Small Object Detection

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Overview

Small object detection studies how to locate targets with weak visual detail, such as distant vehicles in drone images, tiny defects, or faint infrared targets. Common approaches preserve high-resolution features, fuse information across scales, and use attention, context, or frequency-based processing to distinguish targets from background; slicing high-resolution images and adding temporal or multimodal cues are also used. Methods are commonly evaluated on aerial and remote-sensing benchmarks such as VisDrone and UAVDT, alongside domain-specific datasets, but performance can change substantially across scenes and target sizes. A central tension is improving recall and localization without excessive computation, while ensuring gains transfer beyond the training dataset and remain reliable when architectural components are combined.

Latest papers

CardsList

87 papers7 papers in the last four weeks, down 22% on the four weeks before. 0.0% of all new papers.

  1. Learning Where to Embed: Noise-Aware Positional Embedding for Query Retrieval in Small-Object Detection

    Apr 16, 2026Yangchen Zeng, Zhenyu Yu, Dongming Jiang +5Small Object DetectionEfficient Object Detection

    Southeast University · Fudan University · The University of Texas at Dallas +6

  2. FSDETR: Frequency-Spatial Feature Enhancement for Small Object Detection

    Apr 16, 2026Jianchao Huang, Fengming Zhang, Haibo Zhu +1Frequency-Domain Feature LearningSmall Object Detection

    School of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China

  3. DroneScan-YOLO: Redundancy-Aware Lightweight Detection for Tiny Objects in UAV Imagery

    Apr 14, 2026Yann V. BellecSmall Object DetectionAerial Object Detection

  4. Beyond Mamba: Enhancing State-space Models with Deformable Dilated Convolutions for Multi-scale Traffic Object Detection

    Apr 9, 2026Jun Li, Yingying Shi, Zhixuan Ruan +2Object DetectionVisual SSMs

    School of Computer and Electronic Information, Nanjing Normal University, 210023, China

  5. WUTDet: A 100K-Scale Ship Detection Dataset and Benchmarks with Dense Small Objects

    Apr 9, 2026Junxiong Liang, Mengwei Bao, Tianxiang Wang +3Ship DetectionMaritime Transportation

    School of Navigation, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China · Sanya Science and Education Innovation Park, Wuhan University of Technology, Sanya 572000, China · State Key Laboratory of Maritime Technology and Safety, Wuhan 430063, China +2

  6. Telescope: Learnable Hyperbolic Foveation for Ultra-Long-Range Object Detection

    Apr 7, 2026Parker Ewen, Dmitriy Rivkin, Mario Bijelic +1Foveated VisionObject Detection

    Torc Robotics · Princeton University

  7. Rethinking IRSTD: Single-Point Supervision Guided Encoder-only Framework is Enough for Infrared Small Target Detection

    Apr 7, 2026Rixiang Ni, Boyang Li, Jun Chen +6Infrared Small Target DetectionSmall Object Detection

    National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410003, China

  8. YOLOv11 Demystified: A Practical Guide to High-Performance Object Detection

    Apr 3, 2026Nikhileswara Rao SulakeObject DetectionReal-Time Object Detection

    Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Nuzvid, India

  9. Generalized Small Object Detection:A Point-Prompted Paradigm and Benchmark

    Apr 3, 2026Haoran Zhu, Wen Yang, Guangyou Yang +5Small Object DetectionObject Detection

    School of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072 China. · Environmental Computational Science and Earth Observation Laboratory, EPFL, Sion, Switzerland. · School of Artificial Intelligence, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.

  10. CCDNet: Learning to Detect Camouflage against Distractors in Infrared Small Target Detection

    Mar 31, 2026Zikai Liao, Zhaozheng YinInfrared Object DetectionInfrared Small Target Detection

    Stony Brook University

  11. SDD-YOLO: A Small-Target Detection Framework for Ground-to-Air Anti-UAV Surveillance with Edge-Efficient Deployment

    Mar 26, 2026Pengyu Chen, Haotian Sa, Yiwei Hu +2Small Object DetectionAerial Object Detection

    Chien-Shiung Wu College, Southeast University, Nanjing, China · School of Information Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China

  12. UAV-DETR: DETR for Anti-Drone Target Detection

    Mar 24, 2026Jun Yang, Dong Wang, Hongxu Yin +2Aerial Object DetectionSmall Object Detection

    School of Automation, NPU, Xian, ShaanXi

  13. CollabOD: Collaborative Multi-Backbone with Cross-scale Vision for UAV Small Object Detection

    Mar 6, 2026Xuecheng Bai, Yuxiang Wang, Chuanzhi Xu +3Efficient Object DetectionSmall Object Detection

    Aviation Traffic Control Technology (SHENZHEN) Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China · The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia · Research Institute of Traffic Control Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China +1

  14. One-Shot Badminton Shuttle Detection for Mobile Robots

    Mar 4, 2026Florentin Dipner, William Talbot, Turcan Tuna +2Object DetectionRobotic Perception

    Authors are with Robotic Systems Lab (RSL), ETH Zurich, Zurich 8092, Switzerland.

