UNMANNED AIRCRAFT STRUCTURE EVALUATION SYSTEM AND METHOD
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems and methods are disclosed, including displaying a first graphical representation of a structure to be inspected, the first graphical representation comprising one or more images describing an aerial view of the structure; determining a flight path according to which a UAV is to navigate above the structure and obtain sensor data describing an aerial view of the structure from the first graphical representation; receiving sensor data obtained by the UAV including multiple images describing an aerial view depicting a structure rooftop; generating a second graphical representation of the structure, based on the multiple images, comprising composite imagery of the rooftop based on the multiple images; determining an occurrence of damaged areas of the rooftop; and displaying the second graphical representation of the rooftop with damaged areas of the rooftop identified.
1 . A method performed by a system having one or more processors, the method comprising:
displaying, via a user interface, a first graphical representation of a structure to be inspected, the first graphical representation comprising one or more images describing an aerial view of the structure;
determining a flight path according to which an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is to navigate above the structure and obtain sensor data describing an aerial view of the structure from the first graphical representation, the flight path including waypoints;
receiving sensor data obtained by the UAV during performance of the flight path, wherein the sensor data includes multiple images describing an aerial view depicting a rooftop of the structure;
generating a second graphical representation of the structure based on the multiple images, wherein the second graphical representation comprises composite imagery of the rooftop based on the multiple images;
determining an occurrence of damaged areas of the rooftop in the multiple images; and
displaying, via the user interface, the second graphical representation of the rooftop with damaged areas of the rooftop identified in the second graphical representation, wherein the damaged areas of the rooftop are represented by a graphical indication of the respective damaged areas, wherein the user interface is configured to receive selection of a damaged area identified in the second graphical representation.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether surface damage has occurred about a particular area of the rooftop comprises:
determining whether a feature indicative of rooftop damage exists in a digital image; and
weighting the feature to determine that the feature is indicative of a damaged area or an undamaged area.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a type of rooftop damage identified is one of hail damage tornado damage or flood damage.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, via the user interface, positions about the second graphical representation of the rooftop indicating locations of damaged areas.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a position above the structure is set at an altitude such that a required image pixel resolution is obtained.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying, via the interface, a graphical representation of the flight path above the first graphical representation of the structure.
7 . A system comprising one or more processors and a non-transitory computer storage media storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
displaying, via a user interface, a first graphical representation of a structure to be inspected, the first graphical representation comprising one or more images describing an aerial view of the structure;
determining a flight path according to which an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is to navigate above the structure and obtain sensor data describing an aerial view of the structure from the first graphical representation, the flight path including waypoints;
receiving sensor data obtained by the UAV during performance of the flight path, wherein the sensor data includes multiple digital images describing an aerial view depicting a rooftop of the structure, and wherein a subset of the digital images are detailed images;
generating a second graphical representation of the structure based on the multiple digital images, wherein the second graphical representation comprises composite imagery of the rooftop based on the multiple digital images;
determining an occurrence of damaged areas of the rooftop in the multiple digital images; and
displaying, via the user interface, the second graphical representation of the rooftop with damaged areas of the rooftop identified in the second graphical representation,
wherein the damaged areas of the rooftop are represented by a graphical indication of the respective damaged areas, wherein the user interface is configured to receive selection of a damaged area and display one or more detailed images of the damaged area.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein determining the occurrence of damaged areas of the rooftop comprises:
determining whether a feature indicative of rooftop damage exists in a digital image; and
weighting the feature to determine that the feature is indicative of a damaged area or an undamaged area.
9 . The system of claim 7 , wherein a type of rooftop damage identified is one of hail damage, tornado damage or flood damage.
10 . The system of claim 7 , further comprising the operations of:
receiving, via the user interface, positions about the second graphical representation of the rooftop indicating locations of damaged areas of the rooftop.
11 . The system of claim 7 , wherein waypoints above the structure are set at an altitude such that a required image pixel resolution for the multiple digital images of the rooftop is obtained.
12 . The system of claim 7 , further comprising the operations of:
displaying, via the user interface, a graphical representation of the flight path above the first graphical representation of the structure.
