APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR INPUTTING MEASUREMENTS INTO A SOFTWARE PRODUCT TO CONSTRUCT SOFTWARE MODELS OF ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES
A method for creating a three dimensional rendering of an architectural structure includes the measuring of spans of the structure using a laser measuring device which is communicatively coupled to a logic device capable of executing instruction embodied in architectural rendering software. The measurement data for the spans is transmitted directly into at least one structural measurement fields associated with the architectural rendering software. A three dimensional rendering of the architectural structure is then displayed by the architectural rendering software using the mapped measurement data.
This application claims priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/691,096 filed Oct. 22, 2003, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to the creation of scaled computer models and more particularly to an apparatus and method of inputting measurements of a physical structure into a computer modeling software package.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONTraditionally, measuring existing buildings for the purpose of creating as-builts or CAD files has been done using a measuring tape (or similar measuring device) and physically drawing a floor-plan on paper. If needed, the drawing was then re-created in a CAD software program. The process is slow and difficult to ensure accuracy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for utilizing a laser measuring device and a parametric Computer Aided Design (CAD) software program to construct a 3-dimensional architectural model/file in real time. According to the invention, a measuring device is used to measure architectural structures, such as, walls, windows, doors and the like, and the measurements are automatically input into the CAD software for construction of the architectural model.
When a measurement is taken, the software of the present invention (also referred to as middleware, as in the software interfacing between the measuring device and CAD software) interprets the data that is designated by the user to be a wall, window, door, etc . . . , or a measurement. The middleware then instructs the CAD Software to build this structure thus creating a wall, window, door, etc. within the software. It is therefore possible to construct rooms, floors, houses and the like in 2 Dimensions (2-D) and 3 Dimensions (3-D) by utilizing the measuring device, middleware and CAD software. This is a vast improvement on previous methods that are known in the art, which include, for example:
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- 1) A user would measure an architectural feature and manually add the feature and measurements into the CAD software.
- 2) A user would measure using a laser or sonar device and automatically add a 2D only feature into a CAD software. This method would not be building 3D, parametric objects, but rather simple structures such as lines that are labeled as objects.
This middleware allow the measurements to be directly input into the CAD software eliminating a laborious manual step that could result in human error and drastically reduce the time it takes a user to build a model inside a CAD software product.
Additionally, it drastically reduces the amount of training it would take for an individual to build a 2-D or 3-D model on a CAD software product.
The middleware could be designed for a user to utilize a dialog box designed to create a particular architectural feature, such as a wall. The user then could use a measuring device, such as a laser device, to automatically populate this dialog box that is specific to an architectural feature. For instance, in the case of wall and measuring in three dimensions (3-D), the user could measure the length of the wall and this measurement would populate the “length” requirement in the Dialog Box. The process would be similar for all other measurements. When the measurements were complete for the particular feature the user could then instruct the middleware, through a keystroke or other operation, to build that particular feature with the measurements that were just taken.
This middleware could also used be used in conjunction with measurements taken by a manual process to speed the process of building a model with a CAD software program. Manual measurements could be input into appropriate dialog boxes, which would interface with the CAD software to create the appropriate architectural model.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Once the distances are measured, the code uses triangulation formulas to determine the arc and the endpoints of the curved wall and creates the curved wall in the AutoCAD file.
Thus, a preferred method of creating a computer model includes the following steps:
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- Step 1: The user launches the Eflection software program on a computing device, such as a laptop, PC, PDA, or similar device.
- Step 2: The user clicks the “Create StandAlone Wall” button on the main Eflection dialog box by either (a) using the mouse, or (b) entering the designated number on the keypad of the laser measuring device. This launches the “Add Wall” dialog box.
- Step 3: The user measures the length of a wall using the laser measuring device and when the measurement is taken, the program receives the measurement and populates the “length” field with the measurement. The user advances the cursor to the next field either using the mouse, keyboard, or by entering the designated number of the next field into the keypad of the laser measuring device.
- Step 4: The user repeats the (above) procedure to measure the height of the wall.
- Step 5: The user uses a tape measure (or similar device) to measure the thickness of the wall, generally at a doorway, window, or other opening where the thickness is visible. This measurement is entered into the program using either the keyboard or the keypad of the laser measuring device.
