YOLOX for Autoware (tensorrt_yolox)
2D object detection (and optional semantic segmentation) models for camera images, used by the
autoware_tensorrt_yolox
node in
Autoware.
The models follow the YOLOX [1] architecture. They are exported as ONNX so they can be deployed across
hardware; Autoware builds the TensorRT engine from the ONNX file on first launch. The same node binary consumes
every model in this repository: the camera object detection pipeline uses the detection and detection+segmentation
models, and a separate node instance runs the whole-image traffic light detector that feeds the traffic light
recognition pipeline.
Model overview
| |
|---|
| Task | 2D object detection from a camera image; one variant additionally outputs a semantic segmentation mask, one variant detects traffic lights on the whole image |
| Architecture | YOLOX (tiny and s-based variants); the semantic segmentation variant uses a multi-header structure on a YOLOX-s base |
| Detected classes | CAR, PEDESTRIAN, BUS, TRUCK, BICYCLE, MOTORCYCLE (detection models) or UNKNOWN, CAR_TRAFFIC_LIGHT, PEDESTRIAN_TRAFFIC_LIGHT (traffic light detector) |
| Runtime | TensorRT (FP32 / FP16 / INT8) via the autoware_tensorrt_yolox ROS 2 node |
| Format | ONNX plus INT8 calibration tables (Autoware builds the TensorRT engine locally on first launch) |
| License | Apache-2.0 |
Labels listed in the model's label file that are not in the node's known set are reported as UNKNOWN.
yolox-tiny.onnx has an EfficientNMS_TRT module attached after the network to accelerate non-maximum
suppression; the module contains fixed score_threshold and nms_threshold values, so those node parameters
are ignored for models that include it.
Model families in this repository
| Family | Files | Original source path | Consuming launch file |
|---|
| Generic detection | yolox-tiny.onnx, yolox-sPlus-opt.onnx, yolox-sPlus-opt.EntropyV2-calibration.table, label.txt | unversioned root of the awf.ml.dev.web.auto model store (not browsable as a directory; direct per-file URLs in Provenance) | yolox_tiny.launch.xml (tiny); s-Plus-opt selectable via model_path |
| Pseudo-finetuned detection | yolox-sPlus-T4-960x960-pseudo-finetune.onnx, yolox-sPlus-T4-960x960-pseudo-finetune.EntropyV2-calibration.table | https://awf.ml.dev.web.auto/perception/models/object_detection_yolox_s/v1/ | yolox_s_plus_opt.launch.xml (detection-only option for model_path) |
| Detection + semantic segmentation (16 classes) | yolox-sPlus-opt-pseudoV2-T4-960x960-T4-seg16cls.onnx, yolox-sPlus-opt-pseudoV2-T4-960x960-T4-seg16cls.EntropyV2-calibration.table, semseg_color_map.csv | https://awf.ml.dev.web.auto/perception/models/object_detection_semseg_yolox_s/v1/ | yolox_s_plus_opt.launch.xml (default model_path) |
| Whole-image traffic light detector | yolox_s_car_ped_tl_detector_960_960_batch_1.onnx, yolox_s_car_ped_tl_detector_960_960_batch_1.EntropyV2-calibration.table, car_ped_tl_detector_labels.txt | https://awf.ml.dev.web.auto/perception/models/tl_detector_yolox_s/v1/ | yolox_traffic_light_detector.launch.xml (separate node instance feeding the traffic light recognition pipeline) |
Notes on the families:
yolox-sPlus-opt-pseudoV2-T4-960x960-T4-seg16cls is a multi-header model based on YOLOX-s, tuned to detect
more accurately than yolox-tiny at almost comparable execution speed. Besides detection it outputs a
semantic segmentation mask used for point cloud filtering. Recommended settings: precision:=int8,
calibration_algorithm:=Entropy, clip_value:=6.0 (these are the defaults in yolox_s_plus_opt.param.yaml).
yolox-sPlus-T4-960x960-pseudo-finetune is the detection-only alternative offered by the same launch file.
- The traffic light detector localizes car and pedestrian traffic lights on the full camera image; its labels
come from
car_ped_tl_detector_labels.txt (BACKGROUND, traffic_light, pedestrian_traffic_light).
label.txt for the detection models contains UNKNOWN, CAR, TRUCK, BUS, BICYCLE, MOTORBIKE,
PEDESTRIAN, ANIMAL.
The semantic segmentation mask is a gray image where each pixel holds a class index; semseg_color_map.csv
maps the 16 indices to names and RGB colors for visualization (others, building (spelled buildling in the
shipped CSV), wall, obstacle, traffic_light,
traffic_sign, person, vehicle, bike, road, sidewalk, roadPaint, curbstone, crosswalk_others, vegetation, sky).
