Roof scan using unmanned aerial vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11455895-B2
Application number	US-202016987336-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 6, 2020
Priority date	Oct 28, 2019
Publication date	Sep 27, 2022
Grant date	Sep 27, 2022

Abstract

Described herein are systems for roof scan using an unmanned aerial vehicle. For example, some methods include capturing, using an unmanned aerial vehicle, an overview image of a roof of a building from above the roof; presenting a suggested bounding polygon overlaid on the overview image to a user; determining a bounding polygon based on the suggested bounding polygon and user edits; based on the bounding polygon, determining a flight path including a sequence of poses of the unmanned aerial vehicle with respective fields of view at a fixed height that collectively cover the bounding polygon; fly the unmanned aerial vehicle to a sequence of scan poses with horizontal positions matching respective poses of the flight path and vertical positions determined to maintain a consistent distance above the roof; and scanning the roof from the sequence of scan poses to generate a three-dimensional map of the roof.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
a propulsion mechanism,
one or more image sensors, and
a processing apparatus, wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
capture, using the one or more image sensors, an overview image of a roof of a building from a first pose of the unmanned aerial vehicle positioned above the roof;
present a graphical representation of a suggested bounding polygon overlaid on the overview image to a user, wherein the suggested bounding polygon includes vertices corresponding to respective vertex icons of the graphical representation that enable the user to move the vertices within a plane;
determine a bounding polygon based on the suggested bounding polygon and data encoding user edits of one or more of the vertices of the suggested bounding polygon; and
determine a flight path based on the bounding polygon, wherein the flight path includes a sequence of poses of the unmanned aerial vehicle with respective fields of view at a fixed height that collectively cover the bounding polygon.

2. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
control the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to assume a sequence of scan poses with horizontal positions matching respective poses of the flight path and vertical positions determined to maintain a consistent distance above the roof; and
scan the roof from the sequence of scan poses to generate a three-dimensional map of the roof.

3. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
present a graphical representation of the unmanned aerial vehicle overlaid on the overview image, wherein the graphical representation of the unmanned aerial vehicle corresponds to a current horizontal position of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

4. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the graphical representation of the unmanned aerial vehicle includes a three-dimensional rendering of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

5. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
present indications of progress along the flight path overlaid on the overview image.

6. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
determine the flight path based on one or more scan parameters presented for selection by the user, including one or more parameters from a set of parameters including a grid size, a nominal height above a surface of the roof, and a top flight speed.

7. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the flight path is determined as a lawn-mower pattern.

8. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more image sensors are configured to support stereoscopic imaging to provide range data, and wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
scan the roof using the one or more image sensors to generate the three-dimensional map of the roof.

9. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the roof is scanned to generate the three-dimensional map from a distance greater than a consistent distance later used for facet imaging.

10. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , comprising a radar sensor configured to provide range data, and wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
scan the roof using the radar sensor to generate the three-dimensional map of the roof.

11. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , comprising a lidar sensor configured to provide range data, and wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
scan the roof using the lidar sensor to generate the three-dimensional map of the roof.

12. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
detect, while flying between poses in the sequence of scan poses, an obstacle, wherein the detection is performed based on images captured using the one or more image sensors; and
dynamically adjust a pose of the flight path to avoid the obstacle.

13. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
store a scan state indicating a next pose of the sequence of poses of the flight path;
control the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to a landing spot and land the unmanned aerial vehicle;
after landing, control the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to take off from the landing spot;
access the scan state; and
based on the scan state, control the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to assume a pose in the sequence of scan poses corresponding to the next pose and continue scanning the roof to generate the three-dimensional map.

14. A method comprising:
capturing, using one or more image sensors of an unmanned aerial vehicle, an overview image of a roof of a building from a first pose of the unmanned aerial vehicle positioned above the roof;
presenting a graphical representation of a suggested bounding polygon overlaid on the overview image to a user, wherein the suggested bounding polygon includes vertices corresponding to respective vertex icons of the graphical representation that enable the user to move the vertices within a plane;
accessing data encoding user edits of one or more of the vertices of the suggested bounding polygon;
determining a bounding polygon based on the suggested bounding polygon and the data encoding user edits;
determining a flight path based on the bounding polygon, wherein the flight path includes a sequence of poses of the unmanned aerial vehicle with respective fields of view at a fixed height that collectively cover the bounding polygon;
controlling a propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to assume a sequence of scan poses with horizontal positions matching respective poses of the flight path and vertical positions determined to maintain a consistent distance above the roof; and
scanning the roof from the sequence of scan poses to generate a three-dimensional map of the roof.

15. The method of claim 14 , comprising:
presenting a graphical representation of the unmanned aerial vehicle overlaid on the overview image, wherein the graphical representation of the unmanned aerial vehicle corresponds to a current horizontal position of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

16. The method of claim 14 , comprising:
determining the flight path based on one or more scan parameters presented for selection by the user, including one or more parameters from a set of parameters including a grid size, a nominal height above a surface of the roof, and a top flight speed.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the flight path is determined as a lawn-mower pattern.

18. The method of claim 14 , comprising:
detecting, while flying between poses in the sequence of scan poses, an obstacle, wherein the detection is performed based on images captured using the one or more image sensors; and
dynamically adjusting a pose of the flight path to avoid the obstacle.

19. The method of claim 14 , comprising:
storing a scan state indicating a next pose of the sequence of poses of the flight path;
controlling the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to a landing spot and land the unmanned aerial vehicle;
after landing, controlling the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to take off from the landing spot;
accessing the scan state; and
based on the scan state, controlling the propulsion mechanism to cause the u

Assignees

• Skydio Inc

Inventors

• Henry Peter
• Zhu Jack
• Richman Brian
• Zheng Harrison
• Martirosyan Hayk
• Donahoe Matthew
• Bachrach Abraham Galton
• Bry Adam

Classifications

• G06V20/17

  taken from planes or by drones · CPC title

• G06V20/647

  by matching two-dimensional images to three-dimensional objects · CPC title

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• B64U2201/00

  UAVs characterised by their flight controls · CPC title

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title