The protocol described in this paper utilizes the directional gradient histogram technique to extract the characteristics of concrete image samples under various vibration states. It employs a support vector machine for machine learning, resulting in an image recognition method with minimal training sample requirements and low computer performance demands.
In this paper, the directional gradient histogram technology is employed to extract the features of concrete image samples captured under different vibration states. The support vector machine (SVM) is utilized to learn the relationship between image features and vibration state. The machine learning results are subsequently used to assess the feasibility of the concrete vibration state. Simultaneously, the influence mechanism of the calculation parameters of the directional gradient histogram on the recognition accuracy is analyzed. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using the directional gradient histogram-SVM technology to identify the vibration state of concrete. The recognition accuracy initially increases and then decreases as the block size of the directional gradient, or the number of statistical intervals increases. The recognition accuracy also decreases linearly with the increase of the binarization threshold. By using sample images with a resolution of 1024 pixels x 1024 pixels and optimizing the feature extraction parameters, a recognition accuracy of 100% can be attained.
Concrete is a fundamental building material extensively used in the construction industry. During pumping, the concrete frequently develops voids that require compaction through vibration. Inadequate vibration may result in a honeycombed concrete surface, while excessive vibration can lead to concrete segregation1,2. The quality of vibration operation significantly impacts the strength3,4,5,6 and durability of the formed concrete structures7,8. Cai et al.9,10 conducted a study that combined experimental research with numerical analysis to investigate the influence mechanism of vibration on aggregate settlement and concrete durability. The findings revealed that vibration time and aggregate particles exert a substantial impact on aggregate settlement, while aggregate density and the plastic viscosity of the cement-based material have minimal effects. Vibration causes aggregate deposition at the bottom of the concrete specimens. Moreover, as the vibration time increases, the chloride ion concentration decreases at the bottom of the concrete specimens while significantly increasing at the top9,10.
Currently, the assessment of concrete vibration state relies predominantly on manual judgment. As the construction industry continues to progress through intelligent reforms, robot operations have emerged as the future direction11,12. Consequently, a crucial challenge in intelligent vibration operations is how to enable robots to identify the vibration state of concrete.
The histogram of the oriented gradient is a technique that utilizes the intensity gradient of pixels or the distribution of edge directions as a descriptor to characterize the representation and shape of objects in images13,14. This approach operates on the local grid cells of the image, providing robust stability in characterizing image changes under various geometric and optical conditions.
Zhou et al.15 proposed a method for directly extracting directional gradient features from Bayer mode images. This approach omits numerous steps in calculating the directional gradient by matching the color filter column with the gradient operator, thereby significantly reducing the computational requirements for directional gradient image recognition. He et al.16 utilized the directional gradient histogram as the underlying feature and employed the mean clustering algorithm to classify rail fasteners and determine whether the fasteners are defective. The recognition results indicated that the histogram of the oriented gradient feature exhibited high sensitivity to fastener defects, meeting the needs of railway maintenance and repair. In another study, Xu et al.17 preprocessed face image features using Gabor wavelet filtering and reduced the dimension of feature vectors through binary coding and the HOG algorithm. The average recognition accuracy of the method is 92.5%.
The support vector machine (SVM)18 is used to map the vector into a high-dimensional space and establishes a separating hyperplane with a suitable direction to maximize the distance between two parallel hyperplanes. This allows for the classification of support vectors19. Scholars have improved and optimized this classification technology, leading to its application in various fields such as image recognition20,21, text classification22, reliability prediction23, and fault diagnosis24.
Li et al.25 developed a two-stage SVM model for seismic failure pattern recognition, focusing on three seismic failure modes. The analysis results indicate that the proposed two-stage SVM method can achieve more than 90% accuracy for the three failure modes. Yang et al.26 integrated an optimization algorithm with the SVM to simulate the relationship between the five ultrasonic parameters and the stress of the loaded concrete. The performance of an unoptimized SVM is unsatisfactory, particularly in the low-stress stage. However, traversing the model optimized by the algorithm yields improved results, albeit with lengthy computation times. In comparison, the particle swarm optimization optimized SVM significantly reduces the calculation time while delivering optimal simulation results. Yan et al.27 employed SVM technology and introduced a precision-insensitive loss function to predict the elastic modulus of high-strength concrete, comparing its prediction accuracy against the traditional regression model and neural network model. The research findings demonstrate that the SVM technology produces a smaller prediction error for elastic modulus compared to other methods.
