# US 10,769,847 B2 · Systems and methods for generating planar geometry

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- Number: US 10,769,847 B2
- Document ID: US10769847B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/832,403
- Filed: 2020-03-27
- Published: 2020-07-16
- Granted: 2020-09-08
- Earliest claimed: 2013-07-23
- Assignees: Hover Inc.
- Applicants: HOVER, Inc
- Inventors: Shaohui Sun; Ioannis Pavlidis; Adam J. Altman
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10769847B2

## CPC

- G06T 17/05: Geographic models
- G06F 3/14: Digital output to display device {; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units}
- G06T 15/04: Texture mapping
- G06T 15/20: Perspective computation
- G06T 17/00: Three-dimensional [3D] modelling for computer graphics
- G06T 19/003: {Navigation within 3D models or images}
- G06T 19/20: Editing of three-dimensional [3D] images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
- G06V 20/176: {Urban or other man-made structures}
- G06V 20/653: {by matching three-dimensional models, e.g. conformal mapping of Riemann surfaces}
- G06T 2200/08: involving all processing steps from image acquisition to 3D model generation
- G06T 2200/24: involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
- G06T 2207/10028: Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds
- G06T 2210/04: Architectural design, interior design
- G06T 2210/56: Particle system, point based geometry or rendering
- G06T 2219/2008: Assembling, disassembling
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING

## Abstract

Systems and methods are described for adjusting planar geometry derived from point cloud data associated with a building object by identifying major aspects like vertices and edges of the underlying structure within the point cloud and adjusting an average planar fit for simplified geometries created from the point cloud. Combining the planar geometry or point cloud with orthogonal or street level views improves accuracy and use cases of the planar geometry.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of modeling planar surfaces, the method comprising:
receiving a three dimensional point cloud of data points associated with a building object;
identifying a plurality of vertices defining edges of at least one single planar surface of the building object within the point cloud;
outlining the at least one single planar surface based on the identified plurality of vertices;
creating a simplified façade geometry for the at least one single planar surface based on the outlined single planar surface;
correlating data points within the point cloud to the outlined single planar surface;
averaging a planar fit for the outlined single planar surface based on the correlated data points; and
adjusting a position of the simplified façade geometry based on the average planar fit.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the three dimensional point cloud from ground-level capture device sensors.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the capture device is a smartphone.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the capture device is a tablet device.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving an orthogonal image for the building object;
identifying a plurality of orthogonal vertices of the orthogonal image;
correlating at least two of the plurality of orthogonal vertices with the adjusted simplified façade geometry; and
constructing a building model representing all surfaces of the building object using at least the correlated plurality of orthogonal vertices.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a texture to the at least one planar surface.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein the applying a texture comprises mapping at least one ground-level image to the at least one planar surface.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein correlating data points within the point cloud comprises applying a proximity buffer to identify data points proximate one another.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a plurality of vertices defining edges further comprises matching boundaries of the building object from at least one ground-level image.

### Claim 10

A system for modeling planar surfaces, the system comprises:
a computer system for receiving, from a capture device, a three dimensional (3D) point cloud of data points associated with a building object;
a database for storing the received 3D point cloud of data points associated with the building object;
an image processor, operative with the image database and configured to:
identify a plurality of vertices defining edges of at least one single planar surface of the building object within the 3D point cloud;
outline the at least one single planar surface based on the identified plurality of vertices;
create a simplified façade geometry for the at least one single planar surface based on the outlined single planar surface;
correlate data points within the 3D point cloud to the outlined single planar surface;
average a planar fit for the outlined single planar surface based on the correlated data points; and
adjust a position of the simplified façade geometry based on the average planar fit.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, further comprising a ground capture device operatively coupled to the computer system, the ground capture device configured to generate the 3D point cloud.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the capture device is a smartphone.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein the capture device is a tablet.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, wherein the database is further configured to receive an orthogonal image for the building object.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14, wherein the image processor is further configured to:
identify a plurality of orthogonal vertices of the orthogonal image;
correlate at least two of the plurality of orthogonal vertices with the adjusted simplified façade geometry; and
construct a building model representing all surfaces of the building object using at least the correlated plurality of orthogonal vertices.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10 further comprising applying a texture to the at least one planar surface.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The system of claim 16, wherein the applying a texture comprises mapping at least one ground-level image to the at least one planar surface.

### Claim 18 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, further comprising a proximity buffer configured to identify data points proximate one another for correlation to determine an average planar fit.

### Claim 19 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, wherein the database further stores ground-level images of the building object.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to identify the plurality of vertices defining edges by matching boundaries of the building object from at least one ground-level image.