Advanced deep learning framework for underwater object detection with multibeam forward-looking sonar
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Underwater object detection (UOD) is an essential activity in maintaining and monitoring underwater infrastructure, playing an important role in their efficient and low-risk asset management. In underwater environments, sonar, recognized for overcoming the limitations of optical imaging in low-light and turbid conditions, has increasingly gained popularity for UOD. However, due to the low resolution and limited foreground-background contrast in sonar images, existing sonar-based object detection algorithms still face challenges regarding precision and transferability. To solve these challenges, this article proposes an advanced deep learning framework for UOD that uses the data from multibeam forward-looking sonar. The framework is adapted from the network architecture of YOLOv7, one of the state-of-the-art vision-based object detection algorithms, by incorporating unique optimizations in three key aspects: data preprocessing, feature fusion, and loss functions. These improvements are extensively tested on a dedicated public dataset, showing superior object classification performance compared to the selected existing sonar-based methods. Through experiments conducted on an underwater remotely operated vehicle, the proposed framework validates significant enhancements in target classification, localization, and transfer learning capabilities. Since the engineering structures have similar geometric shapes to the objects tested in this study, the proposed framework presents potential applicability to underwater structural inspection and monitoring, and autonomous asset management.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".