Improved stochastic configuration networks with vision patch fusion method for industrial image classification

This paper contributes to the advancement of stochastic configuration neural networks (SCN) in the field of visual applications. The proposed image classification randomized algorithm is an extension of deep stochastic configuration networks (DeepSCN), known as an improved SCN with vision patch fusion (Vi-SCN). Compared to existing two dimensional stochastic configuration networks (2DSCN) and DeepSCN, we have developed an incremental modeling method that employs a stochastic configuration patch fusion method. This method extracts randomly fused image features from three-channel high-resolution image data, improving the network's ability to extract features. Moreover, we have introduced a strategy for dynamically determining the depth structure of the network, enabling flexible adjustments to the network structure and the number of nodes in each layer based on the complexity of image recognition tasks. Through a series of comparisons on four image classification benchmark datasets, we assess the superior learning performance of our design compared to 2DSCN and DeepSCN. Furthermore, to evaluate the performance of Vi-SCN in practical visual application scenarios, we collect three industrial datasets with distinct characteristics. Vi-SCN demonstrate outstanding performance in all three tasks, showing its significant potential in image recognition.