Current and upcoming generations of visible-shortwave infrared (VSWIR) imaging spectrometers promise unprecedented capacity to quantify Earth System processes across the globe. However, reliable cloud screening remains a fundamental challenge for these instruments, where traditional spatial and temporal approaches are limited by cloud variability and limited temporal coverage. The Spectroscopic Transformer (SpecTf) addresses these challenges with a spectroscopy-specific deep learning architecture that performs cloud detection using only spectral information (no spatial or temporal data are required). By treating spectral measurements as sequences rather than image channels, SpecTf learns fundamental physical relationships without relying on spatial context. Our experiments demonstrate that SpecTf significantly outperforms the current baseline approach implemented for the EMIT instrument, and performs comparably with other machine learning methods with orders of magnitude fewer learned parameters. Critically, we demonstrate SpecTf's inherent interpretability through its attention mechanism, revealing physically meaningful spectral features the model has learned. Finally, we present SpecTf's potential for cross-instrument generalization by applying it to a different instrument on a different platform without modifications, opening the door to instrument agnostic data driven algorithms for future imaging spectroscopy tasks.

Ensuring robot safety can be challenging; user-defined constraints can miss edge cases, policies can become unsafe even when trained from safe data, and safety can be subjective. Thus, we learn about robot safety by showing policy trajectories to a human who flags unsafe behavior. From this binary feedback, we use the statistical method of conformal prediction to identify a region of states, potentially in learned latent space, guaranteed to contain a user-specified fraction of future policy errors. Our method is sample-efficient, as it builds on nearest neighbor classification and avoids withholding data as is common with conformal prediction. By alerting if the robot reaches the suspected unsafe region, we obtain a warning system that mimics the human's safety preferences with guaranteed miss rate. From video labeling, our system can detect when a quadcopter visuomotor policy will fail to steer through a designated gate. We present an approach for policy improvement by avoiding the suspected unsafe region. With it we improve a model predictive controller's safety, as shown in experimental testing with 30 quadcopter flights across 6 navigation tasks. Code and videos are provided.

Providing a comprehensive view of the city operation and offering useful metrics for decision making is a well known challenge for urban risk analysis systems. Existing systems are, in many cases, generalizations of previous domain specific tools and or methodologies that may not cover all urban interdependencies and makes it difficult to have homogeneous indicators. In order to overcome this limitation while seeking for effective support to decision makers, this article introduces a novel hybrid simulation framework for risk mitigation. The framework is built on a proposed city concept that considers urban space as a Complex Adaptive System composed by interconnected Critical Infrastructures. In this concept, a Social System, which models daily patterns and social interactions of the citizens in the Urban Landscape, drives the CIs demand to configure the full city picture. The frameworks hybrid design integrates agent based and network based modeling by breaking down city agents into system dependent subagents, to enable both inter and intra system interaction simulation, respectively. A layered structure of indicators at different aggregation levels is also developed, to ensure that decisions are not only data driven but also explainable. Therefore, the proposed simulation framework can serve as a DSS tool that allows the quantitative analysis of the impact of threats at different levels. First, system level metrics can be used to get a broad view on the city resilience. Then, agent level metrics back those figures and provide better explainability. On implementation, the proposed framework enables component reusability (for eased coding), simulation federation (enabling the integration of existing system oriented simulators), discrete simulation in accelerated time (for rapid scenario simulation) and decision oriented visualization (for informed outputs).

Yield is one of the core goals of crop breeding. By predicting the potential yield of different breeding materials, breeders can screen these materials at various growth stages to select the best performing. Based on unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing technology, high-throughput crop phenotyping data in breeding areas is collected to provide data support for the breeding decisions of breeders. However, the accuracy of current yield predictions still requires improvement, and the usability and user-friendliness of yield forecasting tools remain suboptimal. To address these challenges, this study introduces a hybrid method and tool for crop yield prediction, designed to allow breeders to interactively and accurately predict wheat yield by chatting with a large language model (LLM). First, the newly designed data assimilation algorithm is used to assimilate the leaf area index into the WOFOST model. Then, selected outputs from the assimilation process, along with remote sensing inversion results, are used to drive the time-series temporal fusion transformer model for wheat yield prediction. Finally, based on this hybrid method and leveraging an LLM with retrieval augmented generation technology, we developed an interactive yield prediction Web tool that is user-friendly and supports sustainable data updates. This tool integrates multi-source data to assist breeding decision-making. This study aims to accelerate the identification of high-yield materials in the breeding process, enhance breeding efficiency, and enable more scientific and smart breeding decisions.

