Enhanced YOLOv8 Ship Detection Empower Unmanned Surface Vehicles for Advanced Maritime Surveillance

The evolution of maritime surveillance is significantly marked by the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning into Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs). This paper presents an AI approach for detecting and tracking unmanned surface vehicles, specifically leveraging an enhanced version of YOLOv8, fine-tuned for maritime surveillance needs. Deployed on the NVIDIA Jetson TX2 platform, the system features an innovative architecture and perception module optimized for real-time operations and energy efficiency. Demonstrating superior detection accuracy with a mean Average Precision (mAP) of 0.99 and achieving an operational speed of 17.99 FPS, all while maintaining energy consumption at just 5.61 joules. The remarkable balance between accuracy, processing speed, and energy efficiency underscores the potential of this system to significantly advance maritime safety, security, and environmental monitoring.