Systems and methods for autonomous perpendicular imaging with a target field of view
First Claim
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assessment system for imaging a structure and determining a pitch of a roof of a structure, comprising:
- a site selection user interface to receive an electronic input from a user identifying a geographic location of a structure based on at least one of a street address, a coordinate, and a satellite image;
a UAV to receive the geographic location of the structure from the site selection interface, the UAV comprising;
a camera to capture images of the structure at a target field of view;
a pitch determination system to determine a pitch of a planar surface of the roof that is at an angle relative to a downward direction based on at least two distance measurements; and
an imaging system to;
adjust a tilt angle of the camera of the UAV to a non-zero angle relative to a downward direction to align an optical axis of the camera perpendicular to the planar surface of the roof of the structure, andcapture an image of at least a portion of the roof of the structure at the target field of view with the optical axis of the camera aligned perpendicular to the planar surface by adjusting a tilt angle of the camera of the UAV based on the determined pitch of the planar surface of the roof,wherein the camera is configured to capture images of the structure at a target distance, such that the imaging system is configured to capture the image of the at least a portion of the roof of the structure at the target distance and the target field of view.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assessment and reporting system may utilize one or more scanning techniques to provide useful assessments and/or reports for structures and other objects. The scanning techniques may be performed in sequence and optionally used to further fine tune each subsequent scan. The system may include shadow elimination, annotation, and/or reduction for the UAV itself and/or other objects. A UAV may be used to determine a pitch of roof of a structure. The pitch of the roof may be used to fine tune subsequent scanning and data capture to capture perpendicular images of target field of views and/or target distances.
105 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assessment system for imaging a structure and determining a pitch of a roof of a structure, comprising:
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a site selection user interface to receive an electronic input from a user identifying a geographic location of a structure based on at least one of a street address, a coordinate, and a satellite image; a UAV to receive the geographic location of the structure from the site selection interface, the UAV comprising; a camera to capture images of the structure at a target field of view; a pitch determination system to determine a pitch of a planar surface of the roof that is at an angle relative to a downward direction based on at least two distance measurements; and an imaging system to; adjust a tilt angle of the camera of the UAV to a non-zero angle relative to a downward direction to align an optical axis of the camera perpendicular to the planar surface of the roof of the structure, and capture an image of at least a portion of the roof of the structure at the target field of view with the optical axis of the camera aligned perpendicular to the planar surface by adjusting a tilt angle of the camera of the UAV based on the determined pitch of the planar surface of the roof, wherein the camera is configured to capture images of the structure at a target distance, such that the imaging system is configured to capture the image of the at least a portion of the roof of the structure at the target distance and the target field of view.
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2. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assessment system for imaging a structure and determining a pitch of a roof of a structure, comprising:
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a UAV to receive the geographic location of a structure from a site selection interface, the UAV comprising; a camera to capture images of a roof of the structure; a pitch determination system to determine a pitch of a planar surface of the roof that is at an angle relative to a downward direction; and an imaging system to; adjust a tilt angle of the camera of the UAV to a non-zero angle relative to a downward direction to align an optical axis of the camera substantially perpendicular to the planar surface of the roof of the structure, and capture an image of at least a portion of the roof of the structure at a target distance and field of view with the optical axis of the camera aligned perpendicular to the planar surface of the roof based on the determined pitch of the planar surface of the roof, wherein the target distance and field of view are user-defined. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assessment system for imaging a structure and determining a pitch of a roof of a structure, comprising:
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a UAV to receive the geographic location of a structure from a site selection interface, the UAV comprising; a camera to capture images of a roof of the structure; a pitch determination system to determine a pitch of a planar surface of the roof that is at an angle relative to a downward direction; and an imaging system to; adjust a tilt angle of the camera of the UAV to a non-zero angle relative to a downward direction to align an optical axis of the camera substantially perpendicular to the planar surface of the roof of the structure, and capture an image of at least a portion of the roof of the structure at a target distance and field of view with the optical axis of the camera aligned perpendicular to the planar surface of the roof based on the determined pitch of the planar surface of the roof, wherein the target distance and field of view are inversely related such that increases in distance can be compensated for by decreases in field of view.
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14. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assessment system for imaging a structure and determining a pitch of a roof of a structure, comprising:
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a UAV to receive the geographic location of a structure from a site selection interface, the UAV comprising; a camera to capture images of a roof of the structure; a pitch determination system to determine a pitch of a planar surface of the roof that is at an angle relative to a downward direction; and an imaging system to; adjust a tilt angle of the camera of the UAV to a non-zero angle relative to a downward direction to align an optical axis of the camera substantially perpendicular to the planar surface of the roof of the structure, and capture an image of at least a portion of the roof of the structure at a target distance and field of view with the optical axis of the camera aligned perpendicular to the planar surface of the roof based on the determined pitch of the planar surface of the roof, wherein the target distance and field of view of the captured image corresponds to target dimensions on the roof of the structure.
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15. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for imaging a roof of a structure, comprising:
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a camera to capture images of the structure; a pitch determination system to determine a pitch of a planar surface of the roof that is at an angle relative to a downward direction in real time during a flight based on at least two distance measurements; and an imaging system to capture an image with a target field of view of at least a portion of the roof of the structure with an optical axis of the camera aligned perpendicular to the planar surface of the roof of the structure by adjusting a tilt angle of the camera of the UAV based on the determined pitch of the planar surface of the roof, wherein the target field of view is customer-defined. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification