The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 02, 2020
Filed:
Dec. 22, 2017
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Alan R. Katz, Bellevue, WA (US);
Stephen J. Bennison, Bellevue, WA (US);
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for detecting a feature on a surface. A mesh comprising a plurality of mesh elements is generated using surface data generated for a surface region. The plurality of normal vectors is computed for the plurality of mesh elements. A distribution for the plurality of normal vectors is generated. A dominant subset of the plurality of mesh elements is identified in which a Z component of a corresponding normal vector for each mesh element of the dominant subset is in substantially a first direction. Z components of a portion of the plurality of normal vectors corresponding to a remaining subset of the plurality of mesh elements are analyzed to determine whether the feature is present within the surface region.