Real Estate Advisory Drone (READ): system for autonomous indoor space appraisals, based on Deep Learning and Visual Inertial Odometry

Abstract

The present paper describes the development of a mobile platform as a support of the real estate appraisal procedure. Currently, the estate evaluation is performed by an expert that manually collects data, performs measurements, and grabs pictures of the inspected unit to finally evaluate its commercial value. The READ project aims at automatizing this process by developing a solution based on a mobile unit (drone or tablet) able to navigate the indoor environment and record data, which will be later processed on the cloud. To accomplish all these tasks, the platform is equipped with cameras, a LiDAR sensor, and a data process unit, with the goal of 1) understanding its motion and localization; 2) reconstructing a 3D map of the inspected space; 3) performing image-based analyses applying AI algorithms enabling the identification of the indoor space (e.g. bedroom or kitchen), the counting and the classification of furniture objects, and the detection of building imperfections or frauds. Tests have been performed in different scenarios providing promising results, laying the foundations for bringing these technologies into a real operational context.