Granted Patent B2

US 12,204,820 · App. 17/212,884 · Granted Jan 21, 2025

Inventors: Gregory Demchak (London, GB); Pascal Martinez (Paris, FR)

Assignee: Bentley Systems, Incorporated

G06F30/13G06F30/12

Abstract

Claims (86)

1. A method for visually comparing digital content for an infrastructure project according to time, comprising:

receiving, from a user by four-dimension (4-D) construction modeling software executing on one or more computing devices, a selection in a user-interface (UI) of a first source;

populating, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a first time channel in the UI with a plurality of times for which content is available from the first source;

receiving, from the user by the 4-D construction modeling software, a selection in the UI of a first time from the first time channel, wherein the first source and the first time defines first digital content for the infrastructure project, wherein the first digital content is field-captured digital content;

receiving, from the user by the 4-D construction modeling software, a selection in the UI of a second source;

populating, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a second time channel in the UI with a plurality of times for which content is available from the second source;

receiving, from the user by the 4-D construction modeling software, a selection in the UI of a second time from the second time channel, wherein the second source and the second time defines second digital content for the infrastructure project, wherein the second digital content is modeled digital content, and the selected time for the second time channel is different than the selected time for the first time channel;

aligning the first digital content and the second digital content;

generating, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a visual comparison between the first digital content and the second digital content, wherein the visual comparison includes a split view with a movable cutting plane that controls where in a display area the first digital content or the second digital content is shown; and

displaying the visual comparison in the UI.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the visual comparison indicates differences between planned construction progress and actual construction progress on the infrastructure project.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the field-captured digital content is a three-dimensional (3-D) reality mesh model and the modeled digital content is a 3-D computer aided design (CAD) model or 4-D model.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the field-captured digital content is a digital photograph and the modeled digital content is a three-dimensional (3-D) computer aided design (CAD) model or 4-D model.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically computing, by the 4-D construction monitoring software, differences between the first digital content and the second digital content; and

visualizing the computed differences in the visual comparison, wherein the visualizing includes changing a color or texture of at least one component in the first digital content or the second digital content.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising automatically updating a status of at least one component in the first digital content or the second digital content.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically quantifying, by the 4-D construction monitoring software, differences between the first digital content and the second digital content; and

displaying the quantification of differences in the visual comparison, wherein the quantification includes at least one of a differing volume, area, length or count between one or more components in the first digital content and one or more corresponding components in the second digital content.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first source and the second source are a data repository.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aligning is performed based on manually selected corresponding keypoints in the first digital content and in the second digital content.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aligning is performed based on an automated alignment.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 4-D construction monitoring software comprises a cloud based 4-D comparison service and a local 4-D modeling client.

12. A computing device configured to compare digital content for an infrastructure project according to time, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store a cloud-based four-dimensional (4-D) comparison service of a 4-D construction monitoring application that includes:

a digital content alignment service configured to

receive from a user a selection in a user-interface (UI) of a first source,

populate a first time channel in the UI with a plurality of times for which content is available from the first source,

receive a selection in the UI of a first time from the first time channel, wherein the first source and the first time defines first digital content for the infrastructure project, wherein the first digital content is field-captured digital content,

receive from the user a selection in the UI of a second source,

populate a second time channel in the UI with a plurality of times for which content is available from the second source,

receive a selection in the UI of a second time from the second time channel, wherein the second source and the second time defines second digital content for the infrastructure project, wherein the second digital content is modeled digital content, and the selected time for the second time channel is different than the selected time for the first time channel, and

align the first digital content and second digital content, and

a 4-D difference engine configured to automatically compute differences between the first digital content and the second digital content,

wherein the digital content alignment service is further configured to provide a 4-D modeling client aligned views of the first digital content and the second digital content that include color or texture highlights indicating at least one component in the first digital content or the second digital content have a difference.

13. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the visual comparison indicates differences between planned construction progress and actual construction progress on the infrastructure project.

14. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the field-captured digital content is a 3-D reality mesh model and the modeled digital content is a three-dimensional (3-D) computer aided design (CAD) model or 4-D model.