- Step 6: The user clicks the “OK” button on the “Add Wall” dialog box either using the mouse cursor or using the keypad of the laser.
- Step 7: The user observes the computer screen to ensure that the computer generated wall has been created properly.
- Step 8: The user then moves around the interior of the room in which he/she currently is operating. As the user encounters architectural objects (wall, window, door, stairs, etc . . . ) he/she launches the corresponding dialog box from the main Eflection dialog box and takes measurements to populate each field in the dialog box (see
FIGS. 1-14 ). - Step 9: The user repeats the above steps moving from room to room throughout the architectural structure until the entire structure has been measured and a 3D file has been created.
Claims
1. A method for forming a virtual model of a three-dimensional space, comprising the steps of:
- coupling a laser measuring device communicatively to a logic device which includes a display component, wherein the laser measuring device is capable of creating measurement data by measuring a plurality of spans;
- receiving a first user input identifying at least one structural category, wherein each of the at least one structural categories determines a plurality of structural measurement fields;
- receiving measurement data from the laser measuring device;
- mapping uniquely each measurement data to at least one of the plurality of structural measurement fields of the at least one structural category;
- forming on the display component a rendition of the identified structural category based on the measurement data mapped to the plurality of structural measurement fields;
- identifying at least one structural object, wherein the at least one structural object is associated with the identified at least one structural category, and wherein the identified at least one structural object determines a plurality of object measurement fields;
- mapping measurement data to at least one of the plurality of object measurement fields of the at least one structural object; and
- modifying the rendition of the identified structural category based on the measurement data mapped to the plurality object measurement fields.
2. A computer-readable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a logic device for forming a virtual model of a three-dimensional space, the computer-readable storage medium comprising:
- program code for coupling a laser measuring device communicatively to a logic device having a display component, wherein the laser measuring device is capable of creating measurement data by measuring a plurality of spans;
- program code for receiving a first user input identifying at least one structural category, wherein each of the at least one structural categories determines a plurality of structural measurement fields;
- program code for receiving from the laser measuring device measurement data;
- program code for mapping uniquely each measurement data to at least one of the plurality of structural measurement fields of the at least one structural category;
- program code for forming on the display component a rendition of the identified structural category based on the measurement data mapped to the plurality of structural measurement fields;
- program code for identifying at least one structural object, wherein the at least one structural object is associated with the identified at least one structural category, and wherein the identified at least one structural object determines a plurality of object measurement fields;
- program code for mapping measurement data to at least one of the plurality of object measurement fields of the at least one structural object; and
- program code for modifying the rendition of the identified structural category based on the measurement data mapped to the plurality object measurement fields.
3. A method for creating a three dimensional rendering of an architectural structure, comprising:
- measuring a plurality of spans of the architectural structure using a laser measuring device which determines measurement data for each of the plurality of spans;
- coupling communicatively the laser measuring device to a logic device capable of executing instruction embodied as architectural rendering software wherein the logic device is associated with a display component;
- mapping the measurement data for each of the plurality of spans directly into at least one of a plurality of structural measurement fields associated with the architectural rendering software; and
- generating the three dimensional rendering of the architectural structure on the display component by the architectural rendering software using the measurement data mapped into the plurality of structural measurement fields.
4. The method of claim 3 further comprising identifying at least one structural category and wherein the at least one structural category determines the plurality of structural measurement fields.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the at least on structural category is associated with at least one structural object and wherein the at least one structural object determines a plurality of structural object fields.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the measurement data is mapped to at least one of the plurality of structural object fields.
7. The method of claim 6 further comprising modifying the three dimensional rendering based on the measurement data mapped to the plurality of object measurement fields.
8. The method of claim 3 wherein the laser measuring device includes a user interface enabling a user to identify the at least one structural category and the at least one structural object.
9. The method of claim 3 wherein the logic device is communicatively coupled to the laser measuring via a wireless transmission.
10. The method of claim 3 wherein the logic device is communicatively coupled to the laser measuring via a network.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 19, 2007
Publication Date: May 24, 2007
Inventor: Michael Lindenbaum (Denver, CO)
Application Number: 11/625,154
International Classification: G06F 17/50 (20060101);