Snake-DETR: a lightweight and efficient model for fine-grained snake detection in complex natural environments

Abstract The rapid changes in the global environment have led to an unprecedented decline in biodiversity, with over 28% of species facing extinction. This includes snakes, which are key to ecological balance. Detecting snakes is challenging due to their camouflage and elusive nature, causing data l...

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Main Authors: Heng Wang, Shuai Zhang, Cong Zhang, Zheng Liu, Qiuxian Huang, Xinyi Ma, Yiming Jiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-01-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84328-w
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author Heng Wang
Shuai Zhang
Cong Zhang
Zheng Liu
Qiuxian Huang
Xinyi Ma
Yiming Jiang
author_facet Heng Wang
Shuai Zhang
Cong Zhang
Zheng Liu
Qiuxian Huang
Xinyi Ma
Yiming Jiang
author_sort Heng Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The rapid changes in the global environment have led to an unprecedented decline in biodiversity, with over 28% of species facing extinction. This includes snakes, which are key to ecological balance. Detecting snakes is challenging due to their camouflage and elusive nature, causing data loss and feature extraction difficulties in ecological monitoring. To address these challenges, we propose an enhanced snake detection model, Snake-DETR, based on RT-DETR, specifically designed for snake detection in complex natural environments. First, we designed the Enhanced Generalized Efficient Layer Aggregation Network Based on Context Anchor Attention, which enhances the feature extraction capability for occluded snakes by aggregating critical layer information and strengthening context-dependent feature extraction. Additionally, we introduced the Enhanced Feature Extraction Backbone Network Based on Context Anchor Attention, which manages input information using multiple Enhanced Generalized Efficient Layer Aggregation Networks to retain essential spatial and semantic information. Subsequently, a lightweight Group-Shuffle Convolution is used to optimize the encoder, which reduces dependency on large-scale training data, thereby making it suitable for deployment on edge devices. Finally, we incorporated the Powerful-IoU loss function to improve regression path accuracy. Experimental results on a custom dataset covering 27 snake species demonstrate that Snake-DETR achieves a good balance between model efficiency and detection performance, meeting the requirements for fine-grained snake object detection. Compared to other state-of-the-art models, Snake-DETR achieved an accuracy of 97.66%, a recall rate of 93.92%, mAP@0.5 of 95.23%, and mAP@0.5:0.95 of 72.15%, all outperforming other algorithms in the comparative tests. Furthermore, the computational load and parameter count of the model are reduced by 47.2 and 52.2%, respectively, compared to the benchmark model. Additionally, the real-time processing capability is 43.5 frames per second, meeting the demand for real-time processing. Snake-DETR demonstrates excellent performance in complex environments and is suitable for wild snake fauna monitoring and edge device deployment, providing key technical support for ecological research.
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spelling doaj-art-ada4cae767d841f5bb42236d737a2b4a2025-01-12T12:22:36ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-0115112610.1038/s41598-024-84328-wSnake-DETR: a lightweight and efficient model for fine-grained snake detection in complex natural environmentsHeng Wang0Shuai Zhang1Cong Zhang2Zheng Liu3Qiuxian Huang4Xinyi Ma5Yiming Jiang6School of Mathematics and Computer, Wuhan Polytechnic UniversitySchool of Mathematics and Computer, Wuhan Polytechnic UniversitySchool of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic UniversitySchool of Mathematics and Computer, Wuhan Polytechnic UniversitySchool of Mathematics and Computer, Wuhan Polytechnic UniversitySchool of Mathematics and Computer, Wuhan Polytechnic UniversitySchool of Mathematics and Computer, Wuhan Polytechnic UniversityAbstract The rapid changes in the global environment have led to an unprecedented decline in biodiversity, with over 28% of species facing extinction. This includes snakes, which are key to ecological balance. Detecting snakes is challenging due to their camouflage and elusive nature, causing data loss and feature extraction difficulties in ecological monitoring. To address these challenges, we propose an enhanced snake detection model, Snake-DETR, based on RT-DETR, specifically designed for snake detection in complex natural environments. First, we designed the Enhanced Generalized Efficient Layer Aggregation Network Based on Context Anchor Attention, which enhances the feature extraction capability for occluded snakes by aggregating critical layer information and strengthening context-dependent feature extraction. Additionally, we introduced the Enhanced Feature Extraction Backbone Network Based on Context Anchor Attention, which manages input information using multiple Enhanced Generalized Efficient Layer Aggregation Networks to retain essential spatial and semantic information. Subsequently, a lightweight Group-Shuffle Convolution is used to optimize the encoder, which reduces dependency on large-scale training data, thereby making it suitable for deployment on edge devices. Finally, we incorporated the Powerful-IoU loss function to improve regression path accuracy. Experimental results on a custom dataset covering 27 snake species demonstrate that Snake-DETR achieves a good balance between model efficiency and detection performance, meeting the requirements for fine-grained snake object detection. Compared to other state-of-the-art models, Snake-DETR achieved an accuracy of 97.66%, a recall rate of 93.92%, mAP@0.5 of 95.23%, and mAP@0.5:0.95 of 72.15%, all outperforming other algorithms in the comparative tests. Furthermore, the computational load and parameter count of the model are reduced by 47.2 and 52.2%, respectively, compared to the benchmark model. Additionally, the real-time processing capability is 43.5 frames per second, meeting the demand for real-time processing. Snake-DETR demonstrates excellent performance in complex environments and is suitable for wild snake fauna monitoring and edge device deployment, providing key technical support for ecological research.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84328-wSnake object detectionFine-grained object detectionRT-DETRPower-IoUContext anchor attentionSnake
spellingShingle Heng Wang
Shuai Zhang
Cong Zhang
Zheng Liu
Qiuxian Huang
Xinyi Ma
Yiming Jiang
Snake-DETR: a lightweight and efficient model for fine-grained snake detection in complex natural environments
Scientific Reports
Snake object detection
Fine-grained object detection
RT-DETR
Power-IoU
Context anchor attention
Snake
title Snake-DETR: a lightweight and efficient model for fine-grained snake detection in complex natural environments
title_full Snake-DETR: a lightweight and efficient model for fine-grained snake detection in complex natural environments
title_fullStr Snake-DETR: a lightweight and efficient model for fine-grained snake detection in complex natural environments
title_full_unstemmed Snake-DETR: a lightweight and efficient model for fine-grained snake detection in complex natural environments
title_short Snake-DETR: a lightweight and efficient model for fine-grained snake detection in complex natural environments
title_sort snake detr a lightweight and efficient model for fine grained snake detection in complex natural environments
topic Snake object detection
Fine-grained object detection
RT-DETR
Power-IoU
Context anchor attention
Snake
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84328-w
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