PITCH DETERMINATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION

• US 20190138665A1
• Filed: 06/26/2018
• Published: 05/09/2019
• 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
• Granted Patent: US 10,685,149 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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 17/20 Finite element generation, e.g. wire-frame surface description, tesselation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10032 Satellite or aerial image; Remote sensing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20104 Interactive definition of region of interest [ROI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30108 Industrial image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30184 Infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30204 Marker
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/12 Edge-based segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/30 Determination of transform parameters for the alignment of images, i.e. image registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/73 using feature-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/75 involving models
• 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. In one embodiment, the user interface provides user interface controls that facilitate the determination of pitch of one or more sections of a building 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 roof pitch determination machine comprising:

a roof pitch determination machine processor;

a screen operably coupled to the roof pitch determination machine processor; and

a memory coupled to the roof pitch determination machine processor having computer executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the roof pitch determination machine processor to;

cause a user interface engine to display a user interface on the screen;

cause the user interface engine to display on the user interface a top-down aerial image of a building having a roof;

cause the user interface engine to display on the user interface an oblique aerial image of the building having the roof;

in response to input from a user, cause the user interface engine to move a first origin marker control to a corner of the roof in the top-down aerial image;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to adjust arms of the first origin marker control to align with major horizontal axes of the roof in the top-down aerial image;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to move each registration marker of a plurality of registration markers to a respective different corner of the roof in the top-down image other than the corner of the roof to which the first origin marker control was moved;

receive input from the user indicating selection of corners of the roof in the top-down image to which the first origin marker control and the plurality of registration markers were moved;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to move a second origin marker control to a corner of the roof in the oblique aerial image that corresponds to a selected corner to which the first origin marker control was moved in the top-down aerial image;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to move each registration marker of a second plurality of registration markers to a respective different corner of the roof in the oblique aerial image that corresponds to a respective selected corner to which each registration marker of the first plurality of registration markers was moved in the top-down aerial image;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to adjust horizontal arms of the second origin marker control in the oblique aerial image to specify X and Y axes of a 3D reference grid associated with the roof;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to adjust a vertical arm of the second origin marker control in the oblique aerial image to line up with a feature of the building that is substantially vertical to specify a Z axis of the 3D reference grid;

perform registration of the oblique aerial image to the reference grid by determination of a correlation between the reference grid and the oblique aerial image based on an angle of the vertical arm of the second origin marker control on the oblique aerial image and the selected corners of the roof in the top-down aerial image;

cause the user interface engine to display a pitch determination marker on the user interface at a location on the oblique aerial image other than on the roof, the pitch determination marker being an interactive user interface control that is moveable by the user and has a first planar surface that is independently moved by the user and a second planar surface that is independently moved by the user, based on an indication received of features from data stored on a memory of the location to which the user had moved the pitch determination marker, the first planar surface and second planar surface joined by a spine of the pitch determination marker;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to move the pitch determination marker within the user interface to a location on the roof in the oblique aerial image;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to move the pitch determination marker within the user interface to a location on the roof in the oblique aerial image in which the spine is substantially aligned with a ridge line of the roof in the oblique aerial image;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to adjust an angle of the first planar surface such that the first planar surface appears to lie atop a section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the first planar surface;

in response to input from the user, cause the user interface engine to adjust an angle of the second planar surface such that the second planar surface appears to lie atop a section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the second planar surface, wherein the section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the first planar surface adjoins the section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the second planar surface at the ridge line of the roof;

in response to the user interface engine adjusting the angle of the first planar surface, determine a pitch of the section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the first planar surface based on a configuration of the pitch determination marker with respect to the oblique aerial image and the 3D reference grid;

output on the oblique aerial image in the user interface a first pitch indicator displaying the determined pitch of the section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the first planar surface;

in response to the adjusting the an angle of the second planar surface, determine a pitch of the section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the second planar surface based on a configuration of the pitch determination marker with respect to the oblique aerial image and the reference grid;

output on the oblique aerial image in the user interface a second pitch indicator displaying the determined pitch of the section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the second planar surface;

as the user adjusts the angle of the first planar surface, automatically update the output of the first pitch indicator to reflect an updated determined pitch of the section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the first planar surface;

as the user adjusts the angle of the second planar surface, automatically update the output of the second pitch indicator to reflect an updated determined pitch of the section of the roof in the oblique aerial image corresponding to the second planar surface; and

generate and output a roof estimate report using a report generation engine, wherein the roof estimate report includes numerical values annotated with corresponding slope, pitches, total area of the roof, identification and measurement of ridges and valleys of the roof, different elevation views rendered from a 3D model of the roof, and lengths of corresponding roof section for each line segment of edges of a plurality of planar roof sections of the roof, wherein the generated roof estimate report is provided for repair or construction of a corresponding roof structure of the building.