Automatic Segmentation of Bulk Material Heaps Using Color, Texture, and Topography from Aerial Data and Deep Learning-Based Computer Vision

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

This article proposes a novel approach to segment instances of bulk material heaps in aerial data using deep learning-based computer vision and transfer learning to automate material inventory procedures in the construction-, mining-, and material-handling industry. The proposed method uses information about color, texture, and surface topography as input features for a supervised computer vision algorithm. The approach neither relies on hand-crafted assumptions on the general shape of heaps, nor does it solely rely on surface material type recognition. Therefore, the method is able to (1) segment heaps with “atypical” shapes, (2) segment heaps that stand on a surface made of the same material as the heap itself, (3) segment individual heaps of the same material type that border each other, and (4) differentiate between artificial heaps and other objects of similar shape like natural hills. To utilize well-established segmentation algorithms for raster-grid-based data structures, this study proposes a pre-processing step to remove all overhanging occlusions from a 3D surface scan and convert it into a 2.5D raster format. Preliminary results demonstrate the general feasibility of the approach. The average F1 score computed on the test set was 0.70 regarding object detection and 0.90 regarding the pixelwise segmentation.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number211
JournalRemote sensing
Volume15
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • automated monitoring, computer vision, instance segmentation, inventory management, stockpile detection, UAV, volume measurement