System and method of scanning and editing two dimensional floorplans

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10748318-B2
Application number	US-201916561533-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 5, 2019
Priority date	Mar 5, 2018
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

A system and method of generating a two-dimensional (2D) image of an environment is provided. The system includes a 2D scanner having a controller that determines a distance value to at least one of the object points. One or more processors are operably coupled to the 2D scanner, the one or more processors being responsive to nontransitory executable instructions for generating a plurality of 2D submaps of the environment based at least in part on the distance value, each submap generated from a different point in the environment. A map editor is provided that is configured to: select a subset of submaps from the plurality of 2D submaps; and generate the 2D image of the environment using the subset of 2D submaps. The method provides for realigning of 2D submaps to improve the quality of a global 2D map.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system of generating a two-dimensional (2D) image of an environment, the system comprising:
a 2D scanner having a controller that determines a distance value to at least one object point from a plurality of object points;
one or more processors operably coupled to the 2D scanner, the one or more processors being responsive to nontransitory executable instructions for generating a plurality of 2D submaps of the environment based at least in part on the distance value, each submap generated from a different point in the environment, the plurality of 2D submaps including a first submap, a second submap and a third submap; and
a map editor configured to determine an error in the registration of the second submap and in response performing a correction method comprising:
identifying the first submap has correctly registered data;
bifurcating the second submap from the first submap and the second submap;
aligning the second submap with the first submap and third submap; and
generating the 2D image of the environment using the subset plurality of 2D submaps.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the map editor is further configured to:
select the first submap from the plurality of 2D submaps;
edit the first submap; and
generate a revised 2D image of the environment using the edited first submap.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the editing comprises at least one from a group of rotation and translation.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the editing comprises aligning the first submap to the 2D image of the environment, the alignment comprising:
performing by an operator at least one of a shift or a rotation of the first submap relative to the 2D image;
identifying overlapping natural features in the 2D image and the first submap; and
automatically shifting and rotating the first submap to align with the 2D image when the overlapping natural features are aligned by the operator within a predetermined threshold.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the map editor is further configured to:
select the first submap from the plurality of 2D submaps;
delete the first submap; and
generate a revised 2D image of the environment using the plurality of 2D submaps, without the first submap.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the map editor is further configured to:
add a new submap to the plurality of 2D submaps; and
generate a revised 2D image of the environment using the plurality of 2D submaps, with the new submap.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the map editor is further configured to save a copy of the revised 2D image of the environment separate from the 2D image of the environment.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the revised 2D image of the environment is for a subset of regions from the 2D image of the environment.

9. A method of generating a two-dimensional (2D) image of an environment, the method comprising:
moving a 2D measurement device through an environment to acquire a predetermined amount of coordinate data;
generating a plurality of submaps in response to each acquisition of the predetermined amount of coordinate data, the plurality of submaps including a first submap, a second submap and a third submap;
determining an error in the registration of the second submap and in response performing a correction method comprising:
identifying the first submap has correctly registered data;
bifurcating the second submap from the first submap and the second submap;
aligning the second submap with the first submap and third submap; and
generating a 2D map of a scanned environment.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the identifying of the error in registration is based at least in part on a visual identification by an operator.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the identifying of the error in registration is based at least in part on a comparison of the plurality of submaps with a previous 2D map of the environment.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the identifying of the error in registration is based at least in part on a comparison of the plurality of submaps with a design layout drawing.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the aligning of the second submap includes deleting the second submap and aligning the first submap to the third submap.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the aligning of the second submap includes deleting the second submap and replacing it with a fourth submap that covers an area of the environment covered by the second submap.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the aligning of the second submap includes deleting the second submap and replacing it with a fourth submap that was previously generated and covers an area of the environment covered by the second submap.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the aligning of the second submap includes the operator manually aligning the second submap with the first submap and the third submap.

17. The method of claim 9 , wherein the aligning of the second submap is based at least in part on aligning natural features located within the environment.

18. The method of claim 9 , wherein the aligning of the second submap is performed automatically by line matching within a predetermined probability threshold.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the automatic alignment is an iterative closest point matching.

Assignees

• Faro Tech Inc

Inventors

• Santos João
• Ramadneh Ahmad
• Frank Aleksej
• Zweigle Oliver

Classifications

• G01S7/4808 Primary

  Evaluating distance, position or velocity data · CPC title

• G06T11/60 Primary

  Creating or editing images; Combining images with text · CPC title

• G01S17/89

  for mapping or imaging · CPC title

• G01S17/86

  Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders · CPC title

• G01S17/42

  Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates (indirect measurement G01S17/46) · CPC title