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At least 217 records · Page 12

Learning in Artificial Neural Systems

This paper presents an overview and analysis of learning in Artificial Neural Systems (ANS's). It begins with a general introduction to neural networks and connectionist approaches to information processing. The basis for learning in ANS's is then described, and compared with classical Machine learning. While similar in some ways, ANS learning deviates from tradition in its dependence on the modification of individual weights to bring about changes in a knowledge representation distributed across connections in a network. This unique form of learning is analyzed from two aspects: the selection of an appropriate network architecture for representing the problem, and the choice of a suitable learning rule capable of reproducing the desired function within the given network. The various network architectures are classified, and then identified with explicit restrictions on the types of functions they are capable of representing. The learning rules, i.e., algorithms that specify how the network weights are modified, are similarly taxonomized, and where possible, the limitations inherent to specific classes of rules are outlined.

Matheus, Christopher J.↗

Knowledge acquisition and interface design for learning on demand systems

The rapid changes in our world precipitated by technology have created new problems and new challenges for education and training. A knowledge 'explosion' is occurring as our society moves toward a service oriented economy that relies on information as the major resource. Complex computer systems are beginning to dominate the workplace, causing alarming growth and change in many fields. The rapidly changing nature of the workplace, especially in fields related to information technology, requires that our knowledge be updated constantly. This characteristic of modern society poses seemingly unsolvable instructional problems involving coverage and obsolescence. The sheer amount of information to be learned is rapidly increasing, while at the same time some information becomes obsolete in light of new information. Education, therefore, must become a lifelong process that features learning of new material and skills as needed in relation to the job to be done. Because of the problems cited above, the current model of learning in advance may no longer be feasible in our high-technology world. In many cases, learning in advance is impossible because there are simply too many things to learn. In addition, learning in advance can be time consuming, and often results in decontextualized knowledge that does not readily transfer to the work environment. The large and growing discrepancy between the amount of potentially relevant knowledge available and the amount a person can know and remember makes learning on demand an important alternative to current instructional practices. Learning on demand takes place whenever an individual must learn something new in order to perform a task or make a decision. Learning on demand is a promising approach for addressing the problems of coverage and obsolescence because learning is contextualized and integrated into the task environment rather than being relegated to a separate phase that precedes work. Learning on demand allows learners to see for themselves the usefulness of new knowledge for actual problem situations, thereby increasing the motivation for learning new information. Finally, learning on demand makes new information relevant to the task at hand, leading to more informed decision making, better quality products, and improved performance.

Nelson, Wayne A.↗

Convolutional Variational Autoencoder-based Unsupervised Learning for Power Systems Faults

Classification of power system event data is a growing need, particularly where non-protective relaying-based sensors are used to monitor grid performance. Given the high burden of obtaining event data with appropriate labeling, an unsupervised approach is highly valuable. This approach enables using event data without labeling, which is far easier to obtain. This paper presents an unsupervised learning method to classify and label transients observed in the distribution grid. A Convolutional Variational Autoencoder (CVAE) was developed for this purpose. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach using the transient data generated from the simulations. The simulation data is used to train the CVAE that identifies different faults as different clusters in the latent space. The clusters are then used as the foundation model to categorize the real-world data.

Alam, Maksudul↗

Heritage and Advanced Technology Systems Engineering Lessons Learned from NASA Space Missions

Use of heritage and new technology is necessary/enabling to implementing small, low cost missions, yet overruns decrease the ability to sustain future mission flight rates The majority of the cost growth drivers seen in the D&NF study were embedded early during formulation phase and later realized during the development and I&T phases Cost drivers can be avoided or significantly decreased by project management and SE emphasis on early identification of risks and realistic analyses SE processes that emphasize an assessment of technology within the mission system to identify technical issues in the design or operational use of the technology. Realistic assessment of new and heritage spacecraft technology assumptions , identification of risks and mitigation strategies. Realistic estimates of effort required to inherit existing or qualify new technology, identification of risks to estimates and develop mitigation strategies. Allocation of project reserves for risk-based mitigation strategies of each individual area of heritage or new technology. Careful tailoring of inheritance processes to ensure due diligence.

