Object Detection in Infrared Images using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

Sammanfattning: In the master thesis about object detection(OD) using deep convolutional neural network(DCNN), the area of OD is being tested when being applied to infrared images(IR). In this thesis the, goal is to use both long wave infrared(LWIR) images and short wave infrared(SWIR) images taken from an airplane in order to train a DCNN to detect runways, Precision Approach Path Indicator(PAPI) lights, and approaching lights. The purpose for detecting these objects in IR images is because IR light transmits better than visible light under certain weather conditions, for example, fog. This system could then help the pilot detect the runway in bad weather. The RetinaNet model architecture was used and modified in different ways to find the best performing model. The models contain parameters that are found during the training process but some parameters, called hyperparameters, need to be determined in advance. A way to automatically find good values of these hyperparameters was also tested. In hyperparameter optimization, the Bayesian optimization method proved to create a model with equally good performance as the best performance acieved by the author using manual hyperparameter tuning. The OD system was implemented using Keras with Tensorflow backend and received a high perfomance (mAP=0.9245) on the test data. The system manages to detect the wanted objects in the images but is expected to perform worse in a general situation since the training data and test data are very similar. In order to further develop this system and to improve performance under general conditions more data is needed from other airfields and under different weather conditions.