Roof inspection systems and methods

• US 10,489,863 B1
• Filed: 05/26/2016
• Issued: 11/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Matheson, Cory A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bartley, Kenneth
• Application Number:
  US15/165,854
• Time in Patent Office: 1,279 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70

Abstract

Disclosed are computer implemented systems and methods for in situ inspection of a roof of a policy holder'"'"'s dwelling. The inspection system establishes a baseline condition at a first point in time for the roof by scanning using one or more sensors to collect baseline condition data. The roof is scanned at a point in time subsequent to the first point in time to establish a present condition using the one or more sensors to collect present condition data. The baseline condition data and the present condition data are transmitted to a computing device which compares the baseline condition data with the present condition data to determine anomalies indicative of roof damage or deterioration and/or to determine repair needs for the roof.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for in situ inspection of a roof of a building, the method performed by at least one computing device and comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device, baseline condition data that is generated by sensors scanning at least a portion of the roof during a first period of time, wherein the baseline condition data is communicated, over at least one network to the at least one computing device, as a first aggregate data packet, wherein at least one of the sensors is movable by a rail system in the building to scan multiple portions of the roof, and wherein the baseline condition data includes baseline structural data that is generated by at least one structural sensor that is arranged in the building to physically measure structural elements of the building, including one or more of a slope of a structural element, a load on a structural element, and a strain on a structural element;

determining, by an analyzer module executing on the at least one computing device, a baseline condition of the roof, the baseline condition determined by the analyzer module based on analyzing the baseline condition data;

receiving, by the at least one computing device, present condition data that is generated by the sensors scanning at least the portion of the roof during a second period of time subsequent to the first period of time, wherein the present condition data is communicated, over the at least one network to the at least one computing device, as a second aggregate data packet and wherein the present condition data includes present structural data that is generated by the at least one structural sensor;

determining, by the analyzer module executing on the at least one computing device, a present condition of the roof, the present condition determined by the analyzer module based on analyzing the present condition data;

comparing, by the analyzer module executing on the at least one computing device, the baseline condition data with the present condition data to determine, based on one or more differences between the baseline condition data and the present condition data including a difference in the measured structural element one or more anomalies that are indicative of a deviation of the present condition from the baseline condition that indicates at least one of roof damage or roof deterioration; and

transmitting, by the at least one computing device, a report that describes the deviation of the present condition from the baseline condition.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting a repair report to one or more of a policy holder and an insurer responsive to an anomaly being detected.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the scanning for present condition data occurs intermittently.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the scanning for present condition data occurs after a severe weather event has occurred in a geographic region for the roof.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the scanning for present condition data occurs after a roof maintenance or repair event.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the baseline condition is reestablished after a roof maintenance or repair event occurs and retransmitted to the at least one computing device.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein present condition data collected by the scanning over an evaluation period is used by the at least one computing device to create a roof wear profile.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor that is movable by the rail system allows for a complete profile of the roof to be generated.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the comparison of the baseline condition data with the present condition data is used to determine repair needs for the roof.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein determining repair needs comprises analyzing an insurance policy to determine whether said insurance policy covers said repair needs.

11. The method recited in claim 9, wherein determining repair needs comprises determining the age and condition of the roof.

12. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising the step of calculating a value of an insurance claim corresponding to the determined repair needs.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising providing a notification to a policy holder indicating the determined repair needs.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one computing device is one or more of a local computing device, a cloud server, and a remote server maintained by an insurer.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the notification includes a recommendation of one or more vendors to perform insurance related repairs based on the determined repair needs.

16. A computer system for in situ inspection of a roof of a building, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors positioned on an interior of the roof, the sensors including;

i) at least one movable sensor that is movable by a rail system in the building to scan multiple portions of the roof, and ii) at least one structural sensor that is arranged in the building to physically measure structural elements of the building, including one or more of a slope of a structural element, a load on a structural element, and a strain on a structural element; and

a computing device in communication with the sensors, the computing device including memory and a processing unit, wherein the memory is configured to store instructions for the sensors and to store baseline condition data and present condition data received from the sensors, and wherein the processor is disposed in communication with said memory, and the processor upon execution of the instructions is configured to perform operations including;

receiving the baseline condition data that is generated by the sensors scanning at least a portion of the roof during a first period of time, wherein the baseline condition data is communicated, over at least one network to the computing device, as a first aggregate data packet, wherein the baseline condition data includes baseline structural data that is generated by at least one structural sensor;

determining a baseline condition of the roof, the baseline condition determined by an analyzer module based on analyzing the baseline condition data;

receiving present condition data that is generated by the sensors scanning at least the portion of the roof during a second period of time subsequent to the first period of time, wherein the present condition data is communicated, over the at least one network to the at least one computing device, as a second aggregate data packet wherein the present condition data includes present structural data that is generated by the at least one structural sensor;

determining a present condition of the roof, the present condition determined by the analyzer module based on analyzing the present condition data;

comparing the baseline condition data with the present condition data to determine, based on one or more differences between the baseline condition data and the present condition data including a difference in the measured structural element, one or more anomalies that are indicative of a deviation of the present condition from the baseline condition that indicates at least one of roof damage or roof deterioration; and

transmitting a report that describes the deviation of the present condition from the baseline condition.

17. The system as recited in claim 16, further comprising a transmitter for communicating condition data obtained by at least one of the sensors to a cloud storage server.

18. The system as recited in claim 16, further comprising the analyzer module which compares the baseline condition data with the present condition data to determine anomalies indicative of roof damage.

19. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the processor instructs at least one of the sensors to collect present condition data intermittently.

20. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the processor instructs at least one of the sensors to collect present condition data after a severe weather event has occurred in a geographic region for the roof.

21. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the processor instructs at least one of the sensors to collect present condition data after a roof maintenance or repair event.

22. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the at least one sensor that is movable by the rail system allows for a complete profile of the roof to be generated.

23. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the sensors further include one or more of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a water detection sensor, a wind speed sensor, a motion sensor, an infrared sensor, an environmental sensor, and an optical sensor.

24. The system as recited in claim 16, further comprising a power source for at least one of the sensors.