Barley, Bryan↗

X-57 Systems Engineering Lessons Learned

The X-57 Maxwell is an electric aircraft based on a 4-passenger, twin engine Tecnam P2006T General Aviation aircraft. The X-57 project originally envisioned a straightforward integration of commercial-off-the-shelf hardware components and software into a novel configuration to demonstrate the aerodynamic and performance benefits of Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP). The project was initially started with a high-risk venture capitalist approach under NASA’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) project, which led to an initial philosophy of Project Management “light” (which was then interpreted as Systems Engineering (SE) “light”). As the project matured, it was forced to transition to one with increasing SE-rigor as the project scope changed, hardware and software deficiencies were found, and the team realized the magnitude of the technical and integration challenges. In hindsight, these technical challenges came in part from an overly optimistic technology readiness assessment (TRA) at the beginning of the project, which resulted in the project assuming that little to no subsystem development would be required. The project’s approach to systems engineering evolved throughout three separate informal phases of the project as it underwent two key transitions as a result of the team wrestling with the technical challenges and resultant changing project scope. This paper discusses the assumptions, approaches, and challenges encountered from a Systems Engineering standpoint in each of the three informal phases of the X-57 project. This paper also provides recommendations on how future projects can apply Systems Engineering best practices upfront along with a realistic TRA to aid projects that find themselves with similar challenges.

Systems Engineering↗

Machine Learning-Assisted Distribution System Network Reconfiguration Problem

High penetration from volatile renewable energy resources in the grid and the varying nature of loads raise the need for frequent line switching to ensure the efficient operation of electrical distribution networks. Operators must ensure maximum load delivery, reduced losses, and the operation between voltage limits. However, computations to decide the optimal feeder configuration are often computationally expensive and intractable, making it unfavorable for real-time operations. This is mainly due to the existence of binary variables in the network reconfiguration optimization problem. To tackle this issue, we have devised an approach that leverages machine learning techniques to reshape distribution networks featuring multiple substations. This involves predicting the substation responsible for serving each part of the network. Hence, it leaves simple and more tractable Optimal Power Flow problems to be solved. This method can produce accurate results in a significantly faster time, as demonstrated using the IEEE 37-bus distribution feeder. Compared to the traditional optimization-based approaches, a feasible solution is achieved approximately ten times faster for all the tested scenarios.

deep neural networks↗

Lessons Learned from Medical System Foundation Development for Long-Duration Lunar Orbit and Lunar Surface Missions

The Human Research Program (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element has been tasked with the development of Medical System Foundations for Level of Care IV for both short-duration lunar orbital missions and, subsequently, long-duration lunar orbital and surface operations missions. These Medical System Foundations serve as a framework to aid in early medical system design and mission planning. The content of both Foundation models is similar, consisting of a concept of operations, functional decomposition, clinical content (medical conditions, capabilities, and resources), technical requirements (interface, non-functional, and functional), and traces between these components and to the NASA standards documents and parent-level (Program- and Vehicle habitat system-level) requirements. Additionally, the development of both Foundations employed systems engineering principles and a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approach. Throughout the development of these Foundations, ExMC has strived to improve the efficiency and robustness of its processes and to be more responsive to change (i.e., in design reference mission parameters and assumptions) and to stakeholders’ feedback. The most significant improvements made between the short- and long-duration Foundation models during this transformation process are the following: • Replacement of the traditional document-based ConOps with a model-based ConOps according to MBSE principles, which facilitated more efficient understanding of the material and the consolidation of all relevant information into a centralized location. • Utilization of an agile approach with tasks organized into sprints. This approach enabled solicitation of more frequent usability feedback from stakeholders, incorporation of more human factors reviews into the sprints, and more efficient tasking of team members. This presentation will discuss the journey of developing both Foundation models, as well as the lessons learned and resulting improvements made between the Short- and Long-Duration models.

