Systems and methods for providing a roof guide

• US 9,384,510 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2014
• Issued: 07/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Donan Engineering Co., Inc.
• Original Assignee: Donan Engineering Co., Inc.
• Inventors: Battcher, Duane Michael, Riggs, David Brent, Noel, Leslie Ammerman, Donan, James Lyle
• Primary Examiner(s): YEH, EUENG NAN
• Application Number:
  US14/245,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20150093047A1
• Time in Patent Office: 823 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/532 Query formulation, e.g. graphical querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5866 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information
• 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: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/001 using an image reference approach
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for providing a roof guide, the method including: receiving, via an application on the mobile device of a user, a query related to one or more of a type of a roof and a type of damage to the roof; providing the query to a central server; retrieving, from the central server, at least one first roof image responsive to the query; receiving, via the application on the mobile device of the user, user input of a second roof image of a portion of the roof; and displaying, via the application on the mobile device of the user, the at least one first roof image and the second roof image.

Claims

1. A method for providing a roof guide, implemented on a mobile device of a user, and comprising:

providing an application on the mobile device, the application including a first data entry field;

receiving, via the first data entry field, a search query indicative of selection by the user of one or more of a type of roof and a type of roof damage;

providing the search query to a central server;

receiving, from the central server, at least one first roof image responsive to the search query, the at least one first roof image being a reference image depicting one or more of the type of roof and the type of roof damage;

receiving, via one or more selectable menus of the application on the mobile device of the user, user input of a second roof image of a portion of a roof under inspection; and

displaying, via the application on the mobile device of the user, the at least one first roof image and the second roof image to perform a roof damage comparison;

receiving, via a second data entry field of the application on the mobile device of the user, an input of data based on the comparison; and

providing the input of data to the central server for storing in one or more databases.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the search query relates to both the type of roof and the type of roof damage, and the at least one first roof image depicts both the type of roof and the type of roof damage.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the search query includes:

providing the user with at least one query suggestion; and

identifying user selection of the search query from the at least one query suggestion.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the input of data includes one or more of a text input, an audio input, an image input, and a video input.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one database of the one or more databases is external to the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, further including providing one or more of the input of data, the at least one first roof image, and the second roof image to the user.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein providing the input of data includes providing the input of data via one or more of an electronic mail and a text message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more selectable menus to input the second roof image includes a camera menu to capture a camera image of the roof, and further including:

identifying selection of the camera menu to capture the camera image; and

providing, via the application on the mobile device of the user, a mobile camera to capture the camera image.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the user input of the second roof image includes receiving, via the mobile camera, the camera image.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one first roof image includes a before-image of the roof.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the at least one first roof image and the second roof image includes image data from an aerial vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the aerial vehicle is one or more of a fixed wing aircraft, a rotating wing aircraft, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and a balloon.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of roof includes one or more of shingle, ceramic, membrane, metal, and concrete.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the shingle type of roof includes one or more of wood, slate, asphalt, synthetic rubber, and stone.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the membrane type of roof includes one or more of thermoset membrane, thermoplastic sheets, and synthetic polymer.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the metal type of roof includes one or more of galvanized steel, copper, and stone coated metal.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying, via a user interface of the application, one or more product identifiers, the one or more product identifiers identifying one or more roofing components related to the roof; and

providing the one or more product identifiers to the central server.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more roofing components include a shingle, tile, underlayment, flashing, skylight, hip, trim tile, hip starter, rake, gable end, eaves, battens, ridge board, rafter, ceiling joist, ridge beam, purlin, plate, brace, top chord, bottom chord, sheathing, and truss.

19. A computer implemented method for providing a roof guide, comprising:

receiving, at a central server, a search query from a mobile device, the search query indicative of user selection of one or more of a type of roof and a type of roof damage;

searching, based on the search query, one or more databases for at least one first roof image responsive to the search query, the at least one first roof image being a reference image depicting one or more of the type of roof and the type of roof damage;

providing the at least one first roof image to the mobile device;

receiving, at the central server, a second roof image of a portion of a roof under inspection from the mobile device;

storing the second roof image in the one or more databases;

receiving, at the central server, an input of data from the mobile device, the input of data based on a roof damage comparison of the at least one first roof image and the second roof image; and

storing the input of data in the one or more databases.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the input of data includes one or more of a text input, an audio input, an image input, and a video input.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein receiving the second roof image includes receiving a camera image, the camera image captured via a mobile camera of the mobile device.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one first roof image includes a before-image of the roof.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein one or more of the at least one first roof image and the second roof image includes image data from an aerial vehicle.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the aerial vehicle is one or more of a fixed wing aircraft, a rotating wing aircraft, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and a balloon.

25. A method of using a roof guide, the method comprising:

submitting a search query via a mobile device, the search query indicative of selection by a user of one or more of a type of roof and a type of roof damage;

receiving from one or more databases, via a graphical user interface on the mobile device, at least one first roof image responsive to the search query, the at least one first roof image being a reference image depicting one or more of the type of roof and the type of roof damage;

inputting, via one or more selectable menus of the graphical user interface on the mobile device, a second roof image of a portion of a roof under inspection;

performing a roof damage comparison using the at least one first roof image and the second roof image; and

determining one or more characteristics of the roof under inspection based on the comparison of the at least one first roof image and the second roof image, the one or more characteristics including the type of roof and the type of roof damage.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein submitting the search query via the mobile device includes entering the search query in a first data entry field.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein submitting the search query via the mobile device includes:

receiving, via the graphical user interface on the mobile device, at least one query suggestion; and

selecting the search query from the at least one query suggestion.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein inputting the second roof image of the portion of the roof includes capturing a camera image via a mobile camera.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein inputting the second roof image of the portion of the roof includes selecting the second roof image from a collection of roof images stored in the one or more databases.

30. A mobile device including memory, a communication interface, and one or more processors operable to execute instructions stored in the memory, comprising instructions to:

receive, via a data entry field of an application operating on the mobile device, a search query indicative of selection by a user of one or more of a type of roof and a type of roof damage;

provide the search query to a central server via the communication interface;

receive, from the central server via the communication interface, at least one first roof image responsive to the search query, the at least one first roof image being a reference image depicting one or more of the type of roof and the type of roof damage;

receive, via one or more selectable menus of the application on the mobile device of the user, user input of a second roof image of a portion of a roof under inspection; and

simultaneously display, via the application on the mobile device of the user, the at least one first roof image and the second roof image for the user to perform roof damage comparison.

31. The mobile device of claim 30, wherein the instructions further include instructions to provide a camera menu to capture a camera image of the roof, and further include instructions to:

identify selection of the camera menu to capture the camera image; and

provide, via the application on the mobile device of the user, a mobile camera to capture the camera image.

32. The mobile device of claim 31, wherein the instructions further include instructions to receive, via the mobile camera, the camera image.

33. A system including memory and one or more processors operable to execute instructions stored in the memory, comprising instructions to:

receive, at a central server, a search query from a mobile device, the search query indicative of user selection at the mobile device of one or more of a type of roof and a type of roof damage;

search, based on the search query, one or more databases for at least one first roof image responsive to the search query, the at least one first roof image being a reference image depicting one or more of the type of roof and the type of roof damage;

provide the at least one first roof image to the mobile device;

receive, at the central server, a second roof image of a portion of roof under inspection from the mobile device;

store the second roof image in the one or more databases;

receive an input of data from the mobile device, the input of data based on a roof damage comparison of the at least one first roof image and the second roof image; and

store the input of data in the one or more databases.