  15. Small Object Detection in Complex Backgrounds with Multi-Scale Attention and Global Relation Modeling

    Mar 4, 2026Wenguang Tao, Xiaotian Wang, Tian Yan +2Long-Range Dependency ModelingSmall Object Detection

    Unmanned System Research Institute, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China · Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

  16. RSTNet: Enhancing Small-Target Recognition in Noisy SAR Imagery via Robust Feature Learning and Distribution-Aware Regression

    Feb 27, 2026Xiaojing Zhao, Shiyang Li, Zenan Chu +5Synthetic Aperture RadarSmall Object Detection

    College of Mathematics and Information Science, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang, 455000, China · School of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang, 455000, China · College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China +3

  17. Small Object Detection Model with Spatial Laplacian Pyramid Attention and Multi-Scale Features Enhancement in Aerial Images

    Feb 26, 2026Zhangjian Ji, Huijia Yan, Shaotong Qiao +2Small Object DetectionRemote Sensing Small Object Detection

    Key Laboratory of Computational Intelligence and Chinese Information Processing of Ministry of Education, School of Computer and Information Technology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China

  18. UFO-DETR: Frequency-Guided End-to-End Detector for UAV Tiny Objects

    Feb 26, 2026Yuankai Chen, Kai Lin, Qihong Wu +6Small Object DetectionAerial Object Detection

    Easy Lab, College of Mathematics and Informatics, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China · School of Computer Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China · School of Mathematics, Foshan University, Foshan, China

  19. SPMamba-YOLO: An Underwater Object Detection Network Based on Multi-Scale Feature Enhancement and Global Context Modeling

    Feb 26, 2026Guanghao Liao, Zhen Liu, Liyuan Cao +2Underwater Object DetectionEfficient Object Detection

    School of Electronic and Information Engineering, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan, 114051, China

  20. A text-guided vision model for enhanced recognition of small instances

    Feb 23, 2026Hyun-Ki JungSmall Object DetectionEfficient Object Detection

    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Seoul, Seoul, South Korea

  21. CoLR-Det: Collaborative Latent Restoration for Small Object Detection in Low-Resolution Remote Sensing Images

    Jan 18, 2026Ruo Qi, Linhui Dai, Yusong Qin +2Remote Sensing Image UnderstandingRemote Sensing Small Object Detection

    Institute of Intelligent Information Processing, Shenzhen University, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Intelligent Information Processing, Shenzhen and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Modern Communications and Information Processing, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

  22. Edge-Aware and Content-Adaptive Infrared Gas Leak Detection for Industrial Safety Monitoring

    Dec 29, 2025Dongsheng Li, Tianli Ma, Siling Wang +2Small Object DetectionInfrared Object Detection

    School of Mechatronic Engineering, Xi’an Technological University, Xi’an, 710021, Shaanxi, China · School of Electronic Information Engineering, Xi’an Technological University, Xi’an, 710021, Shaanxi, China · Shaanxi Shanhua Coal Chemical Co., Ltd., Weinan, 714104, Shaanxi, China

  23. YolovN-CBi: A Lightweight and Efficient Architecture for Real-Time Detection of Small UAVs

    Dec 19, 2025Ami Pandat, Punna Rajasekhar, Gopika Vinod +1Small Object DetectionObject Detection

    Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, 400094, Maharashtra, India. · Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai, 400094, Maharashtra, India.

  24. LiM-YOLO: Less is More with Pyramid Level Shift for Ship Detection in Optical Remote Sensing

    Dec 10, 2025Seon-Hoon Kim, Yerin Kim, Hyeji Sim +3Remote Sensing Small Object DetectionSmall Object Detection

    University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea · Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Daejeon 34133, Republic of Korea

  25. MGDFIS: Multi-scale Global-detail Feature Integration Strategy for Small Object Detection

    Jun 15, 2025Yuxiang Wang, Xuecheng Bai, Chuanzhi Xu +2Remote Sensing Small Object DetectionSmall Object Detection

    School of Computer Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia · 2Aviation Traffic Control Technology (SHENZHEN) Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China

  26. SMDDFNet: State-space Modeling and Dynamic Dual Fusion Network for Traffic Sign Detection

    May 2, 2025TianYi Yu, DaJian Zhong, Lilin WangTraffic Sign DetectionSmall Object Detection

    Collage of Infomation Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, 201306, China

  27. XS-VID: A Large-Scale Benchmark for Small Object Detection and Tracking in Videos

    Jul 25, 2024Jiahao Guo, Ziyang Xu, Lianjun Wu +3Small Object DetectionVideo Object Detection

    Huazhong University of Science and Technology