Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Knowledge-based interpretation of architectural drawings

  • Published:
Research in Engineering Design Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A method for machine interpretation of architectural (or other) schematic drawings is presented. The central problem is to build an efficient drawing parser (i.e., a program that identifies the semantic entities, characteristics, and relationships that are represented in the drawing). The parser is built from specifications of the drawing grammar and an underlying spatial model. The grammar describes what to look for, and the spatial model enables the parser to find it quickly. Coupled with existing optical recognition technology, this technique enables the use of drawings directly as: (1) a database to drive various Architecture-Engineering-Construction (AEC) applications; (2) a communication protocol to integrate CAD systems; (3) a traditional user interface.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bunn, J.H.The Dimensionality of Signs, Tools, and Models: an Introduction, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, 1981

    Google Scholar 

  2. Barton, G.E., Berwick, R. C., Ristad, E.S.Computational Complexity and Natural Language, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1987

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bjork, B-C. and Penttila, H. “A Scenario for the Development and Implementation of a Building Product Model,” Technical Research Centre of Finland, Laboratory of Urban Planning and Building Design, Espoo, Finland, 1989

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cherneff, J. “Knowledge Based Interpretation of Architectural Drawings,” PhD Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1990

    Google Scholar 

  5. Cherneff, J. “Integrating Design Data Schemata: The Role of Interpretation,” To appear in Proceedings of the Building Systems Integration Symposium, C. Dorgan, ed., University of Wisconsin at Madison, June, 1991

  6. Date, C.J.An Introduction to Database Systems, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., Reading, MA, 1986

    Google Scholar 

  7. Eastman, C. “Why We Are Here and Where We Are Going: The Evolution of CAD,” Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning Design and Computation Series, Report No. 1, U.C.L.A., Los Angeles, CA, November, 1989

    Google Scholar 

  8. Fenves, S., Flemming, U., Hendrickson, C., Maher, M., Schmitt, G. “An Integrated Software Environment for Building Design and Construction,”Computer Aided Design, Vol. 22, No. 1, January/February, 1990

  9. Fu, K.S.Syntactic Pattern Recognition Applications, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1977

    Google Scholar 

  10. Garrett, J.H. Jr., Basten, J., Breslin, J., Andersen, T. “An Object Oriented Model for Building Design and Construction,” Proceedings of the Sessions Related to Computer Utilization of Structures Congress 1989, J.K. Nelson, Jr., ed., pp. 332–341, 1989

  11. Groen, F.C.A., van Munster, R.J. “Computer Aided Analysis of Schematic Diagrams,” inPattern Recognition in Practice II, E.S. Gelsema and L.N. Kanal, eds., Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., North Holland, 1986

    Google Scholar 

  12. Haralick, R.M., Queeney, D. “Understanding Engineering Drawings,”Computer Graphics and Image Processing Vol. 20, pp. 244–258, 1982

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hirschtick, J., Gossard, D. “Geometric Reasoning for Design Advisory Systems,” Proceedings of the 1986 American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Computers in Engineering Conference and Exhibition, Chicago, IL, pp. 263–270, July, 1986

  14. Hopcroft, J.E., Ullman, J.D.Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation, Addison Wesley, 1979

  15. Howard, H.C., Levitt, R.E., Paulson, B.C., Pohl, J.G., Tatum, C.B. “Computer Integration: Reducing Fragmentation in the AEC Industry,”Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 1, January, 1989

  16. Iwata, K., Sugimura, N., Lee, W. “Knowledge-Based Recognition of Hand-Written Drawings for Modelling in Machine Design,”Expert Systems in Computer-Aided Design, J. Gero, ed., Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., North-Holland, 1987

    Google Scholar 

  17. Iwaki, O. “Document Recognition System for Office Automation,” Proc. 8th-ICIP, 1986

  18. Iwaki, O. “A Segmentation Method Based on Office Document Hierarchical Structure,” Proc. 1987 IEEE Int. Conf. on SMC, 1987

  19. Kallel, M. “Standards for Data Exchange in an Integrated Environment,” M.S. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1987

    Google Scholar 

  20. KEE Users Manual, Intellicorp, Mountain View, CA, 1989

  21. Lan, M.S. “Application of a Blackboard Framework to Automated Interpretation of Engineering Drawings,” Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference on Computers and Graphics in the Building Process, 1984

  22. Mark, E. “A Design Automation Paradox,” CIB Proceedings, Publication 126, “Conceptual Modelling of Buildings,” CIB W74 + W78, ed. Per Christiansson and Henry Karlson, Lund Sweden, 1988

    Google Scholar 

  23. Miclet, L.Structural Methods in Pattern Recognition, North Oxford Academic, London, 1986

    Google Scholar 

  24. Mitchell, W.The Logic of Architecture, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1990

    Google Scholar 

  25. Moavenzadeh, F. “U.S. Construction Industry,” CCRE Technical Report 86-18, MIT, Cambridge, MA, 1986

    Google Scholar 

  26. Montalvo, F. “Diagram Understanding,” AI-Memo-83, Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence, MIT, Cambridge, MA, 1983

    Google Scholar 

  27. Mumford, L.The Myth of the Machine: Technics and Human Development, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1967

    Google Scholar 

  28. Leppanen, P., Sarja, A. “Preliminary Models for the Computer Aided Building Design and Construction Management Process,” Research Notes No. 606, Technical Research Center of Finland, 1987

  29. Reddy, R., Erkes, J., Wood, R. “An Overview of DICE Architecture,” University of West Virginia, November 8, 1988, unpublished

  30. Sriram, D., Logcher, R.D., Groleau, N., Cherneff, J. “DICE: An Object Oriented Programming Environment for Cooperative Design,” Technical Report No. IESL-89-03, MIT, Cambridge, MA, April 23, 1989

    Google Scholar 

  31. Stefik, M., Bobrow, D.G., “Object Oriented Programming; Themes and Variations,”The AI Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 40–64, 1986

    Google Scholar 

  32. Kemble Stokes, H. Jr., “An Examination of the Productivity Decline in the Construction Industry,”The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 63, No. 4, pp. 495–502, 1981

    Google Scholar 

  33. Stiny, G. “Computing with Form and Meaning in Architecture,”Journal of Architectural Education, Fall, 1985

  34. Sakurai, H., Gossard, D. “Solid Model Input Through Orthographic Views,”Computer Graphics, Vol. 17, No. 3, July, 1983

  35. Tatum, C.B. “Integration: The Emerging Management Challenge,” Symposium Proceedings, Center for Integrated Facility Engineering, Stanford University, March, 1989

  36. Waltz, D. “Understanding Line Drawings of Scenes with Shadows,” inThe Psychology of Computer Vision, P. Winston, ed., McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1975

    Google Scholar 

  37. Williams, J., Pentland, A., Connor, J. “Interactive Integrated Design—Visualization of Form and Process” Conference Paper: Human Computer Interface International, Boston, MA, September 18, 1989

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intelligent Engineering Systems Laboratory and Center for Construction Research and Education, M.I.T., 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Jonathan Cherneff

  2. Intelligent Engineering Systems Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, M.I.T., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Robert Logcher

  3. Constructed Facilities Division, Department of Civil Engineering, M.I.T., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Jerome Connor

  4. Department of Ocean Engineering, M.I.T., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Nicholas Patrikalakis

Authors
  1. Jonathan Cherneff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert Logcher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jerome Connor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nicholas Patrikalakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cherneff, J., Logcher, R., Connor, J. et al. Knowledge-based interpretation of architectural drawings. Research in Engineering Design 3, 195–210 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01580842

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01580842

Keywords

Search

Navigation