Systems and methods for improved property inspection management

• US 9,519,734 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2015
• Issued: 12/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Scope Solutions LLC
• Original Assignee: Uscope Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Randolph, Earl
• Primary Examiner(s): Lefkowitz, Sumati
• Assistant Examiner(s): Potts, Ryan P
• Application Number:
  US14/883,620
• Publication Number:
  US 20160110480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 425 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 11/20 Drawing from basic elements, e.g. lines or circles
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/04 Architectural design, interior design
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/00 Geometric image transformations in the plane of the image

Abstract

Systems and methods presented herein can allow an inspector or other user to sketch a floor plan on a customized graph template. The graph template can be customized by a system based on the property the user is visiting. The user can take a picture of the customized graph template with a mobile computing device. An application executing on the mobile computing device or a server can transform the sketch in the picture into a floor plan.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions for generating a floor plan, the instructions causing a processor to perform stages including:

generating a first graph template for a first property, wherein the first graph template includes an information region and a graph region in a single document, wherein generating the first graph template includes supplying different information selection options in the information region than in a second graph template that is generated for a second property, based on characteristics of the first property;

capturing a photograph of the information region and graph region of the first graph template;

analyzing the photograph to retrieve a property characteristic from the information region;

vectorizing the graph region to transform a sketch into a floor plan; and

storing the property characteristic with the floor plan.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, the stages further including:

prioritizing visitation of a plurality of properties for a first user, the first and second properties being included in the plurality of properties; and

printing the graph templates in order of priority, wherein the graph templates are generated to contain property-specific information selection options in the information region portions of the graph templates.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the graph region includes a grid with a first color, wherein the stages further include:

eliminating lines matching the first color prior to vectorizing.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the vectorizing includes:

scaling the graph region to a predetermined size or resolution;

based on grid markers, warping the scaled graph region to account for curvature of the graph region in the photograph; and

detecting horizontal and vertical lines in the warped graph region.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, the stages further including generating a report based at least in part on the stored property characteristic and the floor plan.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, the stages further including:

determining dimensions of at least some horizontal and vertical lines in the floor plan based on a scale for grid markers; and

storing the dimensions with the floor plan.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the scale for grid markers is determined based on detecting a user annotation in the information region.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, the stages further including:

determining labels for rooms in the floor plan based on codes provided in the graph region by a user; and

storing the labels with the floor plan.

9. A system for managing user mobile devices in an environment, the system comprising:

a database that stores property information and user information;

at least one processor that performs stages including;

generating a first graph template for a first property based on the property information, wherein the first graph template includes an information region and a graph region in a single document, wherein generating the first graph template includes supplying different information selection options in the information region than in a second graph template that is generated for a second property, based on characteristics of the first property;

analyzing a photograph of the information region and graph region to retrieve a property characteristic from the information region;

vectorizing the graph region to transform a sketch into a floor plan; and

storing the property characteristic and the floor plan with the property information in the database.

10. The system of claim 9, the stages further including printing a plurality of graph templates including the first and second graph templates in an order that is dictated by a scheduled visitation route.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the vectorizing includes:

scaling the graph region to a predetermined size or resolution;

based on grid markers, warping the scaled graph region to account for curvature of the graph region in the photograph; and

detecting horizontal and vertical lines in the warped graph region.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor performs further stages including:

determining dimensions of at least some horizontal and vertical lines in the floor plan based on a scale for grid markers; and

storing the dimensions with the floor plan.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the scale for grid markers is determined based on detecting a user annotation in the information region that indicates the scale.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor performs further stages including:

determining labels for rooms in the floor plan based on codes provided in the graph region by a user; and

storing the labels with the floor plan.

15. A computer-implemented method, including:

generating a first graph template for a first property, wherein the first graph template includes an information region and a graph region in a single document, wherein generating the first graph template includes supplying different information selection options in the information region than in a second graph template that is generated for a second property, based on characteristics of the first property;

capturing a photograph of the information region and graph region of the first graph template;

analyzing the photograph to retrieve a property characteristic from the information region;

vectorizing the graph region to transform a sketch into a floor plan; and

storing the property characteristic with the floor plan.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further including:

printing the graph templates in order of priority, wherein the graph templates are dynamically generated to contain property-specific information selection options in the information region portions of the graph templates.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the vectorizing includes:

scaling the graph region to a predetermined size or resolution;

based on grid markers, warping the scaled graph region to account for curvature of the graph region in the photograph; and

detecting horizontal and vertical lines in the warped graph region.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, the stages further including:

determining dimensions of at least some horizontal and vertical lines in the floor plan based on a scale for grid markers; and

storing the dimensions with the floor plan.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the scale for grid markers is determined based on detecting a user annotation in the information region.