CNN MODEL INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

CNNs are a class of deep neural networks that are particularly effective in
analyzing visual data such as images. They have been widely successful in
various computer vision tasks such as image classification, object detection,
and image segmentation.
The key idea behind CNNs is the concept of convolution. Convolution is a
mathematical operation that involves applying a filter (also known as a kernel)
to an input image to extract different features. This operation allows the
network to capture local patterns and spatial relationships within the image.
Here are the main components of a CNN:
1. Convolutional Layers: Convolutional layers are responsible for applying
filters to the input data. Each filter detects specific features like edges,
corners, or textures. Convolutional layers learn these filters through a
process called backpropagation, where the network adjusts the filter
weights based on the error generated during training.
2. Activation Function: After each convolution operation, an activation
function (typically ReLU - Rectified Linear Unit) is applied element-wise
to introduce non-linearity into the network. This non-linearity allows the
CNN to learn complex relationships between features.
3. Pooling Layers: Pooling layers reduce the spatial dimensions of the input
volume, resulting in a more compact representation. The most common
type of pooling is max pooling, which selects the maximum value from a
set of values within a sliding window. Pooling helps to downsample the
feature maps, making the network more robust to variations in the input
data.
4. Fully Connected Layers: Fully connected layers are typically placed
towards the end of the network. They take the features extracted by the
convolutional layers and make predictions based on them. These layers
connect every neuron from the previous layer to every neuron in the
subsequent layer, allowing the network to learn high-level
representations and classify the input data.
5. Softmax Activation: In classification tasks, a softmax activation function
is commonly applied to the output layer. It converts the network's raw
outputs into probabilities, representing the likelihood of each class.
The training of a CNN involves feeding it with a large labeled dataset, adjusting
the weights of the filters through backpropagation, and optimizing them using
techniques like gradient descent. The goal is to minimize the difference
between the predicted output and the true output.
CNNs have revolutionized computer vision tasks and have achieved state-of-
the-art performance in various domains. They are widely used in applications
like image recognition, object detection, facial recognition, and many more.