Concurrent display systems and methods for aerial roof estimation

• US 8,825,454 B2
• Filed: 05/17/2012
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EagleView Technologies Incorporated (Eagleview Technologies, Inc. /Wa/)
• Original Assignee: EagleView Technologies Incorporated (Eagleview Technologies, Inc. /Wa/)
• Inventors: Pershing, Chris
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Kamini S
• Assistant Examiner(s): PIERRE LOUIS, ANDRE
• Application Number:
  US13/474,504
• Publication Number:
  US 20120223965A1
• Time in Patent Office: 838 Days
• Field of Search: 703/1
• US Class Current: 703/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/13 Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/20 Finite element generation, e.g. wire-frame surface description, tesselation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10012 Stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30184 Infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/593 from stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/176 Urban or other man-made structures

Abstract

User interface systems and methods for roof estimation are described. Example embodiments include a roof estimation system that provides a user interface configured to facilitate roof model generation based on one or more aerial images of a building roof. In one embodiment, roof model generation includes image registration, image lean correction, roof section pitch determination, wire frame model construction, and/or roof model review. The described user interface provides user interface controls that may be manipulated by an operator to perform at least some of the functions of roof model generation. The user interface is further configured to concurrently display roof features onto multiple images of a roof. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method in a roof estimate report system including at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the method comprising:

displaying, by the at least one processor of the roof estimate report system, a plurality of aerial images of a roof at the same time on a single display, each of the aerial images providing a different view, taken from a different angle of the same roof;

displaying, by the at least one processor of the roof estimate report system, respective line drawings representing features of the roof, the respective line drawings overlying a first and a second aerial image of the plurality of aerial images of the roof on the single display, the line drawing overlying the first aerial image of the roof having features in common with the line drawing overlying the second aerial image of the roof;

in response to user input, changing, by the at least one processor of the roof estimate report system, the line drawing representing a feature of the roof that overlies the first aerial image of the roof;

correlating, by the at least one processor of the roof estimate report system, a location of the feature on the roof represented by the line drawing that has been changed to a location of a corresponding feature represented by the line drawing overlying the second aerial image;

based on the correlation, changing, by the at least one processor of the roof estimate report system, the corresponding feature in the line drawing overlying the second aerial image according to the change of the line drawing representing the feature of the roof that overlies the first aerial image; and

generating and outputting a roof estimate report using a report generation engine, wherein the roof estimate report includes one or more top plan views of a model of the roof annotated with numerical values for corresponding slope, area, or lengths of the edges of at least some of the plurality of planar roof sections of the model of the roof.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, before the displaying the respective line drawings, modifying a three-dimensional model of the roof based on a received indication of a roof feature by adding a planar roof section to the three-dimensional model.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the indicated roof feature is at least one of:

a point on the roof, a section of the roof, a ridgeline of the roof, a valley of the roof, a rake edge of the roof, an eave of the roof, a hip ridge of the roof, an edge of a section of the roof, and a corner of a section of the roof.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the displaying the respective line drawings comprises:

displaying the respective line drawing overlying the first aerial image at a first time; and

displaying the respective the line drawing overlying the second aerial image at a second time that is substantially coincident to the first time.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving an indication of one of the features of the roof at a first time, and wherein the displaying the respective line drawings occurs at a second time that is substantially coincident to the first time.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the displaying the respective line drawings includes initiating display of a line on the first and second image.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first image provides a substantially top plan view of the roof of the building, and wherein the second image provides a perspective view of the roof of the building.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first image provides a first perspective view of the roof of the building and the second image provides a second perspective view of the roof of the building.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting roof measurement information based at least in part on the change of the line drawing representing a feature of the roof that overlies the first aerial image of the roof.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying a marker operable to specify a point on an image;

receiving, via the marker, an indication of a point on the first aerial image; and

registering, based on the received indication of the point, the aerial image to a reference grid corresponding to a three-dimensional model of the roof.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying a lean correction marker operable to indicate a vertical axis of an aerial image;

receiving, via the lean correction marker, an indication of a vertical axis of the first aerial image; and

registering, based on the received indication of the vertical axis, the first aerial image to a reference grid corresponding to a three-dimensional model of the roof.

12. A computing system for generating a roof estimate report, the computing system comprising:

a memory;

at least one processor coupled to the memory; and

a roof estimation module that is stored on the memory and that is configured, when executed by at least one processor of the computing system for generating the roof estimate report, to;

substantially concurrently display a projection of a roof feature onto first and second aerial images as a line drawing of the roof feature;

overlay the line drawing of the roof feature on corresponding locations of the feature on the first and second aerial images;

in response to user input causing modification of the line drawing overlaid on the first aerial image, make corresponding changes to the line drawing overlaid on the second aerial image; and

generate and output a roof estimate report using a report generation engine, wherein the roof estimate report includes one or more top plan views of a model of the roof annotated with numerical values for corresponding slope, area, or lengths of the edges of at least some of the plurality of planar roof sections of the model of the roof.

13. The computing system of claim 12 wherein the roof estimation module includes an interactive roof modeling user interface.

14. The computing system of claim 12 wherein the computing system is a desktop computer and the roof estimation module is part of an interactive roof modeling program executing on the computing system.

