Target detection and classification via EfficientDet and CNN over unmanned aerial vehicles

Introduction: Advanced traffic monitoring systems face significant challenges in vehicle detection and classification. Conventional methods often require substantial computational resources and struggle to adapt to diverse data collection methods.

Methods: This research introduces an innovative technique for classifying and recognizing vehicles in aerial image sequences. The proposed model encompasses several phases, starting with image enhancement through noise reduction and Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE). Following this, contour-based segmentation and Fuzzy C-means segmentation (FCM) are applied to identify foreground objects. Vehicle detection and identification are performed using EfficientDet. For feature extraction, Accelerated KAZE (AKAZE), Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF (ORB), and Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) are utilized. Object classification is achieved through a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and ResNet Residual Network.

Results: The proposed method demonstrates improved performance over previous approaches. Experiments on datasets including Vehicle Aerial Imagery from a Drone (VAID) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Intruder Dataset (UAVID) reveal that the model achieves an accuracy of 96.6% on UAVID and 97% on VAID.

Discussion: The results indicate that the proposed model significantly enhances vehicle detection and classification in aerial images, surpassing existing methods and offering notable improvements for traffic monitoring systems.