Methods and systems for determining part wear based on digital image of part

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9613413-B2
Application number	US-201314055663-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 16, 2013
Priority date	Oct 17, 2012
Publication date	Apr 4, 2017
Grant date	Apr 4, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for determining part wear using a mobile device. One such exemplary method includes capturing, using the mobile device, at least one digital image of a wear part of a machine. The method further includes determining, by the mobile device and based on the at least one digital image, a degree of wear of the wear part.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile device configured for determining part wear, comprising:
a camera;
an input device for receiving input from a user of the mobile device;
a storage device storing an application; and
a processor configured to execute the stored application to:
receive, via the input device, a command from the user to capture an image;
capture, using the camera and responsive to the command, at least one digital image of a wear part of a machine;
identify, in the at least one digital image, a wear edge of the wear part;
identify, in the at least one digital image, at least one feature of the wear part;
measure, in the at least one digital image, the wear edge of the wear part; and
determine the degree of wear of the wear part based upon the measurement of the wear edge, wherein, to measure the wear edge, the processor is further configured to:
measure, in the at least one digital image, a value of a dimension of the wear part based on the identified wear edge and on the identified at least one feature, wherein measuring a value of a dimension of the wear part includes measuring a distance from a line connected with the identified at least one feature and a line defining the identified wear edge in the at least one digital image.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein to measure a distance, the processor is further configured to execute the stored application to determine a number of pixels between the line connected with the identified at least one feature and the line defining the identified wear edge in the at least one digital image.

3. The mobile device of claim 1 , further including:
a wear table stored in the storage device that defines the degree of wear of the wear part as a function of the dimension;
wherein the processor is further configured to execute the stored application to:
look up the measured value of the dimension of the wear part in the wear table; and
determine the degree of wear of the wear part based on the lookup.

4. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the stored application to:
calibrate the at least one digital image;
convert the measurement based on the calibration; and
determine a degree of wear of the wear part based on the converted measurement.

5. The mobile device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a display device;
wherein the processor is further configured to execute the stored application to display an indication of the determined degree of wear of the wear part on the display device.

6. The mobile device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a network communication interface configured to communicate over an electronic communication network;
wherein the processor is further configured to execute the stored application to:
determine whether the degree of wear is greater than a threshold; and
send, over the electronic communication network and based upon a determination that the degree of wear is greater than the threshold, a notification to a dealer system associated with the machine.

7. The mobile device of claim 4 , further comprising:
specification information for the wear part, stored in the storage device, the specification information specifying a known distance between a first feature of the wear part and a second feature of the wear part;
wherein the processor is further configured to execute the stored application to:
identify, in the at least one digital image, the first feature and the second feature of the wear part;
measure, in the at least one digital image, a distance between the first feature and the second feature;
determine the known distance between the first feature and the second feature based on the stored specification information for the wear part;
calculate a calibration factor based on the measured distance and the known distance; and
convert the measurement based on the calibration factor.

Assignees

• Caterpillar Inc

Inventors

• Hasselbusch Michael D
• Lu Stephen Paul
• Mathews Erich Owen
• Diekevers Mark Steven
• Blocksom Jonathan Taylor
• Goins Todd R

Classifications

• G06T2207/30164

  Workpiece; Machine component · CPC title

• G06T7/0006 Primary

  using a design-rule based approach · CPC title

• G06T7/60

  Analysis of geometric attributes · CPC title

• G06T7/0085

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06T7/0018

  Physics · mapped topic