A new CNN-BASED object detection system for autonomous mobile robots based on real-world vehicle datasets

Recently, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) have begun to be used in the delivery of goods, but one of the biggest challenges faced in this field is the navigation system that guides a robot to its destination. The navigation system must be able to identify objects in the robot's path and take evasive actions to avoid them. Developing an object detection system for an AMR requires a deep learning model that is able to achieve a high level of accuracy, with fast inference times, and a model with a compact size that can be run on embedded control systems. Consequently, object recognition requires a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based model that can yield high object classification accuracy and process data quickly. This paper introduces a new CNN-based object detection system for an AMR that employs real-world vehicle datasets. First, we create original real-world datasets of images from Banda Aceh city. We then develop a new CNN-based object identification system that is capable of identifying cars, motorcycles, people, and rickshaws under morning, afternoon, and evening lighting conditions. An SSD Mobilenetv2 FPN Lite 320 × 320 architecture is employed for retraining using these real-world datasets. Quantitative and qualitative performance indicators are then applied to evaluate the CNN model. Training the pre-trained SSD Mobilenetv2 FPN Lite 320 × 320 model improves its classification and detection accuracy, as indicated by its performance results. We conclude that the proposed CNN-based object detection system has the potential for use in an AMR.