A Spatial Adaptive Algorithm Framework for Building Pattern Recognition Using Graph Convolutional Networks

Sensors (Basel). 2019 Dec 13;19(24):5518. doi: 10.3390/s19245518.

Abstract

Graph learning methods, especially graph convolutional networks, have been investigated for their potential applicability in many fields of study based on topological data. Their topological data processing capabilities have proven to be powerful. However, the relationships among separate entities include not only topological adjacency, but also correlation in vision, for example, the spatial vector data of buildings. In this study, we propose a spatial adaptive algorithm framework with a data-driven design to accomplish building group division and building group pattern recognition tasks, which is not sensitive to the difference in the spatial distribution of the buildings in various geographical regions. In addition, the algorithm framework has a multi-stage design, and processes the building group data from whole to parts, since the objective is closely related to multi-object detection on topological data. By using the graph convolution method and a deep neural network (DNN), the multitask model in this study can learn human thoughts through supervised training, and the whole process only depends upon the descriptive vector data of buildings without any ancillary data for building group partition. Experiments confirmed that the method for expressing buildings and the effect of the algorithm framework proposed are satisfactory. In summary, using deep learning methods to complete the tasks of building group division and building group pattern recognition is potentially effective, and the algorithm framework is worth further research.

Keywords: building pattern; graph convolutional networks; graph convolutional neural networks; graph partition; machine learning; node classification; random forest.