“INTRODUCTION TO PATTERN RECOGNITION AND DATA PREPROCESSING”

By

Sakib Chowdhury
ID: 2104010202241

Batch: 40th; Section: C

CSE 460: Pattern Recognition Laboratory

Instructor:
Md. Neamul Haque
Lecturer ____________
Department of Computer Science and Engineering Signature
Premier University

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Premier University
Chattogram-4000, Bangladesh
26th July 2025
Table of Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3 Theoretical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.1 What is Pattern Recognition? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.2 Supervised and Unsupervised Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.3 Importance of Data Preprocessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

4 Tools and Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

5 Procedure with Code and Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

5.1 Step 1: Import Required Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.2 Step 2: Load and Explore the Dataset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.3 Step 3: Check for Missing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.4 Step 4: Feature Scaling (Standardization) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.5 Step 5: Apply KNN (Supervised Learning) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.6 Step 6: Apply K-Means Clustering (Unsupervised Learning) . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.7 Step 7: Visualization of Clustering Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

6 Observations and Results Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1
3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2

INTRODUCTION
Pattern recognition is a foundational discipline in artificial intelligence and machine learning
that enables systems to identify meaningful structures and regularities in data. It serves as the
backbone for a wide range of real-world applications, including image and speech recognition,
medical diagnosis, fraud detection, and autonomous systems. At its core, pattern recog-
nition involves extracting useful features from raw data and using them to make informed
decisions—either by classifying known patterns or discovering hidden structures.
With the rapid growth of data-driven technologies, the ability to process, analyze, and
interpret data has become a critical skill. This laboratory exercise introduces the fundamental
concepts of pattern recognition through practical implementation using Python. By working
with a well-structured dataset and applying essential preprocessing and modeling techniques,
students gain hands-on experience in building intelligent systems that learn from data.
The lab focuses on two major paradigms: supervised learning, where models are trained
on labeled data to predict outcomes, and unsupervised learning, where algorithms discover
inherent groupings without prior labels. Using the widely adopted Iris dataset, the experiment
demonstrates key workflows such as data inspection, feature scaling, model training, and
visualization. These steps form the basis of most machine learning pipelines and provide a
solid foundation for more advanced studies in data science and AI.

OBJECTIVE
This laboratory session aims to provide a foundational understanding of pattern recognition
and its practical implementation using Python. The main objectives are:
- Understand the core concepts of pattern recognition.
- Differentiate between supervised and unsupervised learning paradigms.
- Perform essential data preprocessing steps such as handling missing values and feature
scaling.
- Implement and evaluate two fundamental machine learning algorithms:
- K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) for classification (supervised learning).
- K-Means Clustering for grouping unlabeled data (unsupervised learning).
- Visualize results using interactive plotting tools.
The Iris dataset, a widely used benchmark in machine learning, is employed due to its
simplicity, clarity, and historical significance in classification tasks.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

What is Pattern Recognition?

Pattern recognition is the automated process of identifying patterns, structures, or regularities

in data. It plays a crucial role in various domains, including:
- Machine Learning
- Computer Vision
- Speech Recognition
4 TOOLS AND LIBRARIES 3

- Medical Diagnosis
- Data Mining
It typically involves feature extraction, model training, and decision-making based on
learned patterns from data.

Supervised and Unsupervised Learning

Table 1: Comparison of Supervised and Unsupervised Learning

Aspect Supervised Learning Unsupervised Learning

Data Type Labeled (input-output pairs) Unlabeled (input only)
Goal Predict output for new data Discover hidden structure or grouping
Training Signal Known target variable No explicit labels
Example Tasks Classification, Regression Clustering, Dimensionality Reduction
Example Algorithm K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) K-Means Clustering

In this lab:
- KNN is used to classify iris species based on labeled training data.
- K-Means attempts to group similar flowers without using species labels.

Importance of Data Preprocessing

Real-world data is often inconsistent or unbalanced. Preprocessing ensures data quality and
model reliability. Key steps include:
- Handling Missing Values: Ensuring completeness of the dataset.
- Feature Scaling: Normalizing or standardizing features to prevent bias in distance-
based algorithms.
- Categorical Encoding: Converting non-numeric labels into numerical form (not re-
quired here as the Iris dataset is already encoded).
Without proper preprocessing, algorithms like KNN and K-Means may be dominated by
features with larger numerical ranges.

