Cloud-Edge Collaborative Inference-Based Smart Detection Method for Small Objects
Cong Ye, Shengkun Li, Jianlei Wang, Hongru Li, Xiaoqiang Li, Sujie Shao · Modelling—International Open Access Journal of Modelling in Engineering Science · 2025
Emerging technologies are revolutionizing power system operation and maintenance. Intelligent state perception is pivotal for stable grid operation, with small object detection technology being vital for identifying minor hazards in power facilities. However, challenges like small object size, low resolution, occlusion, and low confidence arise in small object detection for power operation and maintenance. This paper proposes PyraFAN, a feature fusion method designed for small object detection, and introduces a cloud-edge collaborative inference based smart detection method. This method boosts detection accuracy while ensuring real-time performance. Additionally, a graph-guided distillation method is developed for edge models. By quantifying model performance and task similarity, multi-model collaborative training is realized to improve detection accuracy. Experimental results show that compared with standalone edge models, the proposed method improves detection accuracy by 6.98% and reduces the false negative rate by 19.56%. The PyraFAN module can enhance edge model detection accuracy by approximately 12.2%. Updating edge models via cloud model distillation increases the [email protected] of edge models by 2.7%. Compared to cloud models, the cloud-edge collaboration method reduces average inference latency by 0.8%. This research offers an effective solution for improving the accuracy of deep learning based small object detection in power operation and maintenance within cloud-edge computing environments.