ESOD-YOLO: an enhanced efficient small object detection framework for aerial images
摘要
Object detection holds significant importance in remote sensing applications. However, the view angle and dynamic platform increase complexity compared to traditional tasks, such as limited feature representation, complex backgrounds, and data transmission issues. To address these challenges, ESOD-YOLO, an efficient detector based on YOLOv8 that optimally balances accuracy and efficiency is proposed in this work. ESOD-YOLO integrates three lightweight and plug-and-play modules: Deformable and Global–Local Feature Guidance (DGLFG), Simple Cross-scale and Cross-layer Feature Fusion(SCCFF), and Inverse-residual Shared Parameter based on a Partial convolution (ISPP). These modules improve the model’s capabilities to sense target deformation, local and global correlations in spatial and channel dimensions, and multi-scale features fusion, respectively, avoiding increasing model complexity. Experiments are performed on three typical small-target datasets: VisDrone2019, AI-TOD, and UAVDT. The