Aerial roof estimation system and method

• US 8,145,578 B2
• Filed: 04/17/2008
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EagleView Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Eagel View Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Carlson, Dave, Pershing, Chris
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Clark, David J
• Application Number:
  US12/148,439
• Publication Number:
  US 20080262789A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,440 Days
• Field of Search: 705/400, 705/4, 705/313, 703/2
• US Class Current: 705/400
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 Real estate

Abstract

A system that allows the remote measurement of the size, geometry, pitch and orientation of the roof sections of a building and then uses the information to provide an estimate to repair or replace the roof, or to install equipment thereon. The system includes an aerial image file database that shows aerial images of buildings in a designated area according to address. The slope and orientation images are typically oblique perspective views and top plan views of the buildings in the area. The system also includes an image analysis and calibration feature that enables the viewer to closely estimate the size, geometry and orientation of the building'"'"'s roof sections. The information can then be used to prepare a cost estimate for the repair or replacement of the roof or installation of roof equipment. By simply inputting the potential customer'"'"'s address, the company is able to determine the size, geometry, pitch and orientation of the roof sections of the building at that address, and then quickly provide an accurate estimate to the customer.

Claims

1. A system for remotely determining measurements of a roof, comprising:

a computer including an input means, a display means and a non-transitory memory; and

a roof estimation software program stored in the non-transitory memory and operable to cause a processor of the computer to;

receive location information of a building in a selected region;

receive image files representing a plurality of distinct roof sections of a roof of said building;

determine, measurements of the roof including size, dimensions, and pitch of the plurality of distinct roof sections of the roof of said building based solely on the received image files; and

outputting a report having the determined measurements therein.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising an image file database containing a plurality of images of roofs of buildings, the image file database loaded into said non-transitory memory of said computer.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the roof estimation software program stored in the non-transitory memory is further operable to cause the processor of the computer to access an image file database that is located on a second computer that is remote from said computer.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the roof estimation software program stored in the non-transitory memory is further operable to cause the processor of the computer to receive a request for an estimate at said computer from remote locations.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the roof estimation software program is further operable to cause the processor of the computer to produce an HVAC installation estimate based on the determined measurements.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the roof estimation software program is further operable to cause the processor of the computer to produce a solar panel installation estimate based on the determined measurements.

5. A system for remotely determining measurements of a roof, comprising:

a computer including an input means, a display means and a non-transitory memory; and

a roof estimation software program stored in the non-transitory memory and operable to cause a processor of the computer to;

receive location information of a building in a selected region;

receive image files representing a plurality of distinct roof sections of a roof of said building;

determine, measurements of the roof including size, dimensions, and pitch of the plurality of distinct roof sections of the roof of said building based solely on the received image files; and

produce a roof construction estimate based on the determined measurements.

8. A system for remotely determining measurements of a roof, comprising:

a computer including an input means, a display means and a non-transitory memory; and

a roof estimation software program stored in the non-transitory memory and operable to cause a processor of the computer to;

receive location information of a building in a selected region;

receive image files representing a plurality of distinct roof sections of a roof of said building; and

determine, measurements of the roof including size, dimensions, and pitch of the roof sections of the roof of said building based solely on the received image files; and

produce a roof gutter installation estimate based on the determined measurements.

9. A system for remotely determining measurement of a roof, comprising:

a computer including an input means, a display means and a non-transitory memory; and

a roof estimation software program stored in the non-transitory memory and operable to cause a processor of the computer to;

receive location information of a building in a selected region;

receive image files representing roof sections of a roof of said building; and

determine, measurements of the roof including size, dimensions, and pitch of the plurality of distinct roof sections of the roof of said building based solely on the received image files; and

produce a repair or replacement estimate based on the determined measurements.

10. A method for determining measurements of a roof, comprising:

receiving, by a roof computer system, a request for a measurement of a roof of a building;

receiving, by the roof system, a location of the building;

determining by a calibration module of the roof computer system, measurements of the roof including size, dimensions and pitch of a plurality of distinct roof sections of the building based solely on image files of said roof of the building at said location; and

generating, by the roof computer system, a roof report based on the determined measurements; and

outputting the generated roof report.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the request for the measurement includes receiving the request from at least one of:

a building tenant, a building owner, a roofing contractor, a solar panel installation company, a gutter installation company, an HVAC company, and an insurance company.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein generating the roof estimate report includes generating a line drawing of the roof labeled with at least one of the determined measurements.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the roof estimate report includes at least one image based on at least one of the image files.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein determining the measurements of the roof includes constructing, based on the image files, a three-dimensional geometry of the roof.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein constructing the three-dimensional geometry of the roof includes co-registering, based on a set of reference points, at least two images based on the image files.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein determining the measurements of the roof includes determining linear measurements of the roof sections.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein determining the measurements of the roof includes identifying ridges or valleys of said roof.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein receiving the request for the measurement of the roof includes receiving, from a customer, an address of said building.