TOOLS AND LIBRARIES

The following Python libraries were used for data manipulation, modeling, and visualization:

Table 2: Required Libraries and Their Purposes

Library Purpose
pandas Data manipulation using DataFrames
numpy Numerical operations and array handling
matplotlib, seaborn Static data visualization
plotly Interactive and dynamic plots
scikit-learn Machine learning models and utilities
5 PROCEDURE WITH CODE AND EXPLANATIONS 4

To install all required packages, run:

!pip install pandas numpy matplotlib seaborn plotly scikit-learn

PROCEDURE WITH CODE AND EXPLANATIONS

This section presents the implementation workflow using annotated screenshots. Code and
outputs are shown visually to enhance clarity and presentation quality.

Step 1: Import Required Libraries

Figure 1: Importing essential libraries for data handling, visualization, and machine learning.

Explanation: All necessary modules are imported at the beginning. scikit-learn provides
pre-built algorithms, while plotly enables interactive visualizations.

Step 2: Load and Explore the Dataset

Figure 2: Loading the Iris dataset into a pandas DataFrame and displaying the first five rows.
5 PROCEDURE WITH CODE AND EXPLANATIONS 5

Explanation: The dataset contains 150 samples, each with 4 morphological features (sepal
and petal dimensions) and a target label (0: setosa, 1: versicolor, 2: virginica).

Step 3: Check for Missing Data

Figure 3: Output of df.isnull().sum() showing no missing values.

Explanation: The dataset is complete, requiring no imputation or data cleaning—ideal for

immediate modeling.

Step 4: Feature Scaling (Standardization)

Figure 4: Applying StandardScaler to normalize all features.

5 PROCEDURE WITH CODE AND EXPLANATIONS 6

Explanation: Since KNN and K-Means rely on distance metrics, standardization ensures all
features contribute equally by transforming them to have mean 0 and standard deviation 1.

Step 5: Apply KNN (Supervised Learning)

Figure 5: Training KNN with k = 3 and evaluating accuracy on the test set.

Explanation:
- Data is split into 80% training and 20% testing.
- KNN classifies new samples based on the majority class among the 3 nearest neighbors.
- Achieved accuracy: 100.0%, indicating strong class separability.

Step 6: Apply K-Means Clustering (Unsupervised Learning)

Figure 6: Fitting K-Means with 3 clusters and assigning cluster labels.

Explanation:
- K-Means partitions the data into k = 3 groups by minimizing within-cluster variance.
5 PROCEDURE WITH CODE AND EXPLANATIONS 7

- It operates without labels, discovering structure purely from feature similarity.

- Despite no supervision, clusters often align with true species.

Step 7: Visualization of Clustering Results

Figure 7: Interactive Plotly scatter plot of K-Means clusters.

Explanation:
- Cluster 0 (purple) is well-separated—likely Iris setosa.
- Clusters 1 and 2 show partial overlap, reflecting similarity between versicolor and vir-
ginica.
- Hover functionality allows inspection of individual samples.
7 CONCLUSION 8

OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS SUMMARY

Table 3: Summary of Key Steps and Outcomes

Step Observation / Output

Dataset Structure 150 samples, 4 features, 3 balanced classes
Missing Values None detected — data is clean
Feature Scaling All features standardized (mean ≈ 0, std ≈ 1)
KNN Accuracy 100.0% — high classification performance
K-Means Clusters 3 clusters formed without labels
Cluster Visualization Clear separation with minor overlap in mid-range values

Insight: The high agreement between clusters and true species labels demonstrates that the
Iris dataset has strong intrinsic structure, making it ideal for teaching pattern recognition.

CONCLUSION
The Iris dataset, though simple, encapsulates the essence of pattern recognition. This lab not
only reinforces theoretical knowledge but also builds practical skills in building end-to-end
machine learning pipelines. This laboratory successfully introduced the fundamental concepts
and practical implementation of pattern recognition. Key takeaways include:
- Supervised Learning (KNN) achieved high accuracy (100.0%) in classifying iris
species, highlighting the power of labeled data.
- Unsupervised Learning (K-Means) discovered meaningful groupings without labels,
showing how algorithms can reveal hidden patterns.
- Data Preprocessing, especially feature scaling, is essential for distance-based models.
- Interactive Visualization using plotly enhanced interpretability and exploration.

The Iris dataset remains a powerful educational tool for illustrating core machine learning
concepts. Through this experiment, we gained valuable insight into how machines learn from
data—whether guided by labels or discovering patterns autonomously.