Optimization of Adaboost Algorithm for Sonar Target Detection in a Multi-Stage ATR System
JPL has developed a multi-stage Automated Target Recognition (ATR) system to locate objects in images. First, input images are preprocessed and sent to a Grayscale Optical Correlator (GOC) filter to identify possible regions-of-interest (ROIs). Second, feature extraction operations are performed using Texton filters and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Finally, the features are fed to a classifier, to identify ROIs that contain the targets. Previous work used the Feed-forward Back-propagation Neural Network for classification. In this project we investigate a version of Adaboost as a classifier for comparison. The version we used is known as GentleBoost. We used the boosted decision tree as the weak classifier. We have tested our ATR system against real-world sonar images using the Adaboost approach. Results indicate an improvement in performance over a single Neural Network design.