Is it possible to create Software?

[Mikbergs45]

I work for a roofing company that does flat roof restoration. Generally these roofs are over 50,000 sq. Ft. I can go to google maps and find any roof I want and get a good estimation of the size using google maps. I was wondering if something could be created that would find all flat roofs over a certain size in a given location (ex. Chicago, IL) and list them with there info and address? This would be very helpful for the business. I have no idea if this would be possible. Any of your ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Ketchup]

I see one major problem with the idea - where would the software get the info that the roofs are flat? Of course your can tell by looking, but software can't look.

 

[Ratman6161]

I see one major problem with the idea - where would the software get the info that the roofs are flat? Of course your can tell by looking, but software can't look.

"software can't look." Why not? It can do facial recognition so why not flat roof recognition - but to answer the original question I know of no software that does that.

 

[lxskllr]

It could be done, and if it hasn't, it would be very expensive to get a bespoke solution. I assume this is for marketing purposes? It would be more economical to shotgun ads at areas that predominately have flat roofs.

 

[mpo]

Yes. This can be done. There are already commercially-available software that does this. Check out Sanborn CitySets geospatial data or Loveland Technologies.

Independently, my workplace developed a hybrid Sanborn/Loveland solution. First pass we used GIS and aerial photos to estimate rooftops for a metro area.

First, we just used aerials to define the building outlines. The 2D pictures alone lead to a lot of overestimating the size of roof tops (actually building footprints, similar data) because of trees, shadows, outbuildings, etc.

Next, we integrated 2D aerials and LIDAR data to get the same building footprints. It took a lot of automated processing followed by human polishing to get a workable dataset. Then we mashed the 3D buildings onto existing parcels. In many cases the tax parcels needed to be rubbersheeted to match ortho maps.It wasn't cheap to complete the work.

 

[Mikbergs45]

Thanks for the info mpo! I looked at the sanborn citysets and it looks like the that is probably what I'm looking for! But do they currently only have larger cities available for purchase? That was my impression when I looked.

 

[mpo]

It's been a while since we precured a license from Sanborn. It wasn't cheap. However, we were looking for a lot more detailed information about the buildings than you are looking for.

It might be cheaper for you since you are looking for synthesized data.