Vehicle Trajectory Completion for Automatic Number Plate Recognition Data: A Temporal Knowledge Graph-Based Method

Vehicle trajectories represent an essential information source in intelligent transportation systems. Prior trajectory completion models based on Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) data have typically depended on vehicle re-identification results or road network information or have employed static knowledge graphs to integrate the two information sources. However, these methods have not taken into account the implicit temporal characteristics of trajectories in ANPR data and have neglected individual vehicle preferences. To address this void, this study proposes a Temporal Knowledge Graph-based Vehicle Trajectory Completion Model (TKG-VTC). The model implementation comprises three stages: first, ANPR data are converted into a temporal trajectory knowledge graph; second, knowledge representation learning is conducted using nontemporal relations, a biased temporal regularizer and multivector embeddings to embed the knowledge on the graph; and finally, the embedded results are employed to perform link prediction for incomplete trajectories, thereby restoring vehicle trajectories in ANPR data. Through model evaluation metrics and dimensionality reduction experiments, TKG-VTC is observed to demonstrate the best performance in completing trajectories when compared to TComplEx, TNTComplEx, and TeLM. This research introduces an innovative application of employing temporal knowledge graphs for trajectory reconstruction, which eliminates dependence on vehicle re-identification and road network information in previous methodologies. This is advantageous for enhancing the performance and dependability of vehicle trajectory data in intelligent transportation systems, as well as facilitating the implementation of trajectory prediction, demand analysis, and accident warning applications.