Method and apparatus for obtaining photogrammetric data to estimate impact severity

• US 20070288135A1
• Filed: 09/12/2006
• Published: 12/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CCC Information Services, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Injury Sciences, LLC (CCC Information Services Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Smith, Darrin A., Kidd, Scott D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,239,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 11/06 by comparison of two or more pictures of the same area
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/0078 Shock-testing of vehicles

Abstract

In one embodiment, the present invention includes a computer-implemented method to collect information to determine damage to a vehicle involved in a collision using photogrammetric techniques. When determined, this vehicle damage information, which may be in the form of crush measurement information such as a crush damage profile, can be displayed in a computer-generated view of the subject vehicle with a crush damage profile and used to estimate the impact severity. In some embodiments, based on the photogrammetric information derived, a direction of any shifting of the vehicle'"'"'s components may be obtained and used along with other information to estimate a principal direction of force (PDOF) for one or more vehicles involved in the collision. Still further embodiments may be used to generate and/or audit repair estimates based at least in part on the photogrammetric information.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a plurality of images of a vehicle involved in an accident in a computer;

determining, in the computer, the location of damage points for the vehicle via triangulation using the plurality of images; and

generating a crush profile for the vehicle based on a difference between the location of damage points for the vehicle and a benchmark vehicle, and storing the crush profile in the computer for later use.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the crush profile in a graphical user interface including a reference vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising evaluating the plurality of images for pose estimate information.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising receiving an input to select a reference pose to correspond to at least one of the plurality of images.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising selecting control points and crush points for at least one of the plurality of images.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing the crush profile and selecting a plurality of stored crush profiles having corresponding crush profiles within a predetermined threshold of the crush profile.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising auditing a claim associated with the accident based on a comparison between the crush profile and the plurality of stored crush profiles.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, in the computer, if a camera profile received with the plurality of images corresponds to a camera profile present in a profile database accessed by the computer.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising calibrating the plurality of images based on the camera profile if present, otherwise requesting additional information from a user of the camera.

10. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining if at least one component of a first vehicle involved in an accident was shifted, and if so determining a direction of shift;

optimizing overlap of damage patterns between the first vehicle and a second vehicle involved in the accident; and

developing a principal direction of force for the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the optimized overlap of damage patterns and the direction of shift for the first vehicle.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising obtaining accident information regarding the accident and using the accident information to develop the principal direction of force.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining if the principal direction of force is consistent with damage information regarding the first and second vehicles and the accident information.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining a change in velocity for the first vehicle using the optimized overlap of damage patterns.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining a change in velocity for the second vehicle using the optimized overlap damage patterns.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining the change in velocity for the first vehicle using photogrammetric information obtained regarding the first vehicle and determining the change in velocity for the second vehicle without using photogrammetric information for the second vehicle.

16. An article comprising a machine-readable medium including instructions that enable a system to:

compare a crush damage pattern of a vehicle involved in an accident to entries in a database corresponding to crush damage patterns of vehicles from unrelated accidents;

select one or more of the entries based on similarity to the crush damage pattern and a direction of impact;

generate a report of expected vehicle component damage for the vehicle based on actual damage information for the selected one or more entries; and

store the report for later use.

17. The article of claim 16, wherein the instructions further enable the system to determine at least one component of the vehicle to be repaired or replaced.

18. The article of claim 16, wherein the instructions further enable the system to compare a repair estimate associated with the vehicle to the report.

19. The article of claim 18, wherein the instructions further enable the system to flag a component listed for repair or replacement in the repair estimate if the component is not in the report of expected vehicle damage.

20. The article of claim 18, wherein the instructions further enable the system to flag a component not listed for repair or replacement in the repair estimate if the component is in the report of expected vehicle component damage.

21. The article of claim 18, wherein the instructions further enable the system to report to a user that the repair estimate is within a threshold level of the expected vehicle component damage based on the comparison.

22. The article of claim 16, wherein the crush damage pattern is based on a photogrammetric analysis of the vehicle.

23. The article of claim 16, wherein the instructions further enable the system to generate the crush damage pattern of the vehicle based on image data of the vehicle received by the system.

24. The article of claim 16, wherein the instructions further enable the system to insert an entry in the database, the entry including information regarding the vehicle and the accident.