Enhancement of Image Classification Using Transfer Learning and GAN-Based Synthetic Data Augmentation

Plastic bottle recycling has a crucial role in environmental degradation and protection. Position and background should be the same to classify plastic bottles on a conveyor belt. The manual detection of plastic bottles is time consuming and leads to human error. Hence, the automatic classification of plastic bottles using deep learning techniques can assist with the more accurate results and reduce cost. To achieve a considerably good result using the DL model, we need a large volume of data to train. We propose a GAN-based model to generate synthetic images similar to the original. To improve the image synthesis quality with less training time and decrease the chances of mode collapse, we propose a modified lightweight-GAN model, which consists of a generator and a discriminator with an auto-encoding feature to capture essential parts of the input image and to encourage the generator to produce a wide range of real data. Then a newly designed weighted average ensemble model based on two pre-trained models, inceptionV3 and xception, to classify transparent plastic bottles obtains an improved classification accuracy of 99.06%.

Automated summary

Plastic bottle recycling is crucial for environmental protection. Using deep learning techniques for automatic classification can improve accuracy and reduce cost. The study proposes a GAN-based model for generating synthetic images and a modified lightweight-GAN model for enhancing image synthesis quality. The weighted average ensemble model based on pre-trained models achieves high classification accuracy.