Symbols classification in engineering drawings.

Technical drawings are commonly used across different industries such as Oil and Gas, construction, mechanical and other types of engineering. In recent years, the digitization of these drawings is becoming increasingly important. In this paper, we present a semi-automatic and heuristic-based approach to detect and localise symbols within these drawings. This includes generating a labeled dataset from real world engineering drawings and investigating the classification performance of three different state-of the art supervised machine learning algorithms. In order to improve the classification accuracy the dataset was pre-processed using unsupervised learning algorithms to identify hidden patterns within classes. Testing and evaluating the proposed methods on a dataset of symbols representing one standard of drawings, namely Process and Instrumentation (P&ID) showed very competitive results

A Review of Neural Network Approach on Engineering Drawing Recognition and Future Directions

Engineering Drawing (ED) digitization is a crucial aspect of modern industrial processes, enabling efficient data management and facilitating automation. However, the accurate detection and recognition of ED elements pose significant challenges. This paper presents a comprehensive review of existing research on ED element detection and recognition, focusing on the role of neural networks in improving the analysis process. The study evaluates the performance of the YOLOv7 model in detecting ED elements through rigorous experimentation. The results indicate promising precision and recall rates of up to 87.6% and 74.4%, respectively, with a mean average precision (mAP) of 61.1% at IoU threshold 0.5. Despite these advancements, achieving 100% accuracy remains elusive due to factors such as symbol and text overlapping, limited dataset sizes, and variations in ED formats. Overcoming these challenges is vital to ensuring the reliability and practical applicability of ED digitization solutions. By comparing the YOLOv7 results with previous research, the study underscores the efficacy of neural network-based approaches in handling ED element detection tasks. However, further investigation is necessary to address the challenges above effectively. Future research directions include exploring ensemble methods to improve detection accuracy, fine-tuning model parameters to enhance performance, and incorporating domain adaptation techniques to adapt models to specific ED formats and domains. To enhance the real-world viability of ED digitization solutions, this work highlights the importance of conducting testing on diverse datasets representing different industries and applications. Additionally, fostering collaborations between academia and industry will enable the development of tailored solutions that meet specific industrial needs. Overall, this research contributes to understanding the challenges in ED digitization and paves the way for future advancements in this critical field

A Digitization and Conversion Tool for Imaged Drawings to Intelligent Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&ID)

In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence technology and big data science are emerging rapidly. To apply these informational technologies to the engineering industries, it is essential to digitize the data that are currently archived in image or hard-copy format. For previously created design drawings, the consistency between the design products is reduced in the digitization process, and the accuracy and reliability of estimates of the equipment and materials by the digitized drawings are remarkably low. In this paper, we propose a method and system of automatically recognizing and extracting design information from imaged piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) drawings and automatically generating digitized drawings based on the extracted data by using digital image processing techniques such as template matching and sliding window method. First, the symbols are recognized by template matching and extracted from the imaged P&ID drawing and registered automatically in the database. Then, lines and text are recognized and extracted from in the imaged P&ID drawing using the sliding window method and aspect ratio calculation, respectively. The extracted symbols for equipment and lines are associated with the attributes of the closest text and are stored in the database in neutral format. It is mapped with the predefined intelligent P&ID information and transformed to commercial P&ID tool formats with the associated information stored. As illustrated through the validation case studies, the intelligent digitized drawings generated by the above automatic conversion system, the consistency of the design product is maintained, and the problems experienced with the traditional and manual P&ID input method by engineering companies, such as time consumption, missing items, and misspellings, are solved through the final fine-tune validation process.11Ysciescopu

A review of neural network approach on engineering drawing recognition and future directions

Engineering Drawing (ED) digitization is a crucial aspect of modern industrial processes, enabling efficient data management and facilitating automation. However, the accurate detection and recognition of ED elements pose significant challenges. This paper presents a comprehensive review of existing research on ED element detection and recognition, focusing on the role of neural networks in improving the analysis process. The study evaluates the performance of the YOLOv7 model in detecting ED elements through rigorous experimentation. The results indicate promising precision and recall rates of up to 87.6% and 74.4%, respectively, with a mean average precision (mAP) of 61.1% at IoU threshold 0.5. Despite these advancements, achieving 100% accuracy remains elusive due to factors such as symbol and text overlapping, limited dataset sizes, and variations in ED formats. Overcoming these challenges is vital to ensuring the reliability and practical applicability of ED digitization solutions. By comparing the YOLOv7 results with previous research, the study underscores the efficacy of neural network-based approaches in handling ED element detection tasks. However, further investigation is necessary to address the challenges above effectively. Future research directions include exploring ensemble methods to improve detection accuracy, fine-tuning model parameters to enhance performance, and incorporating domain adaptation techniques to adapt models to specific ED formats and domains. To enhance the real-world viability of ED digitization solutions, this work highlights the importance of conducting testing on diverse datasets representing different industries and applications. Additionally, fostering collaborations between academia and industry will enable the development of tailored solutions that meet specific industrial needs. Overall, this research contributes to understanding the challenges in ED digitization and paves the way for future advancements in this critical field