Files
| File | Description |
|---|
yolox-tiny.onnx | YOLOX-tiny detection model with EfficientNMS_TRT attached |
yolox-sPlus-opt.onnx | YOLOX-s based optimized detection model |
yolox-sPlus-opt.EntropyV2-calibration.table | INT8 calibration table for yolox-sPlus-opt |
yolox-sPlus-T4-960x960-pseudo-finetune.onnx | YOLOX-s based detection model, pseudo-label finetuned, 960x960 input |
yolox-sPlus-T4-960x960-pseudo-finetune.EntropyV2-calibration.table | INT8 calibration table for the pseudo-finetuned model |
yolox-sPlus-opt-pseudoV2-T4-960x960-T4-seg16cls.onnx | Multi-header detection + 16-class semantic segmentation model, 960x960 input |
yolox-sPlus-opt-pseudoV2-T4-960x960-T4-seg16cls.EntropyV2-calibration.table | INT8 calibration table for the detection + segmentation model |
yolox_s_car_ped_tl_detector_960_960_batch_1.onnx | Whole-image traffic light detector (YOLOX-s, 960x960, batch 1) |
yolox_s_car_ped_tl_detector_960_960_batch_1.EntropyV2-calibration.table | INT8 calibration table for the traffic light detector |
label.txt | Class labels for the detection models |
car_ped_tl_detector_labels.txt | Class labels for the traffic light detector |
semseg_color_map.csv | Semantic segmentation class index to name and RGB color map |
deploy_metadata.yaml | Deployment metadata recording the artifact version of this repository |
TensorRT engines are not distributed here. TensorRT engines are specific to the GPU architecture and
TensorRT version they are built on and are not portable, so Autoware builds them locally from the ONNX files
on first launch (or via build_only:=true). Engines are saved next to the ONNX files with an .engine
extension and reused on subsequent runs; the first build typically takes 10 to 20 minutes. The
EntropyV2-calibration.table files are used by the node when running with precision:=int8.
Inputs and outputs (as used by the node)
Input: ~/in/image (sensor_msgs/msg/Image), the camera image.
Outputs:
~/out/objects (tier4_perception_msgs/msg/DetectedObjectsWithFeature): detected objects or traffic lights
with 2D bounding boxes.
~/out/image (sensor_msgs/msg/Image): input image with 2D bounding boxes drawn, for visualization.
~/out/mask (sensor_msgs/msg/Image): semantic segmentation mask (semantic segmentation model only).
~/out/color_mask (sensor_msgs/msg/Image): colorized segmentation mask for visualization (semantic
segmentation model only).
Usage in Autoware
The node reads these artifacts from $HOME/autoware_data/ml_models/tensorrt_yolox/ by default and launches
with, e.g.:
1# Detection + semantic segmentation (default), or detection-only via model_path
2ros2 launch autoware_tensorrt_yolox yolox_s_plus_opt.launch.xml
3
4# Lightweight detection
5ros2 launch autoware_tensorrt_yolox yolox_tiny.launch.xml
6
7# Whole-image traffic light detection
8ros2 launch autoware_tensorrt_yolox yolox_traffic_light_detector.launch.xml
Add
build_only:=true to build the TensorRT engine from the ONNX as a one-off pre-task. See the
package README
for the full parameter reference, including precision selection (
fp32,
fp16,
int8) and INT8 calibration
options.
Training
The models are based on the official YOLOX implementation. The training datasets, schedules, and evaluation
metrics of the T4 finetuned variants are not publicly documented.
- YOLOX (architecture and training framework): https://github.com/Megvii-BaseDetection/YOLOX
- trt-yoloXP (TIER IV YOLOX extensions): https://github.com/tier4/trt-yoloXP
- yolox_onnx_modifier (embeds
EfficientNMS_TRT into exported ONNX): https://github.com/wep21/yolox_onnx_modifier
The consuming package documents how to export custom YOLOX models to ONNX (plain or with EfficientNMS_TRT)
in its README.
Provenance
Original hosting before migration to Hugging Face (tag v1.0 bundles all four families):
Limitations
- Detection models output only the classes listed above; other road users are reported as
UNKNOWN.
label.txt is incompatible with models that output COCO labels (e.g. models from the official YOLOX
repository); those need their own label file.
- Fixed
score_threshold and nms_threshold are baked into models with EfficientNMS_TRT
(e.g. yolox-tiny.onnx); the node parameters of the same names have no effect for them.
- Training data details of the T4 finetuned variants are not publicly documented, so accuracy on sensor setups
and environments different from those used for training is not characterized here.
Citation
1@article{yolox2021,
2 title = {YOLOX: Exceeding YOLO Series in 2021},
3 author = {Ge, Zheng and Liu, Songtao and Wang, Feng and Li, Zeming and Sun, Jian},
4 journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.08430},
5 year = {2021}
6}
References
- [1] Ge et al., "YOLOX: Exceeding YOLO Series in 2021", arXiv:2107.08430, 2021.
- Megvii-BaseDetection/YOLOX: https://github.com/Megvii-BaseDetection/YOLOX
- tier4/trt-yoloXP: https://github.com/tier4/trt-yoloXP
- wep21/yolox_onnx_modifier: https://github.com/wep21/yolox_onnx_modifier