A Lightweight Algorithm for Detection and Grading of Olive Ripeness Based on Improved YOLOv11n

Olives are a crucial woody oil crop, the harvesting of which predominantly relies on manual labor, which is characterized by high costs, low efficiency, and challenges in ensuring optimal harvesting timing. The development of an automated ripeness-detection system with high recognition accuracy is o...

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Main Authors: Fengwu Zhu, Suyu Wang, Min Liu, Weijie Wang, Weizhi Feng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Agronomy
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/5/1030
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author Fengwu Zhu
Suyu Wang
Min Liu
Weijie Wang
Weizhi Feng
author_facet Fengwu Zhu
Suyu Wang
Min Liu
Weijie Wang
Weizhi Feng
author_sort Fengwu Zhu
collection DOAJ
description Olives are a crucial woody oil crop, the harvesting of which predominantly relies on manual labor, which is characterized by high costs, low efficiency, and challenges in ensuring optimal harvesting timing. The development of an automated ripeness-detection system with high recognition accuracy is of paramount importance for advancing automated olive-harvesting technologies. Traditional detection methods are constrained by susceptibility to environmental interference, limited robustness, and inadequate generalization capabilities. Concurrently, existing deep learning-based detection models face issues such as insufficient feature extraction for small targets and difficulties in deployment due to their need for large numbers of parameters. To address these limitations, this study proposes a lightweight algorithm for detection and grading of olive ripeness based on an Improved YOLOv11n framework. The proposed approach employs YOLOv11n as the baseline model, replaces its backbone network with EfficientNet-B0, and integrates the Large-Scale Kernel Attention (LSKA) mechanism and the Bidirectional Feature Pyramid Network (BiFPN). Experimental validation demonstrated that the enhanced model achieved detection accuracy comparable to that of the original model, attaining a mean average precision (mAP) of 0.918. Furthermore, the model size was reduced to 3.7 MB, a 39.3% reduction, while the computational complexity (GFLOPs) was decreased by 2.4 and the inference time per image was reduced by 0.2 ms. The proposed model exhibits significant advantages in terms of lightweight design and improved detection efficiency, demonstrating substantial potential for practical deployment. This study provides a valuable reference for the development of automated olive-harvesting technologies.
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spelling doaj-art-4aff31a98d1e4ad296d34cfb0c756e162025-08-20T03:14:35ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952025-04-01155103010.3390/agronomy15051030A Lightweight Algorithm for Detection and Grading of Olive Ripeness Based on Improved YOLOv11nFengwu Zhu0Suyu Wang1Min Liu2Weijie Wang3Weizhi Feng4College of Engineering and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaCollege of Engineering and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaCollege of Engineering and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaCollege of Engineering and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaCollege of Engineering and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaOlives are a crucial woody oil crop, the harvesting of which predominantly relies on manual labor, which is characterized by high costs, low efficiency, and challenges in ensuring optimal harvesting timing. The development of an automated ripeness-detection system with high recognition accuracy is of paramount importance for advancing automated olive-harvesting technologies. Traditional detection methods are constrained by susceptibility to environmental interference, limited robustness, and inadequate generalization capabilities. Concurrently, existing deep learning-based detection models face issues such as insufficient feature extraction for small targets and difficulties in deployment due to their need for large numbers of parameters. To address these limitations, this study proposes a lightweight algorithm for detection and grading of olive ripeness based on an Improved YOLOv11n framework. The proposed approach employs YOLOv11n as the baseline model, replaces its backbone network with EfficientNet-B0, and integrates the Large-Scale Kernel Attention (LSKA) mechanism and the Bidirectional Feature Pyramid Network (BiFPN). Experimental validation demonstrated that the enhanced model achieved detection accuracy comparable to that of the original model, attaining a mean average precision (mAP) of 0.918. Furthermore, the model size was reduced to 3.7 MB, a 39.3% reduction, while the computational complexity (GFLOPs) was decreased by 2.4 and the inference time per image was reduced by 0.2 ms. The proposed model exhibits significant advantages in terms of lightweight design and improved detection efficiency, demonstrating substantial potential for practical deployment. This study provides a valuable reference for the development of automated olive-harvesting technologies.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/5/1030YOLOv11noliveripeness gradingobject detectionlightweight
spellingShingle Fengwu Zhu
Suyu Wang
Min Liu
Weijie Wang
Weizhi Feng
A Lightweight Algorithm for Detection and Grading of Olive Ripeness Based on Improved YOLOv11n
Agronomy
YOLOv11n
olive
ripeness grading
object detection
lightweight
title A Lightweight Algorithm for Detection and Grading of Olive Ripeness Based on Improved YOLOv11n
title_full A Lightweight Algorithm for Detection and Grading of Olive Ripeness Based on Improved YOLOv11n
title_fullStr A Lightweight Algorithm for Detection and Grading of Olive Ripeness Based on Improved YOLOv11n
title_full_unstemmed A Lightweight Algorithm for Detection and Grading of Olive Ripeness Based on Improved YOLOv11n
title_short A Lightweight Algorithm for Detection and Grading of Olive Ripeness Based on Improved YOLOv11n
title_sort lightweight algorithm for detection and grading of olive ripeness based on improved yolov11n
topic YOLOv11n
olive
ripeness grading
object detection
lightweight
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/5/1030
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