On the ability of CNNs to extract color invariant intensity based features for image classification

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have demonstrated remarkable success in vision-related tasks. However, their susceptibility to failing when inputs deviate from the training distribution is well-documented. Recent studies suggest that CNNs exhibit a bias toward texture instead of object shape in image classification tasks, and that background information may affect predictions. This paper investigates the ability of CNNs to adapt to different color distributions in an image while maintaining context and background. The results of our experiments on modified MNIST and FashionMNIST data demonstrate that changes in color can substantially affect classification accuracy. The paper explores the effects of various regularization techniques on generalization error across datasets and proposes a minor architectural modification utilizing the dropout regularization in a novel way that enhances model reliance on color-invariant intensity-based features for improved classification accuracy. Overall, this work contributes to ongoing efforts to understand the limitations and challenges of CNNs in image classification tasks and offers potential solutions to enhance their performance.

Semantic Segmentation of Porosity in 4D Spatio-Temporal X-ray μCT of Titanium Coated Ni wires using Deep Learning

A fully convolutional neural network was used to measure the evolution of the volume fraction of two different Kirkendall pores during the homogenization of Ti coated Ni wires. Traditional methods like Otsus thresholding and the largest connected component analysis were used to obtain the masks for training the segmentation model. Once trained, the model was used to semantically segment the two types of pores at different stages in their evolution. Masks of the pores predicted by the network were then used to measure the volume fraction of porosity at 0 mins, 240 mins, and 480 mins of homogenization. The model predicted an increase in porosity for one type of pore and a decrease in porosity for another type of pore due to pore sintering, and it achieved an F1 Score of 0.95.