Methods for designing, manufacturing, installing, and/or maintenance of roofing accessories and systems of use thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12175165-B2
Application number	US-202318538742-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2023
Priority date	Nov 19, 2021
Publication date	Dec 24, 2024
Grant date	Dec 24, 2024

Abstract

Systems and methods of the present disclosure enable automated roof planning using a processor. The processor receives a digital image of a roof of a structure and models each roof plane of the roof to generate a roof model. The processor determines dimensions of each roof plane based on the roof model. The processor retrieves roofing accessory data from a database, the roofing accessory data solar roofing accessory part identifiers and solar roofing accessory part performance characteristics for solar roofing accessories. The processor simulates multiple candidate roof layouts based on the dimensions of each roof plan and the solar roofing accessory parts and determines a utilization prediction for each candidate layout. Based on each utilization prediction, the processor determines a particular roof layout having selected solar roofing accessory parts, and generates a solar roof design, including a list of materials, for the particular roof layout.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
simulating, by at least one processor, a plurality of candidate roof layouts for at least one roof plane of a roof, based at least in part on:
a plurality of dimensions of the at least one roof plane and
wherein each candidate roof layout of the plurality candidate roof layouts comprises a plurality of candidate roof segments;
wherein the plurality of candidate roof segments comprises:
at least one candidate solar roof segment having at least one candidate solar roofing accessory part comprising at least one photovoltaic cell; and
at least one candidate non-solar roof segment having at least one non-solar candidate roofing accessory part;

generating, by at least one processor, a plurality of utilization predictions for the plurality of candidate roof layouts to assign a particular utilization prediction to each candidate roof layout based at least in part on:
at least one installation metric for installing each candidate roof layout,
at least one candidate solar roofing accessory part performance characteristic associated with the at least one candidate solar roofing accessory part of the at least one candidate solar roof segment, and
at least one candidate non-solar roofing accessory part performance characteristic associated with the at least one candidate non-solar roofing accessory part of the at least one candidate non-solar roof segment;

determining, by at least one processor, a particular roof layout from the plurality of candidate roof layouts based at least in part on the plurality of utilization predictions associated with the plurality of candidate roof layouts;
wherein the particular roof layout comprises:
at least one particular solar roofing accessory part associated with the at least one candidate solar roofing accessory part of the particular roof layout; and
at least one particular non-solar roofing accessory part associated with the at least one candidate non-solar roofing accessory part of the particular roof layout;

generating, by at least one processor, a final solar roof design for the roof based at least in part on the particular roof layout;
wherein the final roof solar design comprises a list of roofing accessory part identifiers identifying:
the at least one particular solar roofing accessory part, and
the at least one particular non-solar roofing accessory part; and

instructing, by at least one processor, to provide the at least one particular solar roofing accessory part and the at least one particular non-solar roofing accessory part to the roof based on the final solar roof design.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
instructing, by the at least one processor, at least one computing device to display the final roof design.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the at least one processor, full-device placements in the at least one solar roof segment based at least in part on the at least one solar roofing accessory part and the dimensions of the at least one roof plane;
wherein the full-device placements represent a first arrangement of the at least one solar roofing accessory part that fit within in the at least one solar roof segment;

determining, by the at least one processor, partial-device placements in the at least one non-solar roof segment based at least in part on the at least one solar roofing accessory part and the dimensions of the at least one roof plane; and
wherein the partial-device placements represent positions on the at least one roof plane that fit a portion of the at least one solar roofing accessory part.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, by the at least one processor, estimates of a labor cost and an accessory cost associated with installing the at least one particular solar roofing accessory part according to the solar roof design.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the at least one processor, an installation time needed to install the at least one particular solar roofing accessory part according to the solar roof design.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, by the at least one processor, a bill-of-materials representing the at least one non-solar roofing accessory part of the solar roof design.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the at least one solar roofing accessory part performance characteristic associated with the at least one solar roofing accessory part comprises a part-specific solar efficiency metric.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the at least one processor, a geographic location associated with the structure;
determining, by the at least one processor, a geographic orientation of the at least one roof plane based at least in part on the geographic location and at least one digital image; and
scoring, by the at least one processor, the plurality of candidate roof layouts based at least in part on the geographic orientation and the at least one particular solar roofing accessory part.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the at least one processor, at least one obstruction over the at least one roof plane based at least in part on at least one digital image; and
analyzing, by the at least one processor, the plurality of candidate roof layouts based at least in part on the at least one obstruction and the at least one particular solar roofing accessory part.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the at least one processor, an updated solar roofing accessory part performance characteristic associated with a particular solar roofing accessory part of the at least one solar roofing accessory part;
wherein the updated solar roofing accessory part performance characteristic associated with a particular solar roofing accessory part comprises at least one user input indicating a change to the solar roofing accessory part performance characteristic associated with the particular solar roofing accessory part; and

updating, by the at least one processor, a record associated with the particular solar roofing accessory part to indicate the updated solar roofing accessory part performance characteristic; and
wherein the record is stored in a roofing accessory database.

11. A system for providing a roof solar design to a roof structure, the system comprising:
at least one processor configured to execute software instructions, wherein the software instructions, when executed, cause that least one processor to perform steps to:
simulate a plurality of candidate roof layouts for at least one roof plane of a roof on a structure, based at least in part on:
a plurality of dimensions of the at least one roof plane and
wherein each candidate roof layout of the plurality candidate roof layouts comprises a plurality of candidate roof segments;
wherein the plurality of candidate roof segments comprises:
at least one candidate solar roof segment having a at least one candidate solar roofing accessory part comprising at least one photovoltaic cell; and
at least one candidate non-solar roof segment having at least one non-solar candidate roofing accessory part;

generate a plurality of utilization predictions for the plurality of candidate roof layouts to assign a particular utilization prediction to each candidate roof layout based at least in part on:
at least one installation metric for installing each candidate roof layout,
at least one candidate solar roofing accessory part performance characteristic associated with the at least one candidate solar roo

Assignees

• Bmic Llc

Inventors

• Campau Zachary Richard
• Robinson Rich

Classifications

• G06Q10/0875

  Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials · CPC title

• E04D1/20

  of plastics; {of asphalt;} of fibrous materials · CPC title

• F24S20/67

  in the form of roof constructions (in the form of shingles or tiles F24S20/69) · CPC title

• G01S17/89

  for mapping or imaging · CPC title

• G06Q50/08 Primary

  Construction · CPC title