Explanation:
I have two numpy arrays: dataX and dataY, and I am trying to filter each array to reduce the noise. The image shown below shows the actual input data (blue dots) and an example of what I want it to be like(red dots). I do not need the filtered data to be as perfect as in the example but I do want it to be as straight as possible. I have provided sample data in the code.

What I have tried:
Firstly, you can see that the data isn't 'continuous', so I first divided them into individual 'segments' ( 4 of them in this example), and then applied a filter to each 'segment'. Someone suggested that I use a Savitzky-Golay filter. The full, run-able code is below:
import scipy as sc
import scipy.signal
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
# Sample Data
ydata = np.array([1,0,1,2,1,2,1,0,1,1,2,2,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,2,7,6,8,6,8,6,6,8,6,6,8,6,6,7,6,5,5,6,6, 10,11,12,13,12,11,10,10,11,10,12,11,10,10,10,10,12,12,10,10,17,16,15,17,16, 17,16,18,19,18,17,16,16,16,16,16,15,16])
xdata = np.array([1,2,3,1,5,4,7,8,6,10,11,12,13,10,12,13,17,16,19,18,21,19,23,21,25,20,26,27,28,26,26,26,29,30,30,29,30,32,33, 1,2,3,1,5,4,7,8,6,10,11,12,13,10,12,13,17,16,19,18,21,19,23,21,25,20,26,27,28,26,26,26,29,30,30,29,30,32])
# Used a diff array to find where there is a big change in Y.
# If there's a big change in Y, then there must be a change of 'segment'.
diffy = np.diff(ydata)
# Create empty numpy arrays to append values into
filteredX = np.array([])
filteredY = np.array([])
# Chose 3 to be the value indicating the change in Y
index = np.where(diffy >3)
# Loop through the array
start = 0
for i in range (0, (index[0].size +1) ):
# Check if last segment is reached
if i == index[0].size:
print xdata[start:]
partSize = xdata[start:].size
# Window length must be an odd integer
if partSize % 2 == 0:
partSize = partSize - 1
filteredDataX = sc.signal.savgol_filter(xdata[start:], partSize, 3)
filteredDataY = sc.signal.savgol_filter(ydata[start:], partSize, 3)
filteredX = np.append(filteredX, filteredDataX)
filteredY = np.append(filteredY, filteredDataY)
else:
print xdata[start:index[0][i]]
partSize = xdata[start:index[0][i]].size
if partSize % 2 == 0:
partSize = partSize - 1
filteredDataX = sc.signal.savgol_filter(xdata[start:index[0][i]], partSize, 3)
filteredDataY = sc.signal.savgol_filter(ydata[start:index[0][i]], partSize, 3)
start = index[0][i]
filteredX = np.append(filteredX, filteredDataX)
filteredY = np.append(filteredY, filteredDataY)
# Plots
plt.plot(xdata,ydata, 'bo', label = 'Input Data')
plt.plot(filteredX, filteredY, 'ro', label = 'Filtered Data')
plt.xlabel('X')
plt.ylabel('Y')
plt.title('Result')
plt.legend()
plt.show()
This is my result:
When each point is connected, the result looks as follows.
I have played around with the order, but it seems like a third order gave the best result.
I have also tried these filters, among a few others:
But so far none of the filters I have tried were close to what I really wanted. What is the best way to filter data such as this? Looking forward to your help.
