least a two-dimensional image of said tire surface region which is representative of tire tread depth at said plurality of points within said tire surface region for display to an operator;
• displaying a plurality of numerical values representative of tire tread depth measurements in association with said two-dimensional image;
• and
• visually indicating an association between each of said displayed numerical values and associated tire tread depth measurement points at locations within said two-dimensional image.

A method for presenting a visual display of tire tread depth information associated with a vehicle wheel assembly, comprising:

• acquiring tire tread depth measurement data from a plurality of points within a tire surface region;
• processing said acquired tire tread depth measurement data to generate at least a two-dimensional image of said tire surface region representative of tire tread depth at said plurality of points for display to an operator;
• and
• wherein a portion of said two-dimensional image of said tire surface is highlighted with at least one distinct color to illustrate points within said two-dimensional image which are representative of at least one range of tire tread depths.