Application of Object Detection Algorithm for Efficient Damages Identification of the Conservation of Heritage Buildings

ABSTRACT Heritage buildings are crucial for any area's cultural and political aspects. Proper maintenance and monitoring are essential for the conservation of these buildings. However, manual inspections are time‐consuming and expensive. We propose a deep learning–based detection framework to identify the damages on the ancient architectural wall. The algorithm applied in this study is YOLOv5. Comparing its five different versions, it was decided to use YOLOv5m as the most accurate detection algorithm with a mAP of 0.801. The damage types identified are physical weathering and visitors' scratches. High‐resolution images were selected for the experiment and effectively identified image. In addition, the applied algorithm allows real‐time detection and the identification of seasonal sources of disruption, which is proved by the video test in this study. The findings contribute to the development of an intelligent tool for health monitoring with the goal of fast and remote damage detection in the routine maintenance of heritage buildings.