Image Classification on CIFAR-10 by CNN:

Challenges, Methods and Results

Nguyen Thien Ha, Nguyen Xuan An, Nguyen Le Hoang Nam, and Le Nguyen
Dang Khoi

FPT University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Abstract. This paper presents a CNN-based method for image classi-

fication on the CIFAR-10 dataset, which comprises 60,000 color images
across 10 classes. The small image size (32×32 pixels) poses challenges
in feature extraction and model generalization. To address these issues,
we apply robust data preprocessing and augmentation techniques to en-
hance performance and reduce overfitting. Various CNN architectures,
including models utilizing transfer learning such as ResNet and VGG,
are explored and compared. Experimental results demonstrate that our
approach achieves high accuracy while balancing training efficiency and
inference speed. These findings highlight the potential for practical ap-
plications in areas like surveillance and autonomous driving.

Keywords: CIFAR-10 · Image Classification · CNNs · AI

1 Introduction
1.1 Background and Market Overview
With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning,
image classification has become a crucial task in various fields such as health-
care, security, autonomous vehicles, and e-commerce. Convolutional Neural Net-
works (CNNs) have revolutionized image recognition, significantly outperform-
ing traditional machine learning algorithms. Globally, companies and research
institutions continuously develop and optimize deep learning models to enhance
accuracy and efficiency. In Vietnam and other developing countries, AI appli-
cations in image processing are gaining attention, particularly in smart cities,
automated surveillance, and retail analytics. This project focuses on classify-
ing images from the CIFAR-10 dataset using CNNs, aligning with the trend of
AI-driven computer vision solutions.

1.2 Problem Description and Application Potential

The CIFAR-10 dataset is a standard benchmark for image classification, consist-
ing of 60,000 images across 10 categories. The goal of this project is to develop
and train a CNN model capable of accurately classifying images into their re-
spective categories. The potential applications of an effective image classification
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model are vast, including automated quality control in manufacturing, real-time

object detection in autonomous systems, and image classification in healthcare.
This project not only aims to improve model accuracy but also contributes to
the advancement of deep learning methodologies for image classification.

1.3 Challenges and Key Difficulties

Despite significant progress in deep learning, image classification remains a chal-
lenging task due to various factors. The CIFAR-10 dataset presents multiple
difficulties, including low-resolution images (32x32 pixels), making feature ex-
traction complex. The small size of the images limits the amount of detailed
information available for model training.
Overfitting is another common issue when working with deep neural networks
and relatively small training datasets. A model trained on CIFAR-10 may mem-
orize the training data rather than generalizing well to unseen samples, reducing
its real-world applicability. Addressing overfitting requires advanced regulariza-
tion techniques such as dropout, data augmentation, and batch normalization.
Additionally, optimizing CNN architectures to ensure computational effi-
ciency while maintaining high accuracy is a complex challenge. CNNs require
significant computational resources, and balancing performance with efficiency
is essential, particularly for deployment in resource-constrained environments.
Effective hyperparameter tuning and model architecture selection are crucial to
overcoming these obstacles.

1.4 Project Objectives and Methodology

To enhance feature extraction, this project will utilize deeper CNN architectures
such as ResNet and EfficientNet to improve feature learning despite the low res-
olution of CIFAR-10 images. Additionally, transfer learning will be implemented
using pretrained models on larger datasets like ImageNet to leverage learned
representations, improving classification performance.
To address overfitting, various data augmentation techniques, including ro-
tation, flipping, cropping, and color jittering, will be applied to artificially ex-
pand the dataset and enhance generalization. Regularization techniques such as
dropout, L2 weight decay, and batch normalization will be incorporated to pre-
vent the model from memorizing training data. Furthermore, early stopping and
cross-validation will be implemented to optimize training efficiency and prevent
overfitting.
For optimizing computational efficiency, the project will experiment with
lightweight architectures like MobileNet or apply knowledge distillation to re-
duce model complexity while maintaining high accuracy. Model pruning and
quantization techniques will be explored to minimize computational load, mak-
ing the model more suitable for deployment on resource-constrained devices. Ad-
ditionally, hyperparameter tuning methods such as Bayesian optimization and
grid search will be employed to find the optimal batch size, learning rate, and
number of layers, ensuring an efficient and well-balanced model.
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1.5 Expected Outcomes and Contributions

By following this structured approach, the project aims to develop a CNN model
that not only achieves high classification accuracy on the CIFAR-10 dataset but
also generalizes effectively to unseen data. The final model will demonstrate re-
duced overfitting, optimized computational efficiency, and enhanced applicability
for real-world image classification tasks.
The expected outcomes of this project include the development of a well-
optimized CNN model with competitive accuracy on CIFAR-10, targeting a
performance range of approximately 90–95%. Additionally, the project will in-
troduce improved training strategies and provide valuable insights into address-
ing challenges associated with small-image classification. By refining existing
methodologies and exploring innovative solutions, this research aims to con-
tribute to the advancement of deep learning techniques in image recognition.
Beyond CIFAR-10, the findings from this study can be applied to various
domains, including real-time video processing, automated surveillance, and AI-
driven diagnostic tools in healthcare. The insights gained from evaluating dif-
ferent architectures and training techniques will contribute to the broader AI
research community, fostering further advancements in deep learning-based im-
age classification.

