# CA-YOLO: Cross Attention Empowered YOLO for Biomimetic Localization

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.07523 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.07523/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 16 of its 56 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 7 Feb 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 16 of 16)

- [Microsoft COCO: Common Objects in Context](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1405.0312/) (2014)
- [Faster R-CNN: Towards Real-Time Object Detection with Region Proposal Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.01497/) (2015)
- [End-to-End Object Detection with Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.12872/) (2020)
- [SSD: Single Shot MultiBox Detector](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.02325/) (2015)
- [YOLOv3: An Incremental Improvement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.02767/) (2018)
- [YOLOX: Exceeding YOLO Series in 2021](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.08430/) (2021)
- [CenterNet: Keypoint Triplets for Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.08189/) (2019)
- [YOLOv9: Learning What You Want to Learn Using Programmable Gradient Information](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.13616/) (2024)
- [YOLOv11: An Overview of the Key Architectural Enhancements](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.17725/) (2024)
- [Dynamic Head: Unifying Object Detection Heads with Attentions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.08322/) (2021)
- [Feature Selective Anchor-Free Module for Single-Shot Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.00621/) (2019)
- [Vision Meets Drones: A Challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.07437/) (2018)
- [Attention and Prediction Guided Motion Detection for Low-Contrast Small Moving Targets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.13018/) (2021)
- [Attention-Enhanced Co-Interactive Fusion Network (AECIF-Net) for Automated Structural Condition Assessment in Visual Inspection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.07643/) (2023)
- [SOD-YOLOv8 -- Enhancing YOLOv8 for Small Object Detection in Traffic Scenes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.04786/) (2024)
- [A Miniature Biological Eagle-Eye Vision System for Small Target Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.08406/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In modern complex environments, achieving accurate and efficient target localization is essential in numerous fields. However, existing systems often face limitations in both accuracy and the ability to recognize small targets. In this study, we propose a bionic stabilized localization system based on CA-YOLO, designed to enhance both target localization accuracy and small target recognition capabilities. Acting as the "brain" of the system, the target detection algorithm emulates the visual focusing mechanism of animals by integrating bionic modules into the YOLO backbone network. These modules include the introduction of a small target detection head and the development of a Characteristic Fusion Attention Mechanism (CFAM). Furthermore, drawing inspiration from the human Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex (VOR), a bionic pan-tilt tracking control strategy is developed, which incorporates central positioning, stability optimization, adaptive control coefficient adjustment, and an intelligent recapture function. The experimental results show that CA-YOLO outperforms the original model on standard datasets (COCO and VisDrone), with average accuracy metrics improved by 3.94%and 4.90%, respectively.Further time-sensitive target localization experiments validate the effectiveness and practicality of this bionic stabilized localization system.