Energy
On-device Anomaly Detection in Conveyor Belt Operations
Martinez-Rau, Luciano S., Zhang, Yuxuan, Oelmann, Bengt, Bader, Sebastian
Mining 4.0 leverages advancements in automation, digitalization, and interconnected technologies from Industry 4.0 to address the unique challenges of the mining sector, enhancing efficiency, safety, and sustainability. Conveyor belts are crucial in mining operations by enabling the continuous and efficient movement of bulk materials over long distances, which directly impacts productivity. While detecting anomalies in specific conveyor belt components, such as idlers, pulleys, and belt surfaces, has been widely studied, identifying the root causes of these failures remains critical due to factors like changing production conditions and operator errors. Continuous monitoring of mining conveyor belt work cycles for anomaly detection is still at an early stage and requires robust solutions. This study proposes two distinctive pattern recognition approaches for real-time anomaly detection in the operational cycles of mining conveyor belts, combining feature extraction, threshold-based cycle detection, and tiny machine-learning classification. Both approaches outperformed a state-of-the-art technique on two datasets for duty cycle classification in terms of F1-scores. The first approach, with 97.3% and 80.2% for normal and abnormal cycles, respectively, reaches the highest performance in the first dataset while the second approach excels on the second dataset, scoring 91.3% and 67.9%. Implemented on two low-power microcontrollers, the methods demonstrated efficient, real-time operation with energy consumption of 13.3 and 20.6 ${\mu}$J during inference. These results offer valuable insights for detecting mechanical failure sources, supporting targeted preventive maintenance, and optimizing production cycles.
Enhancing Predictive Maintenance in Mining Mobile Machinery through a TinyML-enabled Hierarchical Inference Network
de la Fuente, Raรบl, Radrigan, Luciano, Morales, Anibal S
Mining machinery operating in variable environments faces high wear and unpredictable stress, challenging Predictive Maintenance (PdM). This paper introduces the Edge Sensor Network for Predictive Maintenance (ESN-PdM), a hierarchical inference framework across edge devices, gateways, and cloud services for real-time condition monitoring. The system dynamically adjusts inference locations--on-device, on-gateway, or on-cloud--based on trade-offs among accuracy, latency, and battery life, leveraging Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML) techniques for model optimization on resource-constrained devices. Performance evaluations showed that on-sensor and on-gateway inference modes achieved over 90\% classification accuracy, while cloud-based inference reached 99\%. On-sensor inference reduced power consumption by approximately 44\%, enabling up to 104 hours of operation. Latency was lowest for on-device inference (3.33 ms), increasing when offloading to the gateway (146.67 ms) or cloud (641.71 ms). The ESN-PdM framework provides a scalable, adaptive solution for reliable anomaly detection and PdM, crucial for maintaining machinery uptime in remote environments. By balancing accuracy, latency, and energy consumption, this approach advances PdM frameworks for industrial applications.
Toward Automated Algorithm Design: A Survey and Practical Guide to Meta-Black-Box-Optimization
Ma, Zeyuan, Guo, Hongshu, Gong, Yue-Jiao, Zhang, Jun, Tan, Kay Chen
In this survey, we introduce Meta-Black-Box-Optimization~(MetaBBO) as an emerging avenue within the Evolutionary Computation~(EC) community, which incorporates Meta-learning approaches to assist automated algorithm design. Despite the success of MetaBBO, the current literature provides insufficient summaries of its key aspects and lacks practical guidance for implementation. To bridge this gap, we offer a comprehensive review of recent advances in MetaBBO, providing an in-depth examination of its key developments. We begin with a unified definition of the MetaBBO paradigm, followed by a systematic taxonomy of various algorithm design tasks, including algorithm selection, algorithm configuration, solution manipulation, and algorithm generation. Further, we conceptually summarize different learning methodologies behind current MetaBBO works, including reinforcement learning, supervised learning, neuroevolution, and in-context learning with Large Language Models. A comprehensive evaluation of the latest representative MetaBBO methods is then carried out, alongside an experimental analysis of their optimization performance, computational efficiency, and generalization ability. Based on the evaluation results, we meticulously identify a set of core designs that enhance the generalization and learning effectiveness of MetaBBO. Finally, we outline the vision for the field by providing insight into the latest trends and potential future directions. Relevant literature will be continuously collected and updated at \url{https://github.com/GMC-DRL/Awesome-MetaBBO}.