2 Methodology

2.1 Problem Description

The image classification task on the CIFAR-10 dataset requires building a con-
volutional neural network (CNN) model to classify 60,000 color images of size
32×32 pixels into 10 classes (airplane, automobile, bird, cat, deer, dog, frog,
horse, ship, truck).

1. Input: Each image is a 32×32×3 matrix (height × width × 3 RGB channels),

with 50,000 training images and 10,000 test images.
2. Output: A predicted label from one of the 10 classes with the highest prob-
ability.
3. Constraints:
– Low resolution (32×32) complicates detailed feature extraction.
– Small dataset size increases the risk of overfitting with deep models like
VGG-16.
– The model must achieve at least 85-90% accuracy with limited compu-
tational resources (CPU or weak GPU).

2.2 Solution Description

Solution Name: Using VGG-16 model with Transfer Learning and Data Aug-
mentation.
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Fig. 1. VGG-16 Model - GeeksforGeeks

The VGG-16 model is a convolutional neural network with 16 trainable lay-

ers, including 13 convolutional layers with 3×3 filters (stride 1, padding same)
and 3 fully connected layers. Convolutional layers are stacked with 2×2 max-
pooling to reduce spatial dimensions while deepening feature representations.
With approximately 138 million parameters, VGG-16 excels at hierarchical fea-
ture extraction from images. In this study, pretrained weights from ImageNet
are employed for initialization, followed by fine-tuning on CIFAR-10 to enhance
classification performance.
The implemented solution begins with data augmentation, employing tech-
niques such as rotation, horizontal flipping, and brightness adjustment to en-
hance the diversity of the training set. The core architecture (VGG-16 Backbone)
utilizes a pretrained VGG-16 model from ImageNet, with its convolutional lay-
ers frozen to leverage pre-learned features. Fully connected layers are then added
for feature aggregation, incorporating dropout to mitigate overfitting. Finally,
a softmax output layer predicts probabilities for the 10 CIFAR-10 classes, com-
pleting the classification process. Pseudo Algorithm

Fig. 2. Blocks Diagram

Algorithm: VGG16_CIFAR10_Training
Input: Training data (X_train, y_train), Test data (X_test, y_test)
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Output: Trained VGG-16 model

1. Load VGG-16 with pretrained ImageNet weights

2. Freeze convolutional layers of VGG-16
3. Replace output layers with:
- Flatten layer
- Dense(512, activation=’relu’)
- Dropout(0.5)
- Dense(10, activation=’softmax’)
4. Augment X_train: rotation(15°), horizontal_flip, brightness(0.8-1.2)
5. Train model:
- Batch_size = 32 (can be adjusted depends on hardware)
- Epochs = 20 (can be adjusted depends on hardware)
- EarlyStopping if val_loss stops decreasing after 5 epochs
6. Evaluate model on X_test, y_test
7. Return trained model

2.3 Complexity Estimation

– Space Complexity: O(W + D), where W is the number of VGG-16 param-
eters ( 138 million), and D is the temporary augmented data size ( 50,000
images × 32×32×3).
– Time Complexity: O(E × B × C), where E is the number of epochs (20), B
is the batch size (32), and C is the complexity of a forward/backward pass
through VGG-16 (dependent on 13 convolutional layers).

2.4 Advantages and Disadvantages

– Advantages:
• Transfer learning from ImageNet enhances feature extraction for small
images.
• Leveraging pretrained VGG-16 weights from ImageNet helps reduce train-
ing time and boost accuracy on the small CIFAR-10 dataset.
• Data augmentation and dropout effectively mitigate overfitting.
• High accuracy (expected 85-90%) due to VGG-16’s robust architecture.
– Disadvantages:
• VGG-16’s large parameter count (138 million) slows training/inference
on weak hardware.
• Requires more resources compared to lighter models (e.g., MobileNet).

