**CSPDarknet53** is a convolutional neural network and backbone for object detection that uses [DarkNet-53](https://paperswithcode.com/method/darknet-53). It employs a CSPNet strategy to partition the feature map of the base layer into two parts and then merges them through a cross-stage hierarchy. The use of a split and merge strategy allows for more gradient flow through the network.
This CNN is used as the backbone for [YOLOv4](https://paperswithcode.com/method/yolov4).
## How do I use this model on an image?
To load a pretrained model:
```python
import timm
model = timm.create_model('cspdarknet53', pretrained=True)
model.eval()
```
To load and preprocess the image:
```python
import urllib
from PIL import Image
from timm.data import resolve_data_config
from timm.data.transforms_factory import create_transform
Replace the model name with the variant you want to use, e.g. `cspdarknet53`. You can find the IDs in the model summaries at the top of this page.
To extract image features with this model, follow the [timm feature extraction examples](https://rwightman.github.io/pytorch-image-models/feature_extraction/), just change the name of the model you want to use.
## How do I finetune this model?
You can finetune any of the pre-trained models just by changing the classifier (the last layer).