15. The computing system of claim 12 wherein the roof estimation module is part of a network accessible roof modeling program executing on the computing system.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having computer executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one computer processor, cause the at least one processor to enable a computing system to generate a roof estimate report for a building having a roof, by performing a method comprising:

substantially concurrently displaying a projection of a roof feature as a line drawing of the feature onto a first aerial image of the roof that provides a first view of the roof of the building and onto a second aerial image that provides a second view of the roof of the building;

overlaying the line drawing on corresponding locations of the feature on the first and second aerial images;

in response to user input causing modification of the line drawing overlaid on the first aerial image, making corresponding changes to the line drawing overlaid on the second aerial image; and

generating and outputting a roof estimate report using a report generation engine, wherein the roof estimate report includes one or more top plan views of a model of the roof annotated with numerical values for corresponding slope, area, or lengths of the edges of at least some of the plurality of planar roof sections of the model of the roof.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the method further comprises modifying a three-dimensional model of the roof by adding a planar roof section to the three-dimensional model.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the method further comprises receiving an indication of the feature of the building by receiving position information of the feature in the first aerial image, and wherein substantially concurrently displaying the projection of the feature includes:

translating the received position information into position information of the feature in a three-dimensional model; and

translating the position information of the feature in the three-dimensional model into position information of the feature in the second aerial image.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein displaying the projection of the feature comprises:

displaying the feature in the first aerial image at a first time; and

displaying the feature in the second aerial image at a second time that is within two seconds of the first time.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein displaying the projection of the feature includes displaying the projection of the feature substantially concurrently with receiving an indication of the feature of the building.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein displaying the projection of the feature includes displaying the projection of the feature at substantially the same time as receiving an indication of the feature of the building.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the method is performed iteratively, and the method further comprising:

providing an operator with an interactive model generation experience.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein displaying the projection of the feature includes initiating display of a line on the first and second image.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the first image provides a perspective view of the roof of the building, and wherein the second image provides a substantially top plan view of the roof of the building.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the method further comprises:

modifying a three dimensional model of the roof based at least on the modification of the line drawing overlaid on the first aerial image; and

generating a roof estimate report based at least in part on the modified three-dimensional model.

26. A computer-implemented method in a roof estimate report system including a computer system and a memory coupled to the computer system, the method comprising:

displaying, by the computer system of the roof estimate report system, a first aerial image of a roof on a single display;

displaying, by the computer system of the roof estimate report system, a second aerial image of the same roof on the same single display, the second aerial image providing a different view than the first aerial image, taken from a different angle of the same roof;

displaying, by the computer system of the roof estimate report system, a first line drawing representing features of the roof overlaid on the first aerial image of the roof;

displaying, by the computer system of the roof estimate report system, a second line drawing representing features of the roof overlaid on the second aerial image of the roof, the second line drawings having features in common with and that correspond to features in the first line drawing;

in response to user input, changing, a line in the first line drawing representing a feature of the roof that overlies the first aerial image of the roof;

changing, by the computer system of the roof estimate report system, a line in the second line drawing that corresponds to the same feature in the first line drawing that was changed by the user, the change in the second line drawing being made by the computer system in response to the change that was made by the user in the first line drawing; and

generating and outputting a roof estimate report using a report generation engine, wherein the roof estimate report includes one or more top plan views of a model of the roof annotated with numerical values for corresponding slope, area, or lengths of the edges of at least some of the plurality of planar roof sections of the model of the roof.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the roof feature is at least one of:

a ridgeline of the roof, a valley of the roof, a rake edge of the roof, an eave of the roof, a hip ridge of the roof, and an edge of a section of the roof.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the step of displaying, by the computer system of the roof estimate report system, a second line drawing representing features of the roof overlaid on the second aerial image of the roof comprises:

displaying the second line drawing after the first line drawing has been displayed.

29. The method of claim 26 wherein the step of changing, by the computer system of the roof estimate report system, a feature in the second line drawing overlying the second aerial image comprises:

changing the second line drawing at a time that is substantially concurrent to the time the changes are being made by the user in the first line drawing.

30. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

displaying the second line drawing overlying the second aerial image on the same display concurrently with displaying the first line drawing overlying the first aerial image of the roof on the same, single display.

31. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

displaying the second line drawing overlying the second aerial image on the same display at a later time, after the displaying of the first line drawing overlying the first aerial image of the roof on the display.

32. The method of claim 26 wherein the first image provides a substantially top plan view of the roof of the building, and the second image provides an oblique view of the roof of the building.

33. The method of claim 26 wherein the first image provides a first oblique view from a first compass bearing of the roof of the building, and the second image provides a second oblique view from a second compass bearing of the roof of the building.

34. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

displaying roof measurement information on the same display concurrently with the first line drawing being displayed.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the step of displaying roof measurement information on the same display concurrently with the first line drawing being displayed comprises:

displaying the roof measurement information in a location that overlays the line drawing itself.

36. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

displaying a wire frame model of the roof in isolation from any images of the roof on the same display.

37. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

modifying a wire frame model of the roof based on input received from a user; and

making, by the computer system of the roof estimate report system, corresponding changes in a 3D model of the roof based on the changes made by the user to the wire frame model.