YOLOv11 Optimization for Efficient Resource Utilization

Abstract

The objective of this research is to optimize the eleventh iteration of You Only Look Once (YOLOv11) by developing size-specific modified versions of the architecture. These modifications involve pruning unnecessary layers and reconfiguring the main architecture of YOLOv11. Each proposed version is tailored to detect objects of specific size ranges, from small to large. To ensure proper model selection based on dataset characteristics, we introduced an object classifier program. This program identifies the most suitable modified version for a given dataset. The proposed models were evaluated on various datasets and compared with the original YOLOv11 and YOLOv8 models. The experimental results highlight significant improvements in computational resource efficiency, with the proposed models maintaining the accuracy of the original YOLOv11. In some cases, the modified versions outperformed the original model regarding detection performance. Furthermore, the proposed models demonstrated reduced model sizes and faster inference times. Models weights and the object size classifier can be found in this repository