Neural Network Implementation for Fire Detection in Critical Infrastructures: A Comparative Analysis on Embedded Edge Devices

This paper explores the application of artificial intelligence on edge devices to enhance security in critical infrastructures, with a specific focus on the use case of a battery-powered mobile system for fire detection in tunnels. The study leverages the YOLOv5 convolutional neural network (CNN) for real-time detection, focusing on a comparative analysis across three low-power platforms, NXP i.MX93, Xilinx Kria KV260, and NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, evaluating their performance in terms of detection accuracy (mAP), inference time, and energy consumption. The paper also presents a methodology for implementing neural networks on various platforms, aiming to provide a scalable approach to edge artificial intelligence (AI) deployment. The findings offer valuable insights into the trade-offs between computational efficiency and power consumption, guiding the selection of edge computing solutions in security-critical applications.