M Kaetzer↗

Systems Engineering Lessons Learned for Class D Missions

One of NASA's goals within human exploration is to determine how to get humans to Mars safely and to live and work on the Martian surface. To accomplish this goal, several smaller missions act as stepping-stones to the larger end goal. NASA uses these smaller missions to develop new technologies and learn about how to survive outside of Low Earth Orbit for long periods. Additionally, keeping a cadence of these missions allows the team to maintain proficiency in the complex art of bringing spacecraft to fruition. Many of these smaller missions are robotic in nature and have smaller timescales, whereas there are others that involve crew and have longer mission timelines. Given the timelines associated with these various missions, different levels of risk and rigor need to be implemented to be more in line with what is appropriate for the mission. Thus, NASA has four different classifications that range from Class A to Class D based on the mission details. One of these projects is the Resource Prospector (RP) Mission, which is a multi-center and multi-institution collaborative project to search for volatiles in the polar regions of the Moon. The RP mission is classified as a Class D mission and as such, has the opportunity to more tightly manage, and therefore accept, greater levels of risk. The requirements for Class D missions were at the forefront of the design and thus presented unique challenges in vehicle development and systems engineering processes. This paper will discuss the systems engineering process at NASA and how that process is tailored for Class D missions, specifically the RP mission.

Rojdev, Kristina↗

The Disruptive Technology That is Additive Construction: System Development Lessons Learned for Terrestrial and Planetary Applications

Disruptive technologies are unique in that they spawn other new technologies and applications as they grow. These activities are usually preceded by the question, "What If?" For example, "What if we could use an emerging technology and in-situ materials to promote exploration on the Moon or Mars, and then use that same technology to keep our troops out of harm's way and/or help the worlds' homeless?" This question allows us to flip the mindset of "how can people create more valuable innovation?" to "how can innovation create more valuable people?." This approach allows us to view augmented human labor as an inclusive opportunity, not a threat. The discipline of Additive Construction is growing rapidly due to the flexibility, speed, safety and logistics benefits offered as compared to standard construction techniques. Additive construction is a disruptive technology in that it employs the principles of additive manufacturing on a human habitat structure scale. Developed initially for emergency management and disaster relief applications, additive construction has now grown into military infrastructure and planetary (Moon and Mars) surface infrastructure applications as well. Additive Construction with Mobile Emplacement (ACME) is a NASA technology development project that seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of constructing shelters for human crews, and other surface infrastructure, on the Moon or Mars for a future human presence. The ACME project will allow, for the first time, the 3-dimensional printing of surface structures on planetary bodies using local materials for construction, thereby tremendously reducing launch and transportation mass and logistics. Some examples of infrastructure that could be constructed using robotic additive construction methods are landing pads, rocket engine blast protection berms, roads, dust free zones, equipment shelters, habitats and radiation shelters. Terrestrial applications include the development of surface structures using Earth-based materials for emergency response, disaster relief, general construction, and housing at all economic levels. This paper will describe the progress made by the NASA ACME project with a focus on prototypes and full scale additive construction demonstrations using both Portland cement concrete and other indigenous material mixtures. Rationale for the use of additive construction for both terrestrial and planetary applications will be explored and a thorough state-of-the-art of additive construction techniques will be presented. An evolutionary history of NASA's additive construction development efforts, dating back to 2004, will be included. The paper will then step through a series of trade studies performed to inform key processing and design decisions in the development of the full-scale ACES-3 system developed by NASA and the Jacobs Space Exploration Group for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Construction Engineers Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign, IL. The selection of aggregate and binders, based on in-situ materials, will also be presented and discussed

Space Processing↗

Temporal Forecasting of Distributed Temperature Sensing in a Thermal Hydraulic System With Machine Learning and Statistical Models

We benchmark performance of long-short term memory (LSTM) network machine learning model and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) statistical model in temporal forecasting of distributed temperature sensing (DTS). Data in this study consists of fluid temperature transient measured with two co-located Rayleigh scattering fiber optic sensors (FOS) in a forced convection mixing zone of a thermal tee. We treat each gauge of a FOS as an independent temperature sensor. We first study prediction of DTS time series using Vanilla LSTM and ARIMA models trained on prior history of the same FOS that is used for testing. The results yield maximum absolute percentage error (MaxAPE) and root mean squared percentage error (RMSPE) of 1.58% and 0.06% for ARIMA, and 3.14% and 0.44% for LSTM, respectively. Next, we investigate zero-shot forecasting (ZSF) with LSTM and ARIMA trained on history of the co-located FOS only, which is advantageous when limited training data is available. The ZSF MaxAPE and RMSPE values for ARIMA are comparable to those of the Vanilla use case, while the error values for LSTM increase. We show that in ZSF, performance of LSTM network can be improved by training on most correlated gauges between the two FOS, which are identified by calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient. The improved ZSF MaxAPE and RMSPE for LSTM are 4.4% and 0.33%, respectively. Performance of ZSF LSTM can be further enhanced through transfer learning (TL), where LSTM is re-trained on a subset of the FOS that is the target of forecasting. We show that LSTM pre-trained on correlated dataset and re-trained on 30% of testing target dataset achieves MaxAPE and RMSPE values of 2.32% and 0.28%, respectively.

