Traffic sign detection and recognition based on MMS data using YOLOv4-Tiny algorithm

Traffic signs have great importance in driving safety. For the recently emerging autonomous vehicles, that can automatically detect and recognize all road inventories such as traffic signs. Firstly, in this study, a method based on a mobile mapping system (MMS) is proposed for the detection of traffic signs to establish a Turkish traffic sign dataset. Obtaining images from real traffic scenes using the MMS method enhances the reliability of the model. It is an easy method to be applied to real life in terms of both cost and suitability for mobile and autonomous systems. In this frame, YOLOv4-Tiny, one of the object detection algorithms, that is considered to be more suitable for mobile vehicles, is used to detect and recognize traffic signs. This algorithm is low operation cost and more suitable for embedded devices due to its simple neural network structure compared to other algorithms. It is also a better option for real-time detection than other approaches. For the training of the model in the suggested method, a dataset consisting partly of images taken with MMS based on realistic field measurement and partly of images obtained from open data sets was used. This training resulted in the mean average precision (mAP) value being obtained as 98.1%. The trained model was first tested on existing images and then tested in real time in a laboratory environment using a simple fixed web camera. The test results show that the suggested method can improve driving safety by detecting traffic signs quickly and accurately, especially for autonomous vehicles. Therefore, the proposed method is considered suitable for use in autonomous vehicles.