15. A non-transitory electronic device readable medium having instructions that when executed on one or more processors of one or more electronic devices are operable to:

receive a selection from a user in a user-interface (UI) of a first source;

populate a first time channel in the UI with a plurality of times for which content is available from the first source,

receive a selection from the user in the UI of a first time from the first time channel, wherein the first source and the first time defines first digital content for an infrastructure project, wherein the first digital content is field-captured digital content;

receive a selection from the user in the UI of a second source;

populate a second time channel in the UI with a plurality of times for which content is available from the second source;

receive a selection from the user in the UI of a second time from the second time channel, wherein the second source and the second time defines second digital content for the infrastructure project, wherein the second digital content is modeled digital content and the selected time for the second time channel is different than the selected time for the first time channel;

align the first digital content and the second digital content;

generate a visual comparison between the first digital content and the second digital content, wherein the visual comparison indicates differences between planned construction progress and actual construction progress on the infrastructure project using a split view with a movable cutting plane that controls where in a display area the first digital content or the second digital content is shown; and

display the visual comparison in the UI.

16. The non-transitory electronic device readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the field-captured digital content is a three-dimensional (3-D) reality mesh model and the modeled digital content is a 3-D computer aided design (CAD) model or 4-D model.

17. The non-transitory electronic device readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the field-captured digital content is a digital photograph and the modeled digital content is a three-dimensional (3-D) computer aided design (CAD) model or 4-D model.

18. The non-transitory electronic device readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that when executed are operable to:

automatically compute differences between the first digital content and the second digital content; and

visualize the computed differences in the visual comparison, wherein the visualization includes changing a color or texture of at least one component in the first digital content or the second digital content.

19. The non-transitory electronic device readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that when executed are operable to:

automatically quantify differences between the first digital content and the second digital content; and

display the quantification of difference in the visual comparison, wherein the quantification includes at least one of a differing volume, area, length or count between one or more components in the first digital content and one or more corresponding components in the second digital content.

20. A method for visually comparing digital content for an infrastructure project according to time, comprising:

receiving, by four-dimension (4-D) construction modeling software executing on one or more computing devices, a selection from a user in a user interface (UI) of a first source that includes a plurality of three-dimensional (3-D) reality mesh models;

populating, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a first time menu of the UI with a plurality of times for which 3-D reality mesh models are available from the first source;

receiving, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a selection from the user of a first time from the plurality of times of the first time menu, wherein the first source and first time defines first digital content for the infrastructure project from a 3-D reality mesh model of the plurality of 3-D reality mesh models;

receiving, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a selection from the user in the UI of a second source that includes a plurality of 3-D computer aided design (CAD) models;

populating, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a second time menu of the UI with a plurality of times for which 3-D CAD models are available from the second source;

receiving, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a selection from the user of a second time from the plurality of times of the second time menu, wherein the second source and second time defines second digital content for the infrastructure project from a 3-D CAD model of the plurality of 3-D CAD models;

aligning the first digital content and the second digital content;

automatically computing, by the 4-D construction monitoring software, differences between the first digital content and the second digital content;

generating a visualization of the computed differences; and

displaying the visualization of the computed differences in the UI.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the first time and the second time are different times.

22. The method of claim 20 , further comprising:

determining, by the 4-D construction monitoring software, for one or more of the computed differences a quantification of difference in volume, area, length or count between one or more components in the first digital content and one or more corresponding components in the second digital content; and

display the quantification of difference in the UI.

23. A method for visually comparing digital content for an infrastructure project according to time, comprising:

receiving, by four-dimension (4-D) construction modeling software executing on one or more computing devices, a selection from a user in a user interface (UI) of a first source that includes a plurality of three-dimensional (3-D) reality mesh models;

populating, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a first time menu of the UI with a plurality of times for which 3-D reality mesh models are available from the first source;

receiving, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a selection from the user of a first time from the plurality of times of the first time menu, wherein the first source and first time defines first digital content for the infrastructure project from a first 3-D reality mesh model of the plurality of 3-D reality mesh models;

receiving, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a selection from the user in the UI of a second source that includes the plurality of 3-D reality mesh models;

populating, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a second time menu of the UI with a plurality of times for which 3-D reality mesh models are available from the second source;

receiving, by the 4-D construction modeling software, a selection from the user of a second time from the plurality of times of the second time menu, wherein the second time is different from the first time, and the second source and second time defines second digital content for the infrastructure project from a second 3-D reality mesh model of the plurality of 3-D reality mesh models;

aligning the first digital content and the second digital content;

automatically computing, by the 4-D construction monitoring software, differences between the first digital content and the second digital content;

generating a visualization of the computed differences; and

displaying the visualization of the computed differences in the UI.

24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:

determining, by the 4-D construction monitoring software, for one or more of the computed differences a quantification of difference in volume, area, length or count between one or more components in the first digital content and one or more corresponding components in the second digital content; and

display the quantification of difference in the UI.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (17)