ARIMA↗

Defect Detection Model Development for Large Scale Thermoplastic Printing

Large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) offers several advantages, including high throughput, cost-effective pellet-fed extrusion, and the capability to produce large-scale structures. The main pain points of LFAM include start and stops during the printing process, warpage, long layer times that lead to bead freezing, and bead separation due to shrinkage. These issues can lead to overfill, underfill and buildup of material in different sections of a print. This can lead to hidden defects embedded within the printed layers, or even ultimate failure of the printed structure. This ensures these defects can only be identified through nondestructive testing (NDT) inspection methods after printing, which can be timely and costly. Aligned Vision work specializes in 2D projectors with visual inspection systems and machine learning. Traditionally system is used for composite layup and layup inspections. In this work we used the LFAM system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to create defect rich samples. The Aligned Vision inspection system then performed in-situ monitoring of the print process after each part was printed. This in-situ vision inspection system was used to develop a layer-by-layer inspection model that looks for overfill, underfill, and the buildup of defects using only a camera-based vision system. This leads to the assurance of high-quality production components.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

LDCM Ground System. Network Lesson Learned

This slide presentation reviews the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) and the lessons learned in implementing the network that was assembled to allow for the acquisition, archiving and distribution of the data from the Landsat mission. The objective of the LDCM is to continue the acquisition, archiving, and distribution of moderate-resolution multispectral imagery affording global, synoptic, and repetitive coverage of the earth's land surface at a scale where natural and human-induced changes can be detected, differentiated, characterized, and monitored over time. It includes a review of the ground network, including a block diagram of the ground network elements (GNE) and a review of the RF design and testing. Also included is a listing of the lessons learned.

Gal-Edd, Jonathan↗

Anomaly Detection for Next-Generation Space Launch Ground Operations

NASA is developing new capabilities that will enable future human exploration missions while reducing mission risk and cost. The Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) project aims to demonstrate the utility of integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) tools in the domain of ground support equipment (GSE) to be used for the next generation launch vehicles. In addition to demonstrating the utility of IVHM tools for GSE, FDIR aims to mature promising tools for use on future missions and document the level of effort - and hence cost - required to implement an application with each selected tool. One of the FDIR capabilities is anomaly detection, i.e., detecting off-nominal behavior. The tool we selected for this task uses a data-driven approach. Unlike rule-based and model-based systems that require manual extraction of system knowledge, data-driven systems take a radically different approach to reasoning. At the basic level, they start with data that represent nominal functioning of the system and automatically learn expected system behavior. The behavior is encoded in a knowledge base that represents "in-family" system operations. During real-time system monitoring or during post-flight analysis, incoming data is compared to that nominal system operating behavior knowledge base; a distance representing deviation from nominal is computed, providing a measure of how far "out of family" current behavior is. We describe the selected tool for FDIR anomaly detection - Inductive Monitoring System (IMS), how it fits into the FDIR architecture, the operations concept for the GSE anomaly monitoring, and some preliminary results of applying IMS to a Space Shuttle GSE anomaly.

Spirkovska, Lilly↗

Systems Engineering Lessons Learned from Solar Array Structures and Mechanisms Deployment

This report has been developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Risk Management team in close coordination with the Engineering Directorate at LaRC. This document provides a point-in-time, cumulative, summary of actionable key lessons learned derived from the design project. Lessons learned invariably address challenges and risks and the way in which these areas have been addressed. Accordingly the risk management thread is woven throughout the document.

Solar Array Structures↗