An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge

Camera traps deployed in remote locations provide an effective method for ecologists to monitor and study wildlife in a non-invasive way. However, current camera traps suffer from two problems. First, the images are manually classified and counted, which is expensive. Second, due to manual coding, t...

وصف كامل

محفوظ في:
التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
المؤلف الرئيسي: Zaulkernan, Imran (author)
مؤلفون آخرون: Dhou, Salam (author), Judas, Jacky (author), Sajun, Ali Reza (author), Gomez, Brylle Ryan (author), Hussain, Lana Alhaj (author)
التنسيق: article
منشور في: 2022
الموضوعات:
الوصول للمادة أونلاين:https://hdl.handle.net/11073/33268
الوسوم: إضافة وسم
لا توجد وسوم, كن أول من يضع وسما على هذه التسجيلة!
_version_ 1864513431859625984
author Zaulkernan, Imran
author2 Dhou, Salam
Judas, Jacky
Sajun, Ali Reza
Gomez, Brylle Ryan
Hussain, Lana Alhaj
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author_facet Zaulkernan, Imran
Dhou, Salam
Judas, Jacky
Sajun, Ali Reza
Gomez, Brylle Ryan
Hussain, Lana Alhaj
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Zaulkernan, Imran
Dhou, Salam
Judas, Jacky
Sajun, Ali Reza
Gomez, Brylle Ryan
Hussain, Lana Alhaj
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022-01-13
2026-03-26T08:58:07Z
2026-03-26T08:58:07Z
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv Zualkernan, I., Dhou, S., Judas, J., Sajun, A. R., Gomez, B. R., & Hussain, L. A. (2022). An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge. Computers, 11(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers11010013
2073-431X
https://hdl.handle.net/11073/33268
10.3390/computers11010013
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv en
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.3390/computers11010013
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Deep learning
Animal classification
Image classification
Internet of Things
Image processing
Edge computing
Animal surveillance
Wildlife monitoring
Edge computing
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Peer-Reviewed
Published version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
description Camera traps deployed in remote locations provide an effective method for ecologists to monitor and study wildlife in a non-invasive way. However, current camera traps suffer from two problems. First, the images are manually classified and counted, which is expensive. Second, due to manual coding, the results are often stale by the time they get to the ecologists. Using the Internet of Things (IoT) combined with deep learning represents a good solution for both these problems, as the images can be classified automatically, and the results immediately made available to ecologists. This paper proposes an IoT architecture that uses deep learning on edge devices to convey animal classification results to a mobile app using the LoRaWAN low-power, wide-area network. The primary goal of the proposed approach is to reduce the cost of the wildlife monitoring process for ecologists, and to provide real-time animal sightings data from the camera traps in the field. Camera trap image data consisting of 66,400 images were used to train the InceptionV3, MobileNetV2, ResNet18, EfficientNetB1, DenseNet121, and Xception neural network models. While performance of the trained models was statistically different (Kruskal–Wallis: Accuracy H(5) = 22.34, p < 0.05; F1-score H(5) = 13.82, p = 0.0168), there was only a 3% difference in the F1-score between the worst (MobileNet V2) and the best model (Xception). Moreover, the models made similar errors (Adjusted Rand Index (ARI) > 0.88 and Adjusted Mutual Information (AMU) > 0.82). Subsequently, the best model, Xception (Accuracy = 96.1%; F1-score = 0.87; F1-Score = 0.97 with oversampling), was optimized and deployed on the Raspberry Pi, Google Coral, and Nvidia Jetson edge devices using both TenorFlow Lite and TensorRT frameworks. Optimizing the models to run on edge devices reduced the average macro F1-Score to 0.7, and adversely affected the minority classes, reducing their F1-score to as low as 0.18. Upon stress testing, by processing 1000 images consecutively, Jetson Nano, running a TensorRT model, outperformed others with a latency of 0.276 s/image (s.d. = 0.002) while consuming an average current of 1665.21 mA. Raspberry Pi consumed the least average current (838.99 mA) with a ten times worse latency of 2.83 s/image (s.d. = 0.036). Nano was the only reasonable option as an edge device because it could capture most animals whose maximum speeds were below 80 km/h, including goats, lions, ostriches, etc. While the proposed architecture is viable, unbalanced data remain a challenge and the results can potentially be improved by using object detection to reduce imbalances and by exploring semi-supervised learning.
format article
id aus_24424c82a006d9311e2c3c680b9eb495
