Building rooftop intelligence gathering and decision-support system and methods of augmented-reality supported building inspection

A method of monitoring rooftop conditions using a mobile hand-held augmented-reality (AR) based rooftop navigation and inspection system, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving a rooftop alarm notification from said system, and accessing a hand-held AR-guided rooftop navigation and inspection device having a digital video camera with a field of view (FOV), and a display surface for displaying (i) digital images of objects and scenery captured in the field of view (FOV) while the user is moving about the rooftop surface, along with (ii) graphical indications of GPS-tracked rooftop-mounted sensors collecting data of conditions on the rooftop surface,
• (b) holding said hand-held AR-guided rooftop navigation and inspection device in the operator's hand, while viewing the field of view (FOV) of said digital camera while (i) observing graphical indications of GPS-indexed rooftop-mounted sensors displayed on said display surface, and (ii) inspecting rooftop conditions indicated on said display surface, and (iii) making audio and video recordings of the rooftop surface, so as to produce a rooftop inspection report;
• and
• (c) sending said rooftop inspection report to building management and maintenance team members, for determining a plan of resolution for the rooftop alarm event indicated by said rooftop alarm notification.

A building intelligence gathering, assessment and decision-support system comprising:

• a GPS system deployed about the Earth and supporting a plurality of GPS satellites for transmitting GPS signals to the surface of the Earth;
• a wireless data communication network deployed for supporting wireless data communications on the Earth, on which at least one building is constructed and having a rooftop surface exposed to the environment;
• a building data sensor network, including a plurality of GPS-tracked rooftop-supported sensors, supported on the rooftop surface of said building, and adapted for collecting GPS-indexed data specifying conditions on said rooftop surface at particular dates and times during a year, wherein said building rooftop conditions includes one or more conditions selected from the group consisting of snow load conditions, windspeed and direction, moisture level and temperature level;
• a data center operably connected to said wireless data communication network, and including communication, application and database servers configured for supporting collection of GPS-indexed data collected by said building data sensor network, and transmission of said GPS-indexed data to said communication, application and database servers for processing and storage, and for use in supporting rooftop assessment and decision-support operations maintained within said building intelligence gathering, assessment and decision-support system;
• and
• one or more hand-held mobile augmented-reality (AR) based rooftop navigation and inspection device, each configured for communication with said communication servers within said data center over said wireless data communication network, to access and display graphical indicia of GPS-tracking rooftop-supported sensors collecting data from said rooftop surface while said hand-held mobile AR-based rooftop navigation and inspection device is moving about said building during rooftop inspection operations;
• wherein each said hand-held mobile augmented-reality (AR) based rooftop navigation and inspection device has a display surface for displaying graphical indications of said GPS-tracked rooftop-supported sensors collecting data of conditions on the rooftop surface, so as to assist a user while navigating the building, inspecting building situations including rooftop conditions, identifying where said GPS-tracked rooftop-supported sensors have been installed, and observing where particular conditions have been automatically detected and displayed on said display surface of said hand-held mobile AR-based rooftop navigation and inspection device during building inspections.

A method of monitoring rooftop conditions using a building intelligence gathering, assessment and decision-support system supporting a plurality of GPS-tracked rooftop-supported sensors mounted on a rooftop surface of a building, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving a rooftop alarm notification from said building intelligence gathering, assessment and decision-support system, and accessing a hand-held AR-guided rooftop navigation and inspection device having a display surface for displaying graphical indications of GPS-tracked rooftop-supported sensors collecting data of conditions on the rooftop surface;
• (b) holding said hand-held AR-guided rooftop navigation and inspection device in a user's hand, while viewing said display surface and observing graphical indications of data from the GPS-indexed rooftop-supported sensors displayed on said display surface, while inspecting building conditions on said rooftop surface and about said building;
• and
• (c) sending a building inspection report to building management and maintenance team members, for determining a plan of resolution for a building alarm event indicated by a building alarm notification generated by said building intelligence gathering, assessment and decision-support system.