Inspection reporting including a 3D vehicle model

• US 9,454,854 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2013
• Issued: 09/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mobile Productivity, Inc. (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mobile Productivity, Inc. (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Easterly, Darek, Boyle, David A., Preece, David Leland, Broadbent, Jennifer Ada, Silver, Leslie J., Daley, Marcus Isaac
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Thanh
• Application Number:
  US13/892,832
• Publication Number:
  US 20140088819A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,233 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/007 Wheeled or endless-tracked vehicles G01M17/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance

Abstract

In one embodiment, a visual reporting system generates a 3-dimensional (3D) interactive vehicle inspection report comprising 3D model data and inspection data for a particular vehicle. The inspection data, such as recommended repair items, are associated with graphical vehicle sections in the 3D model. Further, additional inspection data, such as instructional videos or inspection photographs, can be provided to a user desiring additional detail. By providing an interactive visual representation of inspection data, the 3D inspection report provides a report that can be customized to provide different levels of detail to different users. In addition, the 3D model can provide a visually compact summary of the inspection data by marking on the 3D model the repair items for the vehicle. Use of the 3D inspection report can raise the likelihood that the vehicle owner understands the need for repair, leading to more repair orders for repair facilities.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing, by a computing system having one or more hardware computer processors, vehicle inspection data for a vehicle, wherein;

the vehicle inspection data includes one or more recommended repairs for the vehicle,

each of the recommended repairs is associated with respective one or more vehicle sections of a plurality of vehicle sections, and

each of the recommended repairs was previously provided as vehicle inspection data in connection with an inspection of the vehicle to identify possible repairs to perform to the vehicle;

generating, by the computing system, an interactive user interface including;

an inspection report listing at least some of the recommended repairs, and

a graphical image of the vehicle,

receiving, by the computing system, a user-provided input that indicates a selection of a vehicle section via the graphical image of the vehicle included in the interactive user interface; and

in response to receiving the user-provided input;

updating, by the computing system, the graphical image of the vehicle to depict an orientation of the vehicle in which the vehicle section is prominent;

determining, by the computing system, a subset of the recommended repairs that are associated with the vehicle section; and

updating, by the computing system, the inspection report to include a listing of only the subset of recommended repairs determined to be associated with the vehicle section.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive user interface further includes indications on the graphical image of the vehicle of vehicle sections having associated recommended repairs, wherein the indications include at least one of shading, highlighting, or coloring on the graphical image of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating, by the computing system, one or more items of additional information with at least one of the subsets of recommended repairs; and

in response to receiving a second user-provided input that indicates a selection of the at least one of the subsets of recommended repairs via the interactive user interface, causing, by the computing system, the one or more items of additional information to be presented on the interactive user interface.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more items of additional information comprises at least one of:

an instructional video about the at least one of the subsets of recommended repairs or an inspection image of the at least one of the subsets of recommended repairs.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more items of additional information further comprises at least one of:

a repair estimate or a recommended repair status.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

in response to receiving a second user-provided input that indicated a selection of a repair item from the inspection report, updating, by the computing system, the graphical image of the vehicle to depict an orientation of the vehicle in which a vehicle section associated with the repair item prominent.

7. A method of providing an interactive user interface associated with a vehicle inspection to a user, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device having one or more computer processors and one or more electronic storage devices, an interactive user interface including;

an inspection report listing one or more repair items associated with an inspected vehicle, wherein the one or more repair items were previously obtained as part of an inspection of the inspected vehicle to identify possible repairs to perform to the inspected vehicle, and wherein each of the one or more repair items is associated with a respective vehicle component of the inspected vehicle, and

a graphical image of a vehicle that is representative of the inspected vehicle;

updating the graphical image to depict different orientations of the vehicle in response to inputs received on the computing device; and

in response to an input updating the graphical image to depict a particular orientation of the vehicle;

determining a vehicle component displayed in the graphical image at the particular orientation; and

updating the inspection report to include a subset of repair items associated with the vehicle component viewable in the graphical image at the particular orientation.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

in response to receiving a selection of a repair item included on the user interface, displaying a popup window having inspection data related to the selected repair item, the inspection data comprising at least one of;

an instructional video about the selected repair item or an inspection image of the selected repair item.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the inspection data further comprises at least one of:

a repair estimate of the selected repair item or a status of the selected repair item.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

providing indicators of vehicle components having associated repair items by at least one of highlighting, shading, or coloring respective vehicle components in the graphical image, wherein a first indicator of the indicators indicates a low priority repair item and a second indicator of the indicators indicates a high priority repair item.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first indicator is a first color and the second indicator is a second color.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the input comprises a selection of a repair item on the graphical image.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the input comprises a selection of a repair item on a repair list associated with the graphical image, wherein the repair list includes one or more repair items associated with a vehicle component displayed in the graphical image.

14. A computing system comprising:

a storage device configured to store electronic software instructions; and

one or more computer processors configured to execute the stored electronic software instructions to cause the computing system to;

access inspection data for an inspected vehicle, wherein the inspection data includes one or more repair items each associated with respective vehicle components of the inspected vehicle;

generate an interactive user interface including;

a graphical image of a vehicle that is representative of the inspected vehicle, the graphical image having a plurality of graphical vehicle sections corresponding to physical vehicle sections of the inspected vehicle, the graphical image configured to depict at least one of different views or different orientations of the vehicle in response to input from a user of the system, each of the graphical vehicle sections being representative of one or more of the vehicle components of the inspected vehicle; and

in response to an input from the user;

update the graphical image of the vehicle to depict at least one of a particular view or a particular orientation of the vehicle;

determine a graphical vehicle section depicted in the graphical image;

determine a vehicle component associated with the graphical vehicle section; and

update the interactive user interface to include an inspection report listing a subset of repair items associated with the vehicle component associated with the graphical vehicle section depicted in the graphical image at the at least one of the particular view or the particular orientation of the vehicle.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein graphical vehicle sections on the graphical image that are representative of vehicle components associated with at least one repair item are indicated on the graphical image.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more computer processors are configured to execute the stored electronic software instructions to cause the computing system to further:

receive a selection of one or more repair items for repair, wherein the one or more repair items are selected by the user from the subset of repair items.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein graphical vehicle sections that are representative of vehicle components associated with repair items are configured to display inspection data related to the associated repair items in a popup window upon selection of the respective graphical vehicle sections.