identifier_str_mv Zualkernan, I., Dhou, S., Judas, J., Sajun, A. R., Gomez, B. R., & Hussain, L. A. (2022). An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge. Computers, 11(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers11010013
2073-431X
10.3390/computers11010013
language_invalid_str_mv en
network_acronym_str aus
network_name_str aus
oai_identifier_str oai:repository.aus.edu:11073/33268
publishDate 2022
publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository_id_str
rights_invalid_str_mv Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spelling An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the EdgeZaulkernan, ImranDhou, SalamJudas, JackySajun, Ali RezaGomez, Brylle RyanHussain, Lana AlhajDeep learningAnimal classificationImage classificationInternet of ThingsImage processingEdge computingAnimal surveillanceWildlife monitoringEdge computingCamera traps deployed in remote locations provide an effective method for ecologists to monitor and study wildlife in a non-invasive way. However, current camera traps suffer from two problems. First, the images are manually classified and counted, which is expensive. Second, due to manual coding, the results are often stale by the time they get to the ecologists. Using the Internet of Things (IoT) combined with deep learning represents a good solution for both these problems, as the images can be classified automatically, and the results immediately made available to ecologists. This paper proposes an IoT architecture that uses deep learning on edge devices to convey animal classification results to a mobile app using the LoRaWAN low-power, wide-area network. The primary goal of the proposed approach is to reduce the cost of the wildlife monitoring process for ecologists, and to provide real-time animal sightings data from the camera traps in the field. Camera trap image data consisting of 66,400 images were used to train the InceptionV3, MobileNetV2, ResNet18, EfficientNetB1, DenseNet121, and Xception neural network models. While performance of the trained models was statistically different (Kruskal–Wallis: Accuracy H(5) = 22.34, p < 0.05; F1-score H(5) = 13.82, p = 0.0168), there was only a 3% difference in the F1-score between the worst (MobileNet V2) and the best model (Xception). Moreover, the models made similar errors (Adjusted Rand Index (ARI) > 0.88 and Adjusted Mutual Information (AMU) > 0.82). Subsequently, the best model, Xception (Accuracy = 96.1%; F1-score = 0.87; F1-Score = 0.97 with oversampling), was optimized and deployed on the Raspberry Pi, Google Coral, and Nvidia Jetson edge devices using both TenorFlow Lite and TensorRT frameworks. Optimizing the models to run on edge devices reduced the average macro F1-Score to 0.7, and adversely affected the minority classes, reducing their F1-score to as low as 0.18. Upon stress testing, by processing 1000 images consecutively, Jetson Nano, running a TensorRT model, outperformed others with a latency of 0.276 s/image (s.d. = 0.002) while consuming an average current of 1665.21 mA. Raspberry Pi consumed the least average current (838.99 mA) with a ten times worse latency of 2.83 s/image (s.d. = 0.036). Nano was the only reasonable option as an edge device because it could capture most animals whose maximum speeds were below 80 km/h, including goats, lions, ostriches, etc. While the proposed architecture is viable, unbalanced data remain a challenge and the results can potentially be improved by using object detection to reduce imbalances and by exploring semi-supervised learning.American University of SharjahMDPI2026-03-26T08:58:07Z2026-03-26T08:58:07Z2022-01-13Peer-ReviewedPublished versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfZualkernan, I., Dhou, S., Judas, J., Sajun, A. R., Gomez, B. R., & Hussain, L. A. (2022). An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge. Computers, 11(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers110100132073-431Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/11073/3326810.3390/computers11010013enhttps://doi.org/10.3390/computers11010013Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/oai:repository.aus.edu:11073/332682026-03-27T05:29:08Z
spellingShingle An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge
Zaulkernan, Imran
Deep learning
Animal classification
Image classification
Internet of Things
Image processing
Edge computing
Animal surveillance
Wildlife monitoring
Edge computing
status_str publishedVersion
title An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge
title_full An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge
title_fullStr An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge
title_full_unstemmed An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge
title_short An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge
title_sort An IoT System Using Deep Learning to Classify Camera Trap Images on the Edge
topic Deep learning
Animal classification
Image classification
Internet of Things
Image processing
Edge computing
Animal surveillance
Wildlife monitoring
Edge computing
url https://hdl.handle.net/11073/33268