This paper collects image samples of concrete under various vibration states and describes the concrete's different states using the directional gradient histogram technique. The directional gradient is employed as a feature vector for training the SVM, and the study focuses on the viability of using the directional gradient histogram-SVM technology to identify the vibration state of concrete. Additionally, the paper analyzes the influence mechanism between three key parameters-binarization threshold, directional gradient statistical block size, and directional gradient statistical interval number-in the feature extraction process of the directional gradient histogram and the recognition accuracy of the SVM.
1. Concrete sample image acquisition
2. Sample image gray binarization
3. Calculation of directional gradient eigenvalue
4. Constructing directional gradient feature vector
5. SVM training
6. Verification of SVM recognition accuracy
This protocol aims to analyze how the three-vector calculation parameters of the directional gradient feature affect the accuracy of the SVM in identifying the concrete vibration state. The primary calculation parameters of the directional gradient feature vector include the directional gradient statistical block size, the number of directional gradient statistical angle intervals, and the binary gray threshold. This section uses three main calculation parameters as variables to design the test. The test parameter levels are detailed in Table 1. A total of 100 tests were conducted on concrete image samples with a resolution of 1024 x 1024 pixels. The test results corresponding to the parameters described in Table 1 are presented in Table 2.
Analysis of different binary gray threshold-SVM recognition results
Table 2 displays the average recognition accuracy of the SVM for different binarization thresholds, and the relationship between the binarization threshold and recognition accuracy is visualized in Figure 4. When the block size and the number of statistical intervals are fixed, the recognition accuracy of the SVM generally exhibits a decreasing trend with an increase in the binarization threshold. Notably, the recognition accuracy decreases significantly when the binarization threshold falls within the range of 100 to 150. Further investigation is required to understand the reasons behind this phenomenon and its impact on the SVM's division calculation.
In this section, following the method described in step 2.1 and the experimental design described in step 3.1, the image samples of non-vibrated concrete, vibrating concrete, and vibrated concrete are binarized. The binarized gray thresholds used are 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250, resulting in binarized gray images for each state, as shown in Figure 5, Figure 6, and Figure 7.
As illustrated in Figure 5, as the binarization threshold decreases, the white area in the binary image of the non-vibrated concrete image sample reduces significantly. At a binarization threshold of 250, the binary image appears to be pure black. In Figure 6, the changing trend of the binary gray image of the vibrating concrete image sample with the binarization threshold is similar to that of the non-vibrated concrete sample, but the reduction of the white area is more pronounced in the vibrating concrete image sample. Moreover, Figure 7 illustrates the combination of the black part and white areas, reflecting the surface texture characteristics of concrete in different vibration states. The binary gray image of vibrated concrete also decreases with decreasing binarization threshold. For instance, when the binarization threshold is set to 50 and 100, the binary gray image of vibrated concrete tends to be white. At a threshold of 150, it appears similar to the other two states, but when the threshold exceeds 150, the binary image tends to be black. Notably, when the binarization threshold is between 100 and 150, significant changes in the binary image features occur.
The feature vector extraction in this paper relies on the directional gradient of image samples. Increasing the binarization threshold from 50 to 100 reduces the contact area between white and black pixels. This reduction impacts the statistics of the pixel directional gradient since it depends on the pixel value change between each pixel. A larger contact area results in fewer than 0 components in the SVM feature vector, making the representation of concrete vibration state characteristics more comprehensive. The change in recognition accuracy with the binarization threshold is primarily due to the alteration in the number of 0 components in the directional gradient feature vector. Furthermore, when the binarization threshold is raised from 150 to 250, the white area of the binary image sample is significantly reduced. Consequently, the corresponding recognition accuracy is also greatly diminished, further supporting this rule.
Different directional gradient statistical block size-SVM recognition results
In this section, the statistical block size identification accuracy of gradient statistics in different directions, as presented in Table 2, is calculated. Subsequently, the mean value of statistical block size identification accuracy of gradient statistics in each direction is calculated. The results are illustrated in Figure 8.
Figure 8 demonstrates the relationship between the recognition of the SVM for 1024-resolution concrete image samples and the statistical block size of the directional gradient. This relationship can be expressed by Equation (2).
y=0.09+0.144x-0.01x2 (2)
The image sample feature vector is calculated by the block-sweeping method20. Meanwhile, when the block is small, the feature vector characterizes the local specificity of the binary image. This results in concrete sample images of different vibration states having similar local specificity, leading to a significant number of 0 components in the feature vector. Consequently, this high number of 0 components causes substantial interference in the SVM division, leading to reduced recognition accuracy, particularly for 1024-pixel images with a block size is 8 pixels.
