Optimization of Object Detection Network Architecture for High-Resolution Remote Sensing

(1) Objective: This study is aiming at the key problems, such as insufficient detection accuracy of small targets and complex background interference in remote-sensing image target detection; (2) Methods: by optimizing the YOLOv10x model architecture, the YOLO-KRM model is proposed. Firstly, a new backbone network structure is constructed. By replacing the C2f of the third layer of the backbone network with the Kolmogorov–Arnold network, the approximation ability of the model to complete complex nonlinear functions in high-dimensional space is improved. Then, the C2f of the fifth layer of the backbone network is replaced by the receptive field attention convolution, which enhances the model’s ability to capture the global context information of the features. In addition, the C2f and C2fCIB structures in the upsampling operation in the neck network are replaced by the hybrid local channel attention mechanism module, which significantly improves the feature representation ability of the model. Results: In order to validate the effectiveness of the YOLO-KRM model, detailed experiments were conducted on two remote-sensing datasets, RSOD and NWPU VHR-10. The experimental results show that, compared with the original model YOLOv10x, the mAP@50 of the YOLO-KRM model on the two datasets is increased by 1.77% and 2.75%, respectively, and the mAP @ 50:95 index is increased by 3.82% and 5.23%, respectively; (3) Results: by improving the model, the accuracy of target detection in remote-sensing images is successfully enhanced. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the model in dealing with complex backgrounds and small targets, especially in high-resolution remote-sensing images.