Feature-based model selection for object detection from point cloud data

Smart monitoring using three-dimensional (3D) image sensors has been attracting attention in the context of smart cities. In smart monitoring, object detection from point cloud data acquired by 3D image sensors is implemented for detecting moving objects such as vehicles and pedestrians to ensure safety on the road. However, the features of point cloud data are diversified due to the characteristics of light detection and ranging (LIDAR) units used as 3D image sensors or the install position of the 3D image sensors. Although a variety of deep learning (DL) models for object detection from point cloud data have been studied to date, no research has considered how to use multiple DL models in accordance with the features of the point cloud data. In this work, we propose a feature-based model selection framework that creates various DL models by using multiple DL methods and by utilizing training data with pseudo incompleteness generated by two artificial techniques: sampling and noise adding. It selects the most suitable DL model for the object detection task in accordance with the features of the point cloud data acquired in the real environment. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework, we compare the performance of multiple DL models using benchmark datasets created from the KITTI dataset and present example results of object detection obtained through a real outdoor experiment. Depending on the situation, the detection accuracy varies up to 32% between DL models, which confirms the importance of selecting an appropriate DL model according to the situation.