Building modelling system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for modelling the physical characteristics of a building. Models of buildings, such as floor plans, are often produced when renovation work or other work is planned. Manual measurements maybe taken (e.g. using a tape measure or an optical distance meter), and these measurements are subsequently used by a draftsman to construct a model of the measured space. This is time consuming. The present invention provides a system and method which includes a measurement and modelling process which assigns a unique identifier to openings that are shared by adjoining rooms when plotting measurements. These room associations are then used to determine the layout of the rooms within a building model. There is significantly less time and cost involved in generating a computer model of the measured space, using the present system and method.

1 - 41 . (canceled) 
     
     
         42 . A structure modelling system comprising:
 a measurement tool configured to survey a structure having a plurality of rooms, the measurement tool having a spatial sensor that maps room boundaries; and   a modelling tool that generates a computer model of the structure from measurements of individual rooms generated by the measurement tool, the modelling tool assigning a unique identifier to each opening that is shared by adjoining rooms, each unique identifier defining a room association within the structure, the modelling tool using the room associations to determine the layout of rooms within a structure model.   
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the measurement tool comprises an orientation sensor that determines the orientation of each spatial measurement with respect to an absolute reference. 
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the measurement tool comprises a positioning system that determines a geographical position of the measurement tool, the measurement tool encoding structure measurements with a geographical stamp that identifies a geographical position of the structure. 
     
     
         45 . A computer implemented modelling tool comprising:
 a measurement interface that receives a plurality of room measurements and stores the measurements in computer memory, each room measurement defining the boundaries of a room within a structure;   a modelling module that generates room models from received room measurements, the modelling module assigning a unique identifier to openings that are shared by adjoining rooms; and   a layout module that arranges the individual room models in a structure model, the layout module using the unique identifiers assigned to each shared opening to determine the layout of rooms within the structure model.   
     
     
         46 . The tool of  claim 45 , wherein the measurement interface comprises a user interface that enables a user to enter room measurements. 
     
     
         47 . The tool of  claim 45 , wherein the measurement interface comprises an interfacing module that interfaces with a measurement tool to retrieve room measurements. 
     
     
         48 . The tool of  claim 45 , wherein the modelling tool incorporates an image interface that receives a plurality of images for a measured room and stores the images in computer memory, the modelling tool constructing a room image from the received images. 
     
     
         49 . The tool of  claim 48 , wherein the modelling module uses the room image to construct a composite room model, the composite model comprising an individual room model interlaced with images of the corresponding room. 
     
     
         50 . The tool of  claim 49 , wherein the modelling module comprises a user interface that displays the composite model to a user and prompts the user to identify shared openings. 
     
     
         51 . The tool of  claim 50 , wherein the modelling module prompts the user to assign each shared opening a unique identifier. 
     
     
         52 . The tool of  claim 45 , wherein the modelling tool incorporates an exterior modelling module that generates a computer representation of a structure's exterior facade, the modelling tool assigning a unique identifier to exterior openings in a structure's peripheral rooms that links the peripheral rooms to the exterior facade. 
     
     
         53 . The tool of  claim 45 , wherein the measurement interface is arranged to receive exterior structure measurements and store the received exterior structure measurements in computer memory, wherein the exterior modelling module is arranged to generate the exterior facade representations from the received exterior structure measurements. 
     
     
         54 . A structure modelling method comprising:
 storing a plurality of room measurements that define the boundaries of corresponding rooms within a structure in computer memory;   identifying common openings shared by adjoining rooms within the structure;   assigning each shared opening a unique identifier that is linked to the stored room measurements, and   generating a structure model from the individual room measurements using the unique identifiers assigned to each shared opening to determine the layout of rooms within the structure model.   
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 54 , further comprising generating an individual room model from each of the room measurements. 
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 54 , further comprising identifying the common openings in the individual room models. 
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 56 , further comprising constructing the structure model from the individual room models by matching the shared openings of adjoining rooms. 
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 54 , further comprising measuring spatial dimensions for a plurality of rooms within a structure space. 
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 54 , further comprising assigning each room dimension measurement an orientation stamp that represents the orientation of the measurement with respect to a reference. 
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 59 , further comprising generating a room image for each room model from a plurality of images of the corresponding room captured by a camera. 
     
     
         61 . A measurement tool comprising:
 a spatial sensor that maps room boundaries,   a base module that supports the spatial sensor, the base module having a drive that rotates the spatial sensor with respect to the room boundaries, and   an orientation sensor that determines an absolute orientation of the spatial sensor.