DRBD-YOLOv8: A Lightweight and Efficient Anti-UAV Detection Model

Interest in anti-UAV detection systems has increased due to growing concerns about the security and privacy issues associated with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Achieving real-time detection with high accuracy, while accommodating the limited resources of edge-computing devices poses a significant challenge for anti-UAV detection. Existing deep learning-based models for anti-UAV detection often cannot balance accuracy, processing speed, model size, and computational efficiency. To address these limitations, a lightweight and efficient anti-UAV detection model, DRBD-YOLOv8, is proposed in this paper. The model integrates several innovations, including the application of a Re-parameterization Cross-Stage Efficient Layered Attention Network (RCELAN) and a Bidirectional Feature Pyramid Network (BiFPN), to enhance feature processing capabilities while maintaining a lightweight design. Furthermore, DN-ShapeIoU, a novel loss function, has been established to enhance detection accuracy, and depthwise separable convolutions have been included to decrease computational complexity. The experimental results showed that the proposed model outperformed YOLOV8n in terms of mAP50, mAP95, precision, and FPS while reducing GFLOPs and parameter count. The DRBD-YOLOv8 model is almost half the size of the YOLOv8n model, measuring 3.25 M. Its small size, fast speed, and high accuracy combine to provide a lightweight, accurate device that is excellent for real-time anti-UAV detection on edge-computing devices.