Deep Learning Innovations for Underwater Waste Detection: An In-Depth Analysis

Underwater waste detection is a critical challenge for preserving aquatic ecosystems, particularly due to inherent underwater distortions such as light refraction, occlusion, and scattering. In this study, we present a novel deep learning framework for real-time underwater waste detection by evaluat...

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Main Authors: Jaskaran Singh Walia, Kavietha Haridass, L. K. Pavithra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11002515/
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author Jaskaran Singh Walia
Kavietha Haridass
L. K. Pavithra
author_facet Jaskaran Singh Walia
Kavietha Haridass
L. K. Pavithra
author_sort Jaskaran Singh Walia
collection DOAJ
description Underwater waste detection is a critical challenge for preserving aquatic ecosystems, particularly due to inherent underwater distortions such as light refraction, occlusion, and scattering. In this study, we present a novel deep learning framework for real-time underwater waste detection by evaluating state-of-the-art object detection algorithms on a manually annotated custom dataset comprising images across various water bodies to represent real-world turbidity, illumination, and occlusion. Our approach incorporates robust feature extraction and specialized data augmentation techniques that effectively mitigate the adverse effects of underwater distortions. We investigate multiple architectures, including YOLOv8n, YOLOv7, YOLOv6s, YOLOv5s, Faster R-CNN, and Mask R-CNN, analyzing key parameters such as mean average precision (mAP), inference speed, and computational efficiency. Our results demonstrate that YOLO-based models achieve faster & accurate performance, with YOLOv8n and YOLOv7 reaching a detection accuracy of 96%, compared to 81% and 83% for Faster R-CNN and Mask R-CNN, respectively. Computationally, YOLOv8n achieves 76 ms (milliseconds) per frame, while YOLOv5s runs at 14 ms per frame, confirming real-time viability for AUV deployment. The proposed approach offers significant advantages over existing methods by enabling rapid, accurate detection with low computational overhead, thereby paving the way for integration with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for environmental monitoring and waste management.
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spelling doaj-art-9708ab50c19a4369820366490c70260e2025-08-20T01:53:00ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113889178892910.1109/ACCESS.2025.356934411002515Deep Learning Innovations for Underwater Waste Detection: An In-Depth AnalysisJaskaran Singh Walia0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9255-5446Kavietha Haridass1L. K. Pavithra2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3042-0068School of Computer Science and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, IndiaSchool of Computer Science and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, IndiaCentre for Human Movement Analytics, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, IndiaUnderwater waste detection is a critical challenge for preserving aquatic ecosystems, particularly due to inherent underwater distortions such as light refraction, occlusion, and scattering. In this study, we present a novel deep learning framework for real-time underwater waste detection by evaluating state-of-the-art object detection algorithms on a manually annotated custom dataset comprising images across various water bodies to represent real-world turbidity, illumination, and occlusion. Our approach incorporates robust feature extraction and specialized data augmentation techniques that effectively mitigate the adverse effects of underwater distortions. We investigate multiple architectures, including YOLOv8n, YOLOv7, YOLOv6s, YOLOv5s, Faster R-CNN, and Mask R-CNN, analyzing key parameters such as mean average precision (mAP), inference speed, and computational efficiency. Our results demonstrate that YOLO-based models achieve faster & accurate performance, with YOLOv8n and YOLOv7 reaching a detection accuracy of 96%, compared to 81% and 83% for Faster R-CNN and Mask R-CNN, respectively. Computationally, YOLOv8n achieves 76 ms (milliseconds) per frame, while YOLOv5s runs at 14 ms per frame, confirming real-time viability for AUV deployment. The proposed approach offers significant advantages over existing methods by enabling rapid, accurate detection with low computational overhead, thereby paving the way for integration with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for environmental monitoring and waste management.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11002515/Computer visionimage processingroboticsobject detectionunderwater trashimage segmentation
spellingShingle Jaskaran Singh Walia
Kavietha Haridass
L. K. Pavithra
Deep Learning Innovations for Underwater Waste Detection: An In-Depth Analysis
IEEE Access
Computer vision
image processing
robotics
object detection
underwater trash
image segmentation
title Deep Learning Innovations for Underwater Waste Detection: An In-Depth Analysis
title_full Deep Learning Innovations for Underwater Waste Detection: An In-Depth Analysis
title_fullStr Deep Learning Innovations for Underwater Waste Detection: An In-Depth Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Deep Learning Innovations for Underwater Waste Detection: An In-Depth Analysis
title_short Deep Learning Innovations for Underwater Waste Detection: An In-Depth Analysis
title_sort deep learning innovations for underwater waste detection an in depth analysis
topic Computer vision
image processing
robotics
object detection
underwater trash
image segmentation
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11002515/
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AT kaviethaharidass deeplearninginnovationsforunderwaterwastedetectionanindepthanalysis
AT lkpavithra deeplearninginnovationsforunderwaterwastedetectionanindepthanalysis