您可以使用Ramer-Douglas-Peucker（RDP）
算法来简化路径。然后，您可以计算沿简化路径的每个线段的方向变化。与方向最大变化相对应的点可以称为转折点：

可以在github上找到RDP算法的Python实现。

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
import os
import rdp

def angle(dir):
    """
    Returns the angles between vectors.

    Parameters:
    dir is a 2D-array of shape (N,M) representing N vectors in M-dimensional space.

    The return value is a 1D-array of values of shape (N-1,), with each value
    between 0 and pi.

    0 implies the vectors point in the same direction
    pi/2 implies the vectors are orthogonal
    pi implies the vectors point in opposite directions
    """
    dir2 = dir[1:]
    dir1 = dir[:-1]
    return np.arccos((dir1*dir2).sum(axis=1)/(
        np.sqrt((dir1**2).sum(axis=1)*(dir2**2).sum(axis=1))))

tolerance = 70
min_angle = np.pi*0.22
filename = os.path.expanduser('~/tmp/bla.data')
points = np.genfromtxt(filename).T
print(len(points))
x, y = points.T

# Use the Ramer-Douglas-Peucker algorithm to simplify the path
# http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramer-Douglas-Peucker_algorithm
# Python implementation: https://github.com/sebleier/RDP/
simplified = np.array(rdp.rdp(points.tolist(), tolerance))

print(len(simplified))
sx, sy = simplified.T

# compute the direction vectors on the simplified curve
directions = np.diff(simplified, axis=0)
theta = angle(directions)
# Select the index of the points with the greatest theta
# Large theta is associated with greatest change in direction.
idx = np.where(theta>min_angle)[0]+1

fig = plt.figure()
ax =fig.add_subplot(111)

ax.plot(x, y, 'b-', label='original path')
ax.plot(sx, sy, 'g--', label='simplified path')
ax.plot(sx[idx], sy[idx], 'ro', markersize = 10, label='turning points')
ax.invert_yaxis()
plt.legend(loc='best')
plt.show()

上面使用了两个参数：

RDP算法采用一个参数，tolerance它代表简化路径可以偏离原始路径的最大距离。越大tolerance，简化路径越粗糙。另一个参数是，min_angle它定义了什么是转折点。（我将转折点设为原始路径上的任意点，其简化路径上的进入和离开向量之间的角度大于min_angle）。