Granted Patent B2

US 12,254,616 · App. 17/272,634 · Granted Mar 18, 2025

Inventors: Ghislain Laperle (Sherbrooke, CA); David Gingras (Magog, CA)

Assignee: Camso Inc.

G06T7/001B60W40/12B60W50/14B62D55/32E02F9/267G01M17/03G06T7/0002G06T7/97G06T17/00G07C5/0808B60W2300/44B60W2420/403B62D55/065B62D55/244G06T2207/20084G06T2210/56

Abstract

Claims (35)

1. A system for monitoring a track for traction of a vehicle on a ground, the track being mounted around a plurality of wheels, the track comprising a ground-engaging outer surface configured to engage the ground and an inner surface opposite to the ground-engaging outer surface, the track including elastomeric material to flex around the wheels and a reinforcement embedded in the elastomeric material, the system comprising:

an interface configured to receive data regarding a plurality of images of the track; and

a processor configured to:

create a three-dimensional (3D) model of the track from a 3D point cloud generated by processing the data of the plurality of images of the track;

perform a 3D model analysis comparing the created 3D model of the track to a design 3D model of the track by performing volumetric analysis to obtain a deterioration result of the 3D model analysis;

perform a two-dimensional (2D) image analysis by performing image acquisition, image processing, feature extraction, and feature classification, on images generated from the created 3D model of the track to obtain a deterioration result of the 2D image analysis;

generate information on a state of the track by combining the deterioration results of the 3D model analysis of the track and of the 2D image analysis of the track, and

determine that a deterioration threshold event relating to at least one of an exposure of the reinforcement and a crack in the elastomeric material of the track, has occurred based on the information on the state of the track;

wherein the processor is further configured to issue a signal based on the determination to inform a user of the system of an action to be performed in respect of the track.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the information on the state of the track includes an indication of a volumetric loss of the elastomeric material of the track.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the action to be performed in respect of the track is replacement of the track with a new track.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to issue a signal based on the information on the state of the track that is directed to the vehicle.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the signal is issued to control the vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one image of the track system component is captured by a wireless communication device.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the deterioration result of the 2D image analysis comprises a breakage of the reinforcement.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the reinforcement is a reinforcing cable extending in a longitudinal direction of the track.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor comprises an artificial intelligence module configured to perform the 2D image analysis.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the artificial intelligence module comprises a neural network.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the information on the state of the track comprises an indication of a level of wear of the track.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the information on the state of the track comprises an indication of a remaining useful life of the track.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the generation of the information on the state of the track further combines deterioration results from the processor performing a 2D image analysis of the data regarding the plurality of images of the track.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the deterioration threshold event is one or more of: a usage threshold event, a wear threshold event, and a damage threshold event.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the feature classification of the 2D image analysis includes one or more of: use of nearest neighbor classification, cascading classifiers, neural networks, statistical classification techniques, and Bayesian classification techniques.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein after the feature classification of the 2D image analysis, an additional feature classification is performed on the features identified as including deterioration.

17. A system for monitoring a track system for traction of a vehicle on a ground, the track system comprising a plurality of wheels and a track mounted around the wheels, the track comprising a ground-engaging outer surface configured to engage the ground and an inner surface opposite to the ground-engaging outer surface, the track including elastomeric material to flex around the wheels and a reinforcement embedded in the elastomeric material, the system comprising:

an interface configured to receive data regarding a plurality of images of a component of the track system; and

a processor configured to:

create a three-dimensional (3D) model of the track from a 3D point cloud generated by processing the data of the plurality of images of the track;

perform a 3D model analysis comparing the created 3D model of the track to a design 3D model of the track by performing volumetric analysis to obtain a deterioration result of the 3D model analysis;

perform a two-dimensional (2D) image analysis by performing image acquisition, image processing, feature extraction, and feature classification, on images generated from the created 3D model of the track to obtain a deterioration result of the 2D image analysis;

generate information on a state of the track by combining the deterioration results of the 3D model analysis of the track and of the 2D image analysis of the track, and

determine that a deterioration threshold event relating to at least one of an exposure of the reinforcement and a crack in the elastomeric material of the track, has occurred based on the information on the state of the component of the track system;

wherein the processor is further configured to issue a signal based on the determination to inform a user of the system of an action to be performed in respect of the component of the track.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the component of the track system is the track.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the component of the track system is a given one of the wheels.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (400)