Search region updating with hierarchical feature fusion for accurate thermal infrared tracking

• Published in: Journal of the Franklin Institute 2024-12, Vol.361 (18), p.107332, Article 107332
• Main Authors: Shu, Xiu, Huang, Feng, Qiu, Zhaobing, Tian, Chunwei, Liu, Qiao, Yuan, Di
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Hierarchical feature fusion; IoU loss; Search region updating; TIR target tracking
• ISSN: 0016-0032
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfranklin.2024.107332

Due to their resilience against lighting variations, thermal infrared (TIR) images demonstrate robust adaptability in diverse environments, enabling effective object tracking even in intricate scenarios. Nevertheless, TIR target tracking encounters challenges such as fast target motion and interference from visually similar objects, substantially compromising the tracking precision of TIR trackers. To surmount these challenges, we propose a method grounded in the strategy of search region updating and hierarchical feature fusion, tailored for the precise TIR target-tracking task. Specifically, to address the issue of fast motion causing the target to depart from the search region, we propose to update the current search region by leveraging historical frame information. Additionally, we employ a hierarchical feature fusion strategy to contend with interference from visually similar objects in the tracking scenario. This strategy enhances the ability to model and represent the target more accurately, thereby elevating the tracker’s capacity to discriminate between the target and similar objects. Furthermore, to tackle the challenge of inaccurate estimation of target bounding boxes, we introduce an enhanced Intersection over Union (IoU) loss function, which improvement facilitates a more precise prediction of target bounding boxes, resulting in superior target localization. Extensive experiments substantiate that our tracker exhibits a commendable level of competitiveness when compared to other trackers.