AIMED-Net: An Enhancing Infrared Small Target Detection Net in UAVs with Multi-Layer Feature Enhancement for Edge Computing

In the context of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), infrared imaging faces challenges such as low quality, difficulty in detecting small targets, high false alarm rates, and computational resource constraints. To address these issues, we introduce AIMED-Net, an enhancing infrared small target detection net in UAVs with multi-layer feature enhancement for edge computing. Initially, the network encompasses a multi-layer feature enhancement architecture for infrared small targets, including a generative adversarial-based shallow-feature enhancement network and a detection-oriented deep-feature enhancement network. Specifically, an infrared image-feature enhancement method is proposed for the shallow-feature enhancement network, employing multi-scale enhancement to bolster target detection performance. Furthermore, within the YOLOv7 framework, we have developed an improved object detection network integrating multiple feature enhancement techniques, optimized for infrared targets and edge computing conditions. This design not only reduces the model’s complexity but also enhances the network’s robustness and accuracy in identifying small targets. Experimental results obtained from the HIT-UAV public dataset indicate that, compared to YOLOv7s, our method achieves a 2.5% increase in F1 score, a 6.1% rise in AP for detecting OtherVehicle targets, and a 2.6% improvement in mAP across all categories, alongside a 15.2% reduction in inference time on edge devices. Compared to existing state-of-the-art approaches, our method strikes a balance between detection efficiency and accuracy, presenting a practical solution for deployment in aerial edge computing scenarios.