PSO-Optimized Deep Learning for Ultra-Precise Corrosion Detection on HDD Read/Write Heads

Abstract

This paper presents a novel deep learning approach for automated detection and counting of corrosion pits on Hard Disk Drive (HDD) read/write heads using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images. A U-Net model optimized via Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is developed to enhance segmentation performance by automatically tuning hyperparameters. The methodology includes optimized SEM image acquisition, preprocessing (patch-based subdivision and expert annotation), PSO-driven hyperparameter selection, and post-processing with thresholding and connected component analysis for pit counting. Experimental results demonstrate that the PSO-optimized U-Net significantly outperforms standard U-Net, SegNet, and LinkNet models, achieving an F1-score of 79.60%, an IoU of 86.51%, and an accuracy of 99.77%. Additionally, the proposed method achieves 86.9% counting accuracy, surpassing human experts (72.7%) while processing images 15 times faster (180 seconds vs. 2700 seconds per image). These findings highlight the potential of PSO-optimized deep learning for improving HDD quality control by providing an accurate, efficient, and standardized solution for corrosion pit detection, ultimately reducing the risk of HDD failure and data loss.