19. The method of claim 10 further comprising obtaining receiving the image files of said roof includes from an image database.

20. A method for determining measurements of a roof, comprising:

receiving a request for measuring a roof of a building, the request including location information for the building, the roof including a plurality of distinct sections;

receiving, based on the location information, image files representing a plurality of distinct roof sections of the roof of the building; and

determining, by a roof estimation computer system, the measurements of the roof based solely on the received image files, the measurements including a pitch of each of the plurality of distinct sections of the roof.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein determining the measurements of the roof includes constructing, based on the image files, a three-dimensional geometry of the roof.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein constructing the three-dimensional geometry of the roof includes co-registering, based on a set of reference points, aerial images based on the image files.

25. The method of claim 20 wherein receiving the image files representing a plurality of distinct roof sections aerial images of the roof includes receiving the image files from an aerial-image database.

21. A method for determining measurements of a roof, comprising:

receiving a request for measuring a roof of a building, the request including location information for the building, the roof including a plurality of distinct sections;

receiving, based on the location information, image files representing a plurality of distinct roof sections aerial images of the roof of the building;

determining, by a roof estimation computer system, the measurements of the roof based solely on the received image files, the measurements including an area and a pitch of each of the plurality of sections of the roof; and

producing a roof estimate report based on the determined measurements of the roof.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the roof estimate report includes a line drawing of the roof labeled with at least one of the determined measurements.

26. A system for remotely determining measurements of a roof, the system comprising:

a computer including a display and a non-transitory memory; and

a roof estimating software program stored in the non-transitory memory and operable to;

receive location information of a building in the selected region;

receive image files representing a plurality of distinct roof sections of a roof of said building;

present on the display images showing the plurality of distinct roof sections of said building based on the received image files;

determine, the measurements of the roof including size, dimensions, and pitch of the plurality of distinct roof sections of said building based solely on the received image files; and

output a report including the determined measurements.

27. The system of claim 26 further comprising an image file database that includes the received image files.

28. A method for determining measurements of a roof, comprising:

receiving a request for measuring a roof of a building, the request including location information for the building, the roof including a plurality of distinct sections;

receiving image files representing the plurality of distinct sections of the roof of the building from a remote aerial-image database, the receiving based on the location information for the building;

determining, by a roof estimation computer system, the measurements of the roof based solely on the received image files, the measurements including an area and a pitch of each of the plurality of distinct sections of the roof;

identifying, based on the received image files, ridges of the roof; and

outputting a roof estimate report based on the determined measurements of the roof, the roof estimate report including at least some of the determined measurements.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein constructing the three-dimensional geometry of the roof includes co-registering, based on a set of reference points, images of the roof.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein receiving the request for measuring the roof includes receiving the request from at least one of:

a building tenant, a building owner, a roofing contractor, a solar panel installation company, a gutter installation company, an HVAC company, and an insurance company.

29. The method of 28 wherein determining the measurements of the roof includes constructing, based on the image files, a three-dimensional geometry of the roof.

32. A method for providing a roof report comprising:

receiving image files of a roof having a plurality of distinct sections, the received image files representing the plurality of distinct sections;

determining, by a computer system, roof pitch measurements by constructing a three-dimensional geometry of the roof based solely on the received image files;

generating a first image of the roof showing a plan view of the roof, the generated image including a first set of lines representing the sections of the roof on the first generated image;

indicating the roof pitch measurements on the first generated image, said roof pitch measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and said roof pitch measurements showing a pitch of at least one of the sections within a section of the roof having the pitch; and

outputting a roof report including the first generated image.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein said roof pitch measurements show, within each section, a pitch of the section.

34. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

indicating roof area measurements on the roof report, said roof area measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and showing an area of at least one of the sections within a section of the roof having the area.

35. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

indicating roof area measurements on the roof report, said roof area measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and showing, within each section, an area of the section.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the indicating roof area measurements on the roof report comprises indicating roof area measurements on the roof report on a second generated image of the roof included in the roof report different than the first generated image.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the indicating roof area measurements on the roof report on a second generated image of the roof included in the roof report different than the first generated image comprises:

generating the second image of the roof showing a plan view of the roof, the generated second image including a second set of lines representing the sections of the roof on the second generated image; and

indicating roof area measurements on the second generated image, said roof area measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and showing an area of at least one of the sections within a section of the roof having the area, and wherein the outputted roof report includes the first and second generated images.

38. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

indicating roof dimension measurements on the roof report, said roof dimension measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and showing an approximate actual length of a sloped edge of a roof section proximate to a line of the first set of lines, said line representing the sloped edge.

39. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

indicating roof dimension measurements on the roof report, said roof dimension measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and showing, proximate to each line of the first set of lines, a dimension of a roof section represented by the line.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the indicating roof dimension measurements on the roof report comprises indicating roof dimension measurements on the roof report on a second generated image of the roof included in the roof report different than the first generated image.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein the indicating roof dimension measurements on the roof report on a second generated image of the roof included in the roof report different than the first generated image comprises:

generating the second image of the roof showing a plan view of the roof, the generated second image including a second set of lines representing the sections of the roof on the second generated image; and

indicating roof dimension measurements on the second generated image, said roof dimension measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and showing an approximate actual length of a sloped edge of a roof section proximate to a line of the second set of lines, said line representing the sloped edge, and wherein the outputted roof report includes the first and second generated images.

42. The method of claim 32 wherein the generated first image of the roof is a line drawing.

43. A method for providing a roof report comprising:

receiving aerial image files of a roof having a plurality of distinct sections, the received image files representing the plurality of distinct sections;

determining, by a computer system, roof area and pitch measurements by constructing a three-dimensional geometry of the roof based solely on the received aerial image files;

generating a first image of the roof showing a plan view of the roof, the generated image including a first set of lines representing the sections of the roof on the first generated image;

indicating the-roof area measurements on the first generated image, said roof area measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and said roof area measurements showing an area of at least one of the sections within a section of the roof having the area; and

outputting a roof report including the generated first image.

44. The method of claim 43 further comprising:

indicating roof dimension measurements on the roof report, said roof dimension measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and showing, proximate to each line of the first set of lines, a dimension of a roof section represented by the line.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein the indicating roof dimension measurements on the roof report comprises indicating roof dimension measurements on the roof report on a second generated image of the roof included in the roof report different than the first generated image.

46. The method of claim 43 wherein the generated first image of the roof is a line drawing.

47. A method for providing a roof report comprising:

receiving aerial image files of a roof having a plurality of distinct sections, the received aerial image files representing the plurality of distinct sections;

determining, by a computer system, roof pitch measurements, roof area measurements and roof dimension measurements by constructing a three-dimensional geometry of the roof based solely on the received aerial image files;

generating a first, second and third image of the roof, the generated images each showing a plan view of the roof, and each including a set of lines representing the sections of the roof;

indicating the roof pitch measurements on the first image, said roof pitch measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and said roof pitch measurements showing a pitch of at least one of the sections within a section of the roof having the pitch;

indicating roof area measurements on the second image, said roof area measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and showing an area of at least one of the sections within a section of the roof having the area;

indicating roof dimension measurements on the third image, said roof dimension measurements determined by the reconstructed three dimensional geometry and showing an approximate actual length of a sloped edge of a roof section proximate to a line of the set of lines included on the third image, said line representing the sloped edge; and

outputting a roof report including the first second and third images.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein said roof pitch measurements show, within each of the sections of the roof shown on the first image, a pitch of the section, wherein said roof area measurements show, within each of the sections of the roof shown on the second image, an area of the section, and wherein said roof dimension measurements show, proximate to each line of the set of lines included on the third image, a dimension of a roof section represented by the line.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein the first, second and third images of the roof are line drawings.

50. A system for providing a roof report comprising:

a computer including a processor; and

a non-transitory memory operably coupled to the processor, the non-transitory memory having computer executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive aerial mage files of a roof having a plurality of distinct sections, the received aerial image files representing the plurality of distinct sections;

determine roof pitch measurements, roof area measurements and roof dimension measurements with the computer and processor based solely on the received aerial image files;

generate at least one image of the roof, the image showing a line drawing of the roof, and the plurality of the sections of the roof;

indicate the roof pitch measurements on at least one image of the roof, said roof pitch measurements determined by the reconstructed three-dimensional geometry and said roof pitch measurements showing a pitch of at least one of the sections within a section of the roof having the pitch;

indicate roof area measurements on at least one image of the roof, said roof area measurements determined by the reconstructed three-dimensional geometry and showing an area of at least one of the sections within a section of the roof having the area;

indicate roof dimension measurements on at least one image of the roof, said roof dimension measurements determined by the reconstructed three-dimensional geometry and showing an approximate actual length of a sloped edge of a roof section proximate to a fine of the set of lines included on the third image, said fine representing the sloped edge; and

output a roof report including the at least one image of the roof.

51. The system of claim 50 wherein said roof pitch measurements show, within each of the sections of the roof shown on the first image, a pitch of the section, wherein said roof area measurements show, within each of the sections of the roof shown on the second image, an area of the section, and wherein said roof dimension measurements show, proximate to each line of the set of lines included on the third image, a dimension of a roof section represented by the line.

52. The system of claim 51 wherein the at least one image of the roof is a plan view line drawing.