3 Related Works
3.1 Related Solutions
This section reviews studies on image classification using convolutional neural
networks (CNNs) with the CIFAR-10 dataset, emphasizing the VGG-16 model.
It explores existing approaches, practical applications of VGG-16, and research
involving CIFAR-10, providing a foundation for the current project.
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– Studies Before 2020:

Before 2020, image classification relied heavily on basic CNNs. LeCun et al.
[1] introduced LeNet, achieving around 60% accuracy on CIFAR-10 with sim-
ple feature extraction, but limited by depth and generalization. Krizhevsky et
al. [2] developed AlexNet, improving performance to 70% with deeper archi-
tecture and ReLU, though prone to overfitting on small datasets. Simonyan
and Zisserman [3] proposed VGG-16, reaching nearly 80% on CIFAR-10 with
3×3 filters and significant depth, excelling in robust feature extraction de-
spite high computational demands. These approaches became outdated due
to the lack of modern regularization techniques.
– Studies from 2020 to 2023:
From 2020 to 2023, the trend shifted toward enhanced models. Huang et al.
[4] with DenseNet achieved 92% on CIFAR-10 via dense connections, though
more architecturally complex than VGG-16. Dosovitskiy et al. [5] introduced
Vision Transformer (ViT), reaching 94% with large-scale training, but un-
derperforming on small CIFAR-10. He et al. [6] with Masked Autoencoders
(MAE) achieved 93% using self-supervised learning, requiring more train-
ing resources than VGG-16. VGG-16 remains valued for its simplicity and
efficacy on small datasets.
– Studies from 2024 Onward:
Recent studies on CIFAR-10 image classification have focused on optimizing
performance and generalization. Haris et al. [7] integrated PCA with CNN
and transfer learning using DenseNet on CIFAR-10, achieving 89.82% accu-
racy by reducing data dimensionality and leveraging pre-trained features, en-
hancing training speed over traditional CNNs. Ghafouri [8] developed a CNN
with convolutional, pooling, and dropout layers, incorporating batch normal-
ization and data augmentation, attaining 86% accuracy on CIFAR-10, show-
casing the efficacy of balancing depth with regularization. Kaushik et al. [9]
explored ResNet-50 on CIFAR-10, achieving high performance via residual
connections that mitigate gradient vanishing, optimizing object recognition.
Additionally, a study [10] proposed RegNet, enhancing ResNet with Convo-
lutional RNNs to capture spatio-temporal features, improving classification
on CIFAR-10. Another study [11] evaluated the generalization of CNNs on
CIFAR-10, finding some models overfit to the original test set, underscor-
ing the need for better generalization to new data. Lastly, research [12] in-
vestigated the "block structure" phenomenon in deep CNNs on CIFAR-10,
noting similar representations in hidden layers that affect feature learning.
These approaches highlight trends in advanced feature extraction and deep
architectures, yet VGG-16 stands out for its simplicity and robust feature
extraction, despite slightly higher computational costs compared to newer
optimized models.

3.2 Applications Of The Method

– VGG-16 in Image Classification:

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VGG-16 is widely applied in image classification due to its superior feature

extraction. Simonyan and Zisserman [3] achieved a top-5 accuracy of 92.7%
on ImageNet with its deep, uniform architecture. Liu and Deng [13] fine-
tuned VGG-16 on CIFAR-10, reaching 89% with transfer learning, effective
on small data. Chen et al. [14] applied VGG-16 to medical images, achieving
91% on X-rays, showcasing versatility despite resource costs.
– VGG-16 in Other Tasks:
VGG-16 is also versatile in other domains. Long et al. [15] integrated VGG-
16 into FCN for image segmentation, achieving 65% IoU on PASCAL VOC
due to strong spatial feature extraction. Girshick [16] used VGG-16 in Fast
R-CNN, reaching 70% mAP on COCO with deep features. Szegedy et al.
[17] combined VGG-16 with Inception, enhancing ImageNet performance,
highlighting high adaptability despite its large parameter count.
– Advantages and Disadvantages of VGG-16:
VGG-16 excels with its simple, tunable architecture and robust feature
extraction via 3×3 filters, particularly effective with transfer learning on
CIFAR-10. A minor drawback is its large parameter count (138 million),
slowing it on weak devices, but its superior accuracy and stability outweigh
this limitation.

3.3 Studies Related To The Dataset

CIFAR-10 is a popular benchmark for CNN evaluation. Krizhevsky [18] intro-

duced CIFAR-10 to test basic CNNs, achieving 60-70%. He et al. [19] with ResNet
reached 93% using skip connections, leveraging small data effectively. Howard et
al. [20] applied MobileNet, achieving 90% with a lightweight model, balancing
efficiency and accuracy. Recent studies like [10], [11], and [12] further explore
CIFAR-10, focusing on improving accuracy, generalization, and analyzing net-
work structures. Common traits include using CNNs as the foundation, often
based on ResNet or variants, testing on CIFAR-10 and sometimes extending to
CIFAR-100, and aiming to enhance performance and deepen understanding of
feature learning.

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