Improving Buoy Detection with Deep Transfer Learning for Mussel Farm Automation

The aquaculture sector in New Zealand is experiencing rapid expansion, with a particular emphasis on mussel exports. As the demands of mussel farming operations continue to evolve, the integration of artificial intelligence and computer vision techniques, such as intelligent object detection, is emerging as an effective approach to enhance operational efficiency. This study delves into advancing buoy detection by leveraging deep learning methodologies for intelligent mussel farm monitoring and management. The primary objective centers on improving accuracy and robustness in detecting buoys across a spectrum of real-world scenarios. A diverse dataset sourced from mussel farms is captured and labeled for training, encompassing imagery taken from cameras mounted on both floating platforms and traversing vessels, capturing various lighting and weather conditions. To establish an effective deep learning model for buoy detection with a limited number of labeled data, we employ transfer learning techniques. This involves adapting a pre-trained object detection model to create a specialized deep learning buoy detection model. We explore different pre-trained models, including YOLO and its variants, alongside data diversity to investigate their effects on model performance. Our investigation demonstrates a significant enhancement in buoy detection performance through deep learning, accompanied by improved generalization across diverse weather conditions, highlighting the practical effectiveness of our approach.