'A fork in the road': laundry-sorting robot spurs AI hopes and fears at Europe's biggest tech event
This year's Web Summit, in Lisbon, was all about artificial intelligence โ and a robot sorting laundry. Digit, a humanoid built by the US firm Agility Robotics, demonstrated how far AI has come in a few years by responding to voice commands โ filtered through Google's Gemini AI model โ to sift through a pile of coloured T-shirts and place them in a basket. It wasn't a seamless demonstration but the enthusiastic response, nearly two years on from the launch of ChatGPT, reflected the excitement about all things AI that pervaded Europe's biggest annual tech conference. Talk of a bust in the AI boom could not be heard over the shouts of encouragement for Digit as it pondered different shades of garment. Nonetheless, the voices of caution were there, discussing familiar themes such as safety, jobs and the climate, as AI comes to influence a huge range of industries.
Introduction to AI Safety, Ethics, and Society
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly embedding itself within militaries, economies, and societies, reshaping their very foundations. Given the depth and breadth of its consequences, it has never been more pressing to understand how to ensure that AI systems are safe, ethical, and have a positive societal impact. This book aims to provide a comprehensive approach to understanding AI risk. Our primary goals include consolidating fragmented knowledge on AI risk, increasing the precision of core ideas, and reducing barriers to entry by making content simpler and more comprehensible. The book has been designed to be accessible to readers from diverse backgrounds. You do not need to have studied AI, philosophy, or other such topics. The content is skimmable and somewhat modular, so that you can choose which chapters to read. We introduce mathematical formulas in a few places to specify claims more precisely, but readers should be able to understand the main points without these.
Energy-Aware Predictive Motion Planning for Autonomous Vehicles Using a Hybrid Zonotope Constraint Representation
Robbins, Joshua A., Thompson, Andrew F., Brennan, Sean, Pangborn, Herschel C.
Uncrewed aerial systems have tightly coupled energy and motion dynamics which must be accounted for by onboard planning algorithms. This work proposes a strategy for coupled motion and energy planning using model predictive control (MPC). A reduced-order linear time-invariant model of coupled energy and motion dynamics is presented. Constrained zonotopes are used to represent state and input constraints, and hybrid zonotopes are used to represent non-convex constraints tied to a map of the environment. The structures of these constraint representations are exploited within a mixed-integer quadratic program solver tailored to MPC motion planning problems. Results apply the proposed methodology to coupled motion and energy utilization planning problems for 1) a hybrid-electric vehicle that must restrict engine usage when flying over regions with noise restrictions, and 2) an electric package delivery drone that must track waysets with both position and battery state of charge requirements. By leveraging the structure-exploiting solver, the proposed mixed-integer MPC formulations can be implemented in real time.
Graph Neural Networks and Differential Equations: A hybrid approach for data assimilation of fluid flows
Quattromini, M., Bucci, M. A., Cherubini, S., Semeraro, O.
This study presents a novel hybrid approach that combines Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) with Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations to enhance the accuracy of mean flow reconstruction across a range of fluid dynamics applications. Traditional purely data-driven Neural Networks (NNs) models, often struggle maintaining physical consistency. Moreover, they typically require large datasets to achieve reliable performances. The GNN framework, which naturally handles unstructured data such as complex geometries in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), is here integrated with RANS equations as a physical baseline model. The methodology leverages the adjoint method, enabling the use of RANS-derived gradients as optimization terms in the GNN training process. This ensures that the learned model adheres to the governing physics, maintaining physical consistency while improving the prediction accuracy. We test our approach on multiple CFD scenarios, including cases involving generalization with respect to the Reynolds number, sparse measurements, denoising and inpainting of missing portions of the mean flow. The results demonstrate significant improvements in the accuracy of the reconstructed mean flow compared to purely data-driven models, using limited amounts of data in the training dataset. The key strengths of this study are the integration of physical laws into the training process of the GNN, and the ability to achieve high-accuracy predictions with a limited amount of data, making this approach particularly valuable for applications in fluid dynamics where data is often scarce.
