Similar Obstruction Detection makes finding and creating Keepouts for rooftop obstructions fast and easy. It uses Aurora’s proprietary computer vision technology to match the pixels of a selected obstruction to other pixels in the Field Segments on a roof. When it finds a 70% or higher match, it defines the matching pixels as an obstruction and creates a Keepout for them.
Aurora’s computer vision technology can detect similar pixels even if they are oriented in different directions or the image has a skew, allowing it to find all similar obstructions regardless of orientation. Here is how to use this tool.
Using Similar Obstruction Detection
First, draw the Field Segment for the design area. Next, create a Keepout within that Field Segment. Then, click the blue arrow icon and select “Detect Similar Keepouts,” from the Keepout or right-click menu. HelioScope will begin detecting similar obstructions in all of the field segments of the design.
Once the detection process is complete, a message will appear in the top right corner of the designer showing the count of similar obstructions detected and created.
The obstructions will then appear in the design, and the new Keepouts will adopt the attributes of the first obstruction. Note that Similar Obstruction Detection created keepouts for all of the similar HVAC units on the rooftop but not the differing unit on the lower left.
In this example, the first Keepout was named HAVC in the Keepouts tab, with a setback of 4 feet and a height of 6 feet. Once similar obstructions are created, they will be named HAVC (1), HVAC (2), HVAC (3), and HVAC (4). These new obstructions will also inherit the 4-foot setback and 6-foot height.
Similar Obstruction Detection Limitations
Similar Obstruction Detection is not automatic. It requires a Keepout to be created in a Field Segment to work correctly. Similar obstructions will only be created within a Field Segment within the design. Similar Obstruction Detection requires a Keepout to have more than two points, so it does not work on lines. It is also not designed to find trees.
If Similar Obstruction Detection is inaccurate, try switching to another map imagery source. If there are undetected Keepouts, we recommend running Similar Obstruction Detection on another similar Keepout.
How to access Similar Obstruction Detection
Similar Obstruction Detection is exclusive to our Custom plan. To upgrade to Custom plan, please contact our Sales team at sales@helioscope.com.