RoofN3D: A Database for 3D Building Reconstruction with Deep Learning

• Published in: Photogrammetric engineering and remote sensing 2019-06, Vol.85 (6), p.435-443
• Main Authors: Wichmann, Andreas, Agoub, Amgad, Schmidt, Valentina, Kada, Martin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0099-1112
• DOI: 10.14358/PERS.85.6.435

Machine learning methods, in particular those based on deep learning, have gained in importance through the latest development of artificial intelligence and computer hardware. However, the direct application of deep learning methods to improve the results of 3D building reconstruction is often not possible due, for example, to the lack of suitable training data. To address this issue, we present RoofN3D which provides a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud training dataset that can be used to train machine learning models for different tasks in the context of 3D building reconstruction. The details about RoofN3D and the developed framework to automatically derive such training data are described in this paper. Furthermore, we provide an overview of other available 3D point cloud training data and approaches from current literature in which solutions for the application of deep learning to 3D point cloud data are presented. Finally, we exemplarily demonstrate how the provided data can be used to classify building roofs with the PointNet framework.