ALPINE, Utah – Loveland Innovations®, maker of advanced data analytics solutions and drone-based data gathering tools, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded it a new patent for what is believed to be the most effective approach to deriving test squares from drone-based data.
This fifth granted patent for Loveland Innovations covers one of two known ways of creating virtual test squares using drones (Loveland Innovations is currently pursuing a patent on the second approach). This approach follows the standard pioneered by Haag Engineering and gives adjusters and inspectors an image representing a true 100 square foot test area to sample for damage. When combined with Loveland Innovations’ deep learning engine, IMGING® Detect, this technology opens the door to a powerful approach to streamlining the test square process using drones.
“We recognize that our tools need to work the way adjusters and carriers do, and when it comes to roofing estimates, test squares are the current standard,” says Jim Loveland, CEO and Founder of Loveland Innovations. “With the revolutionary new test square scan we developed based on this patent, an adjuster or inspector can automatically capture a digital test square using automated drones and use it the same way they use regular test squares today to sample damage. Because the idea of a test square is so common, we see this is a valuable tool to inspectors, but it’s only the beginning of how we see analytics and drones changing the entire inspection and estimation process.”
The approach covered in this patent first requires a drone to maneuver itself to a known location from a roof and capture several data samples to derive distance, slope, and lateral positioning relative to the roof. Next, it adjusts its location and camera gimbal to an exact angle, so it can capture an image with a 90-degree planar view of the roof representing a true 100 square feet. This approach is ideal as every pixel captured represents data within the test square sample, ensuring the highest raw image data available for analytics.
Leif Larson, CTO of Loveland Innovations, praised his team for their hard work developing the ground-breaking technology outlined in the patent, “Our team innovates in everything we do, and our latest patent is continued proof. We didn’t just patent the tech, we put it to work in IMGING right away and had it tested by a top ten carrier as we rolled it out. The methods we’ve developed to create these test squares represent an incredible application of what’s possible with IMGING using DJI® Phantom 4 Pro drones. We’ve effectively made a $1,200 piece of hardware perform like something costing 50 times as much, simply because of our patented software driving the UAS. No one else is doing anything like this,” he says.
The issuance of patent number 9,886,632 further illustrates Loveland Innovations’ commitment to developing the best technology for the property and casualty insurance industry. The technologies that make virtual test squares possible are now a part of Loveland Innovations’ growing list of patents and are the first of their kind to offer adjusters virtual test squares gathered and created by aerial drones.
For more information about Loveland Innovations and how it’s changing the way roof and property inspections are done, visit www.lovelandinnovations.com.
For more information about Haag, visit http://haagglobal.com/
About Loveland Innovations
Loveland Innovations gives roofers and insurance professionals a safer, faster way to create estimates or build new policies. With automated drones and deep learning systems, users get faster, better tools for gathering data and making informed decisions. www.lovelandinnovations.com
