MobileNet-YOLO v5s: An Improved Lightweight Method for Real-Time Detection of Sugarcane Stem Nodes in Complex Natural Environments

To improve the precision of intelligent sugarcane harvesting, and to meet the requirements of high precision and low complexity for use with embedded devices, a lightweight model called MobileNet v2-YOLO v5s for the real-time detection of sugarcane stem nodes in complex natural environments was developed. In this study, images of sugarcane stem nodes in a complex natural environment were collected and a dataset containing 12,600 images was constructed using a data extension process. The MobileNet network was introduced to replace the backbone of the YOLO v5s algorithm and the improved algorithm was used to train the MobileNet-YOLO v5s sugarcane stem node identification model. In experiments aiming to verify the advantages of the lightweight model, MobileNet v2-YOLO v5s achieved the best combination of high precision and low complexity. Its AP was decreased by only 0.8%, while its complexity was reduced by 40% compared to YOLO v5s. It also had a fast detection speed of 4.4 ms on a Dell workstation P7920. Therefore, 11 other models were selected for comparative experiments to demonstrate the superiority of MobileNet v2-YOLO v5s. Finally, TensorRT accelerated optimization tests, execution tests, and real-time detection tests were performed on Jetson Nano. The results showed that the optimised MobileNet v2-YOLO v5s outperformed YOLO v5s in terms of identification, lightweight and detection speed on embedded devices. Overall, MobileNet v2-YOLO v5s model meets the requirements of embedded devices and can provide a visual identification method for intelligent sugarcane harvesting.