Efficient Eye State Detection for Driver Fatigue Monitoring Using Optimized YOLOv7-Tiny

Abstract

This study refines the YOLOv7-tiny model through structured pruning and architectural fine-tuning, specifically for real-time eye state detection. By focusing on enhancing the model’s efficiency, particularly in environments with limited computational resources, this research contributes significantly to advancing driver monitoring systems, where timely and accurate detection of eye states such as openness or closure can prevent accidents caused by drowsiness or inattention. Structured pruning was utilized to simplify the YOLOv7-tiny model, reducing complexity and storage requirements. Subsequent fine-tuning involved adjustments to the model’s width and depth to further enhance processing speed and efficiency. The experimental outcomes reveal a pronounced reduction in storage size, of approximately 97%, accompanied by a sixfold increase in frames per second (FPS). Despite these substantial modifications, the model sustains high levels of precision, recall, and mean average precision (mAP). These improvements indicate a significant enhancement in both the speed and efficiency of the model, rendering it highly suitable for real-time applications where computational resources are limited.