13 . A computer storage medium having instructions that when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:
determining a flight path from a first graphical representation of a structure to be inspected according to which an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is to navigate above the structure and obtain sensor data describing an aerial view of the structure, the flight path including waypoints, the graphical representation comprising one or more images describing an aerial view of the structure;
receiving sensor data obtained by the UAV during performance of the flight path, wherein the sensor data includes multiple digital images describing an aerial view depicting a rooftop of the structure, and wherein a first subset of the digital images include a threshold level of detail of particular areas of the rooftop, and a second subset of the digital images include a greater than the threshold level of detail of particular areas of the rooftop;
generating a second graphical representation of the structure based on the multiple digital images, wherein the second graphical representation comprises composite imagery of the rooftop based on the multiple digital images;
determining an occurrence of damaged areas of the rooftop in the multiple digital images; and
displaying, via a user interface, the second graphical representation of the rooftop with damaged areas of the rooftop identified in the second graphical representation, wherein the damaged areas of the rooftop are represented by a graphical indication of the respective damaged areas, wherein the user interface is configured to receive selection of a damaged area and display one or more digital images that include greater than the threshold level of detail of the damaged area.
14 . The computer storage medium of claim 13 , wherein determining the occurrence of damaged areas of the rooftop comprises:
determining whether a feature indicative of rooftop damage exists in a digital image; and
weighting the feature to determine that the feature is indicative of a damaged area or an undamaged area.
15 . The computer storage medium of claim 13 , wherein a type of rooftop damage identified is one of hail damage, tornado damage and flooding damage.
16 . The computer storage medium of claim 13 , further comprising the operations of:
receiving, via the user interface, positions about the second graphical representation of the rooftop indicating locations of damaged areas of the rooftop.
17 . The computer storage medium of claim 13 , wherein waypoints above the structure are set at an altitude such that a required image pixel resolution for the multiple digital images of the rooftop is obtained.
18 . The computer storage medium of claim 13 , further comprising the operations of:
displaying, via the user interface, a graphical representation of the flight path above the first graphical representation of the structure.
19 . A system, comprising one or more processors and a non-transitory computer storage media storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:
displaying, via a user interface, a first graphical representation of a structure to be inspected, the first graphical representation comprising one or more images describing an aerial view of the structure;
determining a flight path from the first graphical representation according to which an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is to navigate above the structure and obtain sensor data describing an aerial view of the structure, the flight path including waypoints;
receiving first sensor data obtained by the UAV during performance of the flight path, and second sensor data from an absence of the flight path closer to the structure in which finer resolution data of the structure is obtained, wherein the first and second sensor data includes multiple digital images describing an aerial view depicting a rooftop of the structure, and wherein a subset of the digital images are detailed images;
generating a second graphical representation of the structure based on the multiple digital images, wherein the second graphical representation comprises composite imagery of the rooftop based on the multiple digital images;
determining an occurrence of damaged areas of the rooftop in the multiple digital images; and
displaying, via the user interface, the second graphical representation of the rooftop with damaged areas of the rooftop identified in the second graphical representation,
wherein the damaged areas of the rooftop are represented by a graphical indication of the respective damaged areas, wherein the user interface is configured to receive selection of a damaged area and display one or more detailed images of the damaged area.
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein determining the occurrence of damaged areas of the rooftop comprises:
determining whether a feature indicative of rooftop damage exists in a digital image; and
weighting the feature to determine that the feature is indicative of a damaged area or an undamaged area.
21 . The system of claim 20 , wherein a type of rooftop damage identified is one of hail damage, tornado damage, or flood damage.
22 . The system of claim 20 , further comprising the operations of:
receiving, via the user interface, positions about the second graphical representation of the rooftop indicating locations of damaged areas of the rooftop.
23 . The system of claim 20 , wherein waypoints above the structure are set at an altitude such that a required image pixel resolution for the multiple digital images of the rooftop is obtained.
24 . The system of claim 20 , further comprising the operations of:
displaying, via the user interface, a graphical representation of the flight path above the first graphical representation of the structure.