IP Library Granted Patent US 11,580,634
Granted Patent B2
US 11,580,634 · App. 17/525,295 · Granted Feb 14, 2023

System and method for automated surface assessment

Inventor: Robert R. Price (Palo Alto, CA)
Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated
G06T7/001G06N3/0454G06N3/08G06N20/20G06T5/50G06T7/50G06T2207/20081G06T2207/20084G06T2207/20224
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,580,634
App. No.
17/525,295
Granted
Feb 14, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

Embodiments described herein provide a system for assessing the surface of an object for detecting contamination or other defects. During operation, the system obtains an input image indicating the contamination on the object and generates a synthetic image using an artificial intelligence (AI) model based on the input image. The synthetic image can indicate the object without the contamination. The system then determines a difference between the input image and the synthetic image to identify an image area corresponding to the contamination. Subsequently, the system generates a contamination map of the contamination by highlighting the image area based on one or more image enhancement operations.

Claims (36)

1. A method for mitigating contamination on surface of an object, comprising:

determining contamination on the surface of the object from one or more images depicting the object;

determining, using an artificial intelligence (AI) model, a contamination map indicating the contamination, wherein the contamination map comprises depth information of the object;

projecting the contamination map on a three-dimensional representation of the object; and

determining, based on the projection, a set of operations to mitigate the contamination from the surface of the object.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of operations includes movement trajectories of a decontamination device, wherein the movement trajectories follow a geometric shape of the object.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the decontamination device is a cleaning nozzle of a decontamination system, and wherein the movement trajectories include movement of the cleaning nozzle that can clean the contamination from the surface of the object.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining distance and angle required for the set of operations based on the depth information of the object.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the set of operations further comprises:

determining a set of viewpoints for the object based on the depth information of the object; and

determining a subset of operations for a respective viewpoint of the object.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a pose of the object is different from a pose of a training object in a training image, and wherein the AI model is trained using the training image.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the contamination map further comprises aligning the depth information with corresponding visual information in the one or more images.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the contamination on the surface of the object comprises excluding background information and non-contaminated elements of the object.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein projecting the contamination map further comprises:

representing a three-dimensional geometry of the object in the representation of the object; and

highlighting corresponding portions of the contamination on the representation based on the contamination map.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the set of operations further comprises determining that the highlighted portions of the representation are covered by the set of operations.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for mitigating contamination on surface of an object, the method comprising:

determining contamination on the surface of the object from one or more images depicting the object;

determining, using an artificial intelligence (AI) model, a contamination map indicating the contamination, wherein the contamination map comprises depth information of the object;

projecting the contamination map on a three-dimensional representation of the object; and

determining, based on the projection, a set of operations to mitigate the contamination from the surface of the object.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the set of operations includes movement trajectories of a decontamination device, wherein the movement trajectories follow a geometric shape of the object.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the decontamination device is a cleaning nozzle of a decontamination system, and wherein the movement trajectories include movement of the cleaning nozzle that can clean the contamination from the surface of the object.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises determining distance and angle required for the set of operations based on the depth information of the object.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein determining the set of operations further comprises:

determining a set of viewpoints for the object based on the depth information of the object; and

determining a subset of operations for a respective viewpoint of the object.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein a pose of the object is different from a pose of a training object in a training image, and wherein the AI model is trained using the training image.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein determining the contamination map further comprises aligning the depth information with corresponding visual information in the one or more images.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein determining the contamination on the surface of the object comprises excluding background information and non-contaminated elements of the object.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein projecting the contamination map further comprises:

representing a three-dimensional geometry of the object in the representation of the object; and

highlighting corresponding portions of the contamination on the representation based on the contamination map.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein determining the set of operations further comprises determining that the highlighted portions of the representation are covered by the set of operations.