An Automatic Labeling Method for Overlapping Paralichthys olivaceus Object Detection based on Image Processing Technique

Detecting objects in underwater environments is challenging due to factors such as object overlap, noise, and lighting variations. In particular, labeling underwater organisms like Paralichthys olivaceus requires significant time and effort when done manually. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a method to automate the labeling of Paralichthys olivaceus using image processing techniques and to increase the size of the dataset for training. The proposed method applies morphological operations and contour detection to remove noise and accurately extract object boundaries. Additionally, the YOLOv8 model is used to analyze performance variations based on dataset size and training methods. The results demonstrate that expanding the dataset through automated image preprocessing improves object detection performance, even in cases of object overlap, and proves to be more time-efficient compared to manual labeling.