Physics-informed neural networks need a physicist to be accurate: the case of mass and heat transport in Fischer-Tropsch catalyst particles
Nikolaienko, Tymofii, Patel, Harshil, Panda, Aniruddha, Joshi, Subodh Madhav, Jaso, Stanislav, Kalyanaraman, Kaushic
Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) have emerged as an influential technology, merging the swift and automated capabilities of machine learning with the precision and dependability of simulations grounded in theoretical physics. PINNs are often employed to solve algebraic or differential equations to replace some or even all steps of multi-stage computational workflows, leading to their significant speed-up. However, wide adoption of PINNs is still hindered by reliability issues, particularly at extreme ends of the input parameter ranges. In this study, we demonstrate this in the context of a system of coupled non-linear differential reaction-diffusion and heat transfer equations related to Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, which are solved by a finite-difference method with a PINN used in evaluating their source terms. It is shown that the testing strategies traditionally used to assess the accuracy of neural networks as function approximators can overlook the peculiarities which ultimately cause instabilities of the finite-difference solver. We propose a domain knowledge-based modifications to the PINN architecture ensuring its correct asymptotic behavior. When combined with an improved numerical scheme employed as an initial guess generator, the proposed modifications are shown to recover the overall stability of the simulations, while preserving the speed-up brought by PINN as the workflow component. We discuss the possible applications of the proposed hybrid transport equation solver in context of chemical reactors simulations.
Adaptive Physics-Guided Neural Network
This paper introduces an adaptive physics-guided neural network (APGNN) framework for predicting quality attributes from image data by integrating physical laws into deep learning models. The APGNN adaptively balances data-driven and physics-informed predictions, enhancing model accuracy and robustness across different environments. Our approach is evaluated on both synthetic and real-world datasets, with comparisons to conventional data-driven models such as ResNet. For the synthetic data, 2D domains were generated using three distinct governing equations: the diffusion equation, the advection-diffusion equation, and the Poisson equation. Non-linear transformations were applied to these domains to emulate complex physical processes in image form. In real-world experiments, the APGNN consistently demonstrated superior performance in the diverse thermal image dataset. On the cucumber dataset, characterized by low material diversity and controlled conditions, APGNN and PGNN showed similar performance, both outperforming the data-driven ResNet. However, in the more complex thermal dataset, particularly for outdoor materials with higher environmental variability, APGNN outperformed both PGNN and ResNet by dynamically adjusting its reliance on physics-based versus data-driven insights. This adaptability allowed APGNN to maintain robust performance across structured, low-variability settings and more heterogeneous scenarios. These findings underscore the potential of adaptive physics-guided learning to integrate physical constraints effectively, even in challenging real-world contexts with diverse environmental conditions.
Energy-GNoME: A Living Database of Selected Materials for Energy Applications
De Angelis, Paolo, Trezza, Giovanni, Barletta, Giulio, Asinari, Pietro, Chiavazzo, Eliodoro
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in materials science is driving significant advancements in the discovery of advanced materials for energy applications. The recent GNoME protocol identifies over 380,000 novel stable crystals. From this, we identify over 33,000 materials with potential as energy materials forming the Energy-GNoME database. Leveraging Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) tools, our protocol mitigates cross-domain data bias using feature spaces to identify potential candidates for thermoelectric materials, novel battery cathodes, and novel perovskites. Classifiers with both structural and compositional features identify domains of applicability, where we expect enhanced accuracy of the regressors. Such regressors are trained to predict key materials properties like, thermoelectric figure of merit (zT), band gap (Eg), and cathode voltage ($\Delta V_c$). This method significantly narrows the pool of potential candidates, serving as an efficient guide for experimental and computational chemistry investigations and accelerating the discovery of materials suited for electricity generation, energy storage and conversion.