Baseus has announced the launch of its S2 solar-powered security camera, which features solar tracking technology, advanced motion detection, and a wire-free design. The S2 ( 149) builds on the foundation laid by the Baseus S1 Pro, which introduced features like a rotating solar panel and advanced AI motion detection. While the S1 Pro boasted 3K resolution and a dual-lens system with optical zoom, the S2 takes clarity a step further with Ultra 4K resolution, delivering sharper visuals for more detailed monitoring. At the heart of the S2 is its sun-powered tracking system, which rotates the solar panel 40 degrees left and right to maximize sunlight exposure. This feature complements the S1 Pro's solar panel, which could tilt and rotate more dynamically, improving efficiency by 30 percent over static panels.

Reolink has unveiled the Altas Wireless Security System, a battery-powered camera setup capable of delivering 24/7 recording in 2K resolution. Designed with flexibility and ease of use in mind, the system targets homeowners who want reliable surveillance without technical headaches. Unveiled this week at CES in Las Vegas, the Altas Wireless Security System includes two 2K bullet-style Altas cameras, two 6-watt solar panels, and a Home Hub for centralized management. Each camera features a 20,000mAh battery, providing up to seven days of continuous recording. With just two hours of sunlight daily, the solar panels keep the cameras running around the clock, reducing reliance on motion detection.

In recent years, artificial feet based on soft robotics and under-actuation principles emerged to improve mobility on challenging terrains. This paper presents the application of the MuJoCo physics engine to realize a digital twin of an adaptive soft foot developed for use with legged robots. We release the MuJoCo soft foot digital twin as open source to allow users and researchers to explore new approaches to locomotion. The work includes the system modeling techniques along with the kinematic and dynamic attributes involved. Validation is conducted through a rigorous comparison with bench tests on a physical prototype, replicating these experiments in simulation. Results are evaluated based on sole deformation and contact forces during foot-obstacle interaction. The foot model is subsequently integrated into simulations of the humanoid robot COMAN+, replacing its original flat feet. Results show an improvement in the robot's ability to negotiate small obstacles without altering its control strategy. Ultimately, this study offers a comprehensive modeling approach for adaptive soft feet, supported by qualitative comparisons of bipedal locomotion with state of the art robotic feet.

Data-driven soft sensors are crucial in predicting key performance indicators in industrial systems. However, current methods predominantly rely on the supervised learning paradigms of parameter updating, which inherently faces challenges such as high development costs, poor robustness, training instability, and lack of interpretability. Recently, large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated significant potential across various domains, notably through In-Context Learning (ICL), which enables high-performance task execution with minimal input-label demonstrations and no prior training. This paper aims to replace supervised learning with the emerging ICL paradigm for soft sensor modeling to address existing challenges and explore new avenues for advancement. To achieve this, we propose a novel framework called the Few-shot Uncertainty-aware and self-Explaining Soft Sensor (LLM-FUESS), which includes the Zero-shot Auxiliary Variable Selector (LLM-ZAVS) and the Uncertainty-aware Few-shot Soft Sensor (LLM-UFSS). The LLM-ZAVS retrieves from the Industrial Knowledge Vector Storage to enhance LLMs' domain-specific knowledge, enabling zero-shot auxiliary variable selection. In the LLM-UFSS, we utilize text-based context demonstrations of structured data to prompt LLMs to execute ICL for predicting and propose a context sample retrieval augmentation strategy to improve performance. Additionally, we explored LLMs' AIGC and probabilistic characteristics to propose self-explanation and uncertainty quantification methods for constructing a trustworthy soft sensor. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method achieved state-of-the-art predictive performance, strong robustness, and flexibility, effectively mitigates training instability found in traditional methods. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to establish soft sensor utilizing LLMs.

This paper presents a framework for bounding the approximation error in imitation model predictive controllers utilizing neural networks. Leveraging the Lipschitz properties of these neural networks, we derive a bound that guides dataset design to ensure the approximation error remains at chosen limits. We discuss how this method can be used to design a stable neural network controller with performance guarantees employing existing robust model predictive control approaches for data generation. Additionally, we introduce a training adjustment, which is based on the sensitivities of the optimization problem and reduces dataset density requirements based on the derived bounds. We verify that the proposed augmentation results in improvements to the network's predictive capabilities and a reduction of the Lipschitz constant. Moreover, on a simulated inverted pendulum problem, we show that the approach results in a closer match of the closed-loop behavior between the imitation and the original model predictive controller.

Bacterial cells use run-and-tumble motion to climb up attractant concentration gradient in their environment. By extending the uphill runs and shortening the downhill runs the cells migrate towards the higher attractant zones. Motivated by this, we formulate a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm where an agent moves in one dimension in the presence of an attractant gradient. The agent can perform two actions: either persistent motion in the same direction or reversal of direction. We assign costs for these actions based on the recent history of the agent's trajectory. We ask the question: which RL strategy works best in different types of attractant environment. We quantify efficiency of the RL strategy by the ability of the agent (a) to localize in the favorable zones after large times, and (b) to learn about its complete environment. Depending on the attractant profile and the initial condition, we find an optimum balance is needed between exploration and exploitation to ensure the most efficient performance.