As the block size increases, the local specificity reflected by the feature vector gradually diminishes, and the feature vector characterizes the regional specificity of the image sample, as illustrated in Figure 10. Consequently, the number of 0 components in the feature vector reduces, leading to less interference during the division process of the SVM. Thereby, the recognition accuracy of the SVM improves.
However, when the block size is further increased, exceeding 32 pixels, the number of 0 components in the feature vector continues to decrease. But it also leads to a reduction in the dimension of the feature vector of the SVM training set. At this point, the impact on the recognition accuracy of the SVM mainly stems from the lack of feature dimensions. Nevertheless, the feature vector still manages to capture a certain degree of specificity in the concrete image. As illustrated in Figure 11, when the block size is expanded to a certain extent, the directional gradient features in each block of concrete image samples with different vibration states still exhibit significant differences. This observation explains why the recognition accuracy decreases when the block size becomes excessively large, although the decrease is relatively small.
Directional gradient statistical angle interval number-SVM recognition results
In this section, the recognition accuracy of the number of directional gradients statistical intervals presented in Table 2 is calculated. Subsequently, the average recognition accuracy of the number of directional gradients statistical intervals is computed. The results are illustrated in Figure 12.
From Figure 12, it is evident that as the number of directional gradient statistical intervals increases, the recognition accuracy of the SVM for the concrete vibration state initially rises and then decreases. This relationship can be expressed by Equation (3)
y=-0.45+0.2x-0.007x2 (3)
The influence mechanism between the number of statistical intervals of gradient direction and the recognition accuracy is due to the change in image feature extraction parameters. This causes a shift in the specific characterization ability of feature vectors for image samples. In this section, a part of the image samples of moderately vibrated concrete is intercepted. The calculation results of the directional gradient characteristics are obtained when the grid size is 4, and the number of directional gradient statistical intervals is set to 6, 9, 12, and 15, as illustrated in Figure 13.
As depicted in Figure 13A,B, when the number of directional gradient statistical intervals is set to 6, the size of each interval is 60°. Considering the calculation block size is 4×4, there are 16 pixels in each block. With larger interval sizes, the directional gradient of multiple pixels falls within a single interval. This leads to an increase in the number of 0 components in the feature vector of image samples when the interval size is larger. Consequently, it affects the training results and recognition accuracy of the SVM. However, when the number of directional gradients statistical intervals is 9, the angle division becomes more refined, leading to a reduction in situations where there are no pixels within an interval. Consequently, the number of 0 components in the feature vector of image samples is also reduced, resulting in an improved image-specific representation ability of the feature vector. However, upon comparison with Figure 13C and Figure 13D, when the number of directional gradient statistical intervals increases from 12 to 15, the number of pixels with 0 in the interval of the directional gradient feature calculation results increases. As a result, the feature vector's ability to characterize the specificity of the sample image decreases. This reduction in characterization ability is attributed to the further decrease in the size of the directional gradient statistical interval. Specifically, the interval with only one pixel is now divided into two intervals: one with a single pixel and another one as an empty interval. Consequently, the increase in the number of empty intervals leads to more 0 components in the feature vector, ultimately resulting in a decrease in recognition accuracy.
Figure 1: Image of non-vibrated concrete. Pumped concrete images taken without vibration operation. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: Image of vibrating concrete. Image samples in pumping concrete vibration operation. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3: Image of vibrated concrete sample. Image samples when pumping concrete vibration operation is completed. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 4: Binarization threshold-recognition accuracy relationship. The influence of binarization threshold on the recognition accuracy of SVM. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 5: Binary grayscale image of non-vibrated concrete. The binarization processing results of non-vibrated concrete images when different binarization thresholds are set. (A) Binarization threshold at 50. (B) Binarization threshold at 100. (C) Binarization threshold at 150. (D) Binarization threshold at 200. (E) Binarization threshold at 250. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 6: Binary gray-scale image of vibrating concrete. The binarization processing results of vibrating concrete images when different binarization thresholds are set. (A) Binarization threshold at 50. (B) Binarization threshold at 100. (C) The binarization threshold at 150. (D) Binarization threshold at 200. (E) Binarization threshold at 250. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 7: Binary grayscale image of vibrated concrete. The binarization processing results of vibrated concrete image when different binarization thresholds are set. (A) Binarization threshold at 50. (B) Binarization threshold at 100. (C) Binarization threshold at 150. (D) Binarization threshold at 200. (E) Binarization threshold at 250. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 8: Directional gradient statistical block size-recognition accuracy diagram. The influence of directional gradient statistical block size on the recognition accuracy of SVM. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 9: Schematic diagram of block size 8 pixels directional gradient feature extraction results. The gradient feature results in three kinds of vibration state direction when the block size is 8 pixels. (A) Non-vibrated concrete, (B) vibrating concrete, (C) vibrated concrete. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 10: Schematic diagram of block size 128 pixels directional gradient feature extraction results. The gradient feature results in three kinds of vibration state direction when the block size is 128 pixels. (A) Non-vibrated concrete, (B) vibrating concrete, (C) vibrated concrete. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 11: Directional gradient extraction results of concrete sample images in different vibration states with a block size of 512 pixels. The gradient feature results in three kinds of vibration state direction when the block size is 512 pixels. (A) Non-vibrated concrete, (B) vibrating concrete, (C) vibrated concrete. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 12: Directional gradient statistical interval number-recognition accuracy relationship. The influence of directional gradient statistical interval number on the recognition accuracy of SVM Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 13: Computation results of the directional gradient characteristics of the number of different directional gradient statistical intervals. The directional gradient characteristics results of the sample are obtained when different directional gradient statistical intervals are set. (A) 6 directional gradient statistical intervals, (B) 9 directional gradient statistical intervals, (C) 12 directional gradient statistical intervals, (D) 15 directional gradient statistical intervals. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Table 1: SVM identification test factor level. The influence of the calculation parameters of the directional gradient feature vector on the accuracy of the SVM to identify the concrete vibration state is analyzed. Please click here to download this Table.
Table 2: Directional gradient histogram parameter analysis test results. Based on the test scheme in Table 1, the recognition accuracy results are obtained. Please click here to download this Table.
This paper utilizes the support vector machine (SVM) to learn the image features of various concrete vibration state samples. Based on the machine learning outcomes, a concrete vibration state recognition method based on image recognition is proposed. To enhance the recognition accuracy, it is crucial to control the parameters of the three key steps: image segmentation, image binarization, and directional gradient eigenvalue extraction. According to the test results, a smaller binarization threshold is employed to preprocess the concrete sample image, and the image segmentation block size of 128 pixels x 128 pixels is utilized. The number of directional gradients for statistical angle intervals is set to 12. In the 1024-resolution image sample set, the best recognition accuracy for machine learning results is achieved.
Due to the significant variations in the environment across different construction sites, this method has an accuracy adjustment mechanism. When the recognition accuracy fails to meet requirements, the three key parameters mentioned above can be expanded or reduced as a viable solution, effectively mitigating recognition accuracy errors caused by environmental changes. It is important to note that this method heavily relies on the illumination conditions of the working face. Capturing images under low illumination conditions may lead to a decrease in recognition accuracy. To reduce dependency on illumination conditions, low illumination image enhancement algorithms have been explored30, but they significantly increase recognition time and hardware requirements. Currently, no effective technology ensures both low illumination recognition accuracy and recognition efficiency. This method uses the histogram of oriented gradient technology to characterize the characteristics of the concrete vibration state, including surface collapse, cement slurry floating, and bubbles in the process of concrete vibration. Compared to existing technologies, this approach significantly reduces the number of samples required and lowers the computer performance requirements. With a laptop equipped with a 2.30 GHz CPU, the recognition process completes the training space differentiation of the SVM within just 15 seconds. When extraction parameters are appropriately set, the recognition accuracy is also improved31.
In the future, this protocol can be utilized to command the vibration operation of the construction robot, allowing for timely cessation of operations when the concrete reaches the desired level of vibration, thereby avoiding quality issues caused by inadequate vibration. Additionally, the method can be adapted to modify robot operations based on texture characteristics at the construction site, such as structural flatness detection, working face slurry removal, and other related processes.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
We gratefully thank Wuhan Urban Construction Group 2023 Annual Scientific Research Project (NO.7) for funding this work.
camera | SONY | A6000 | The sensor size is 23.5×15.6mm, the maximum acquisition resolution is 1440 * 1080, and the effective pixel is 24.3 million. |
concrete | Wuhan Construction Changxin Technology Development Co., Ltd. | C30 pumping concrete | According to the standard of ' concrete strength test and evaluation standard ' ( GB / T 50107-2010 ), the standard value of cubic compressive strength is 30 MPa pumping concrete. |
Matlab | MathWorks | Matlab R2017a | MATLAB's programming interface provides development tools for improving code quality maintainability and maximizing performance. It provides tools for building applications using custom graphical interfaces. It provides tools for combining MATLAB-based algorithms with external applications and languages |
Processor | Intel | 12th Gen Intel(R) Core (TM) i7-12700H @ 2.30GHz | 64-bit Win11 processor |