Evaluation of Classical Operators and Fuzzy Logic Algorithms for Edge Detection of Panels at Exterior Cladding of Buildings

The automated process of construction defect detection using non-contact methods provides vital information for quality control and updating building information modelling. The external cladding in modular construction should be regularly controlled in terms of the quality of panels and proper installation because its appearance is very important for clients. However, there are limited computational methods for examining the installation issues of external cladding remotely in an automated manner. These issues could be the incorrect sitting of a panel, unequal joints in an elevation, scratches or cracks on the face of a panel or dimensions of different elements of external cladding. This paper aims to present seven algorithms to detect panel edges and statistically compare their performance through application on two scenarios of buildings in construction sites. Two different scenarios are selected, where the building facades are available to the public, and a sample of 100 images is taken using a state-of-the-art 3D camera for edge detection analysis. The experimentation results are validated by using a series of computational error and accuracy analyses and statistical methods including Mean Square Error, Peak Signal to Noise Ratio and Structural Similarity Index. The performance of an image processing algorithm depends on the quality of images and the algorithm utilised. The results show better performance of the fuzzy logic algorithm because it detects clear edges for installed panels. The applications of classical operators including Sobel, Canny, LoG, Prewitt and Roberts algorithms give similar results and show similarities in terms of the average of errors and accuracy. In addition, the results show that the minor difference of the average of the error and accuracy indices for Sobel, Canny, LoG, Prewitt and Roberts methods between both scenarios are not statistically significant, while the difference in the average of the error and accuracy indices for RGB-Sobel and Fuzzy methods between both scenarios are statistically significant. The accuracy of the algorithms can be improved by removing unwanted items such as vegetation and clouds in the sky. The evaluated algorithms assist practitioners to analyse their images collected day to day from construction sites, and to update building information modelling and the project digital drawings. Future work may need to focus on the combination of the evaluated algorithms using new data sets including colour edge detection for automatic defect identification using RGB and 360-degree images.