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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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Semi-automatic image annotation using 3D LiDAR projections and depth camera data

Efficient image annotation is necessary to utilize deep learning object recognition neural networks in nuclear safeguards, such as for the detection and localization of target objects like nuclear material containers (NMCs). This capability can help automate the inventory accounting of different types of NMCs within nuclear storage facilities. The conventional manual annotation process is labor-intensive and time-consuming, hindering the rapid deployment of deep learning models for NMC identifications. This paper introduces a novel semi-automatic method for annotating 2D images of nuclear material containers (NMCs) by combining 3D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data with color and depth camera images collected from a handheld scan system. The annotation pipeline involves an operator manually marking new target objects on a LiDAR-generated map, and projecting these 3D locations to images, thereby automatically creating annotations from the projections. The semi-automatic approach significantly reduces manual efforts and the expertise in image annotation that is required to perform the task, allowing deep learning models to be trained on-site within a few hours. The paper compares the performance of models trained on datasets annotated through various methods, including semi-automatic, manual, and commercial annotation services. The evaluation demonstrates that the semi-automatic annotation method achieves comparable or superior results, with a mean average precision (mAP) above 0.9, showcasing its efficiency in training object recognition models. Additionally, the paper explores the application of the proposed method to instance segmentation, achieving promising results in detecting multiple types of NMCs in various formations.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Machine Learning for Correlated Intelligence. LDRD SAND Report

The Machine Learning for Correlated Intelligence Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) Project explored competing a variety of machine learning (ML) classification techniques against a known, open source dataset through the use of a rapid and automated algorithm research & development (RD) infrastructure. This approach relied heavily on creating an infrastructure in which to provide a pipeline for automatic target recognition (ATR) ML algorithm competition. Results are presented for nine ML classifiers against a primary dataset using the pipeline infrastructure developed for this project. New approaches to feature set extraction are presented and discussed as well.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Automated Threat Recognition For Aviation Security Applications

We have developed a framework for automated threat recognition (ATR) of explosive threat materials for both single-energy and dual-energy X-ray CT systems. Under this framework, two different types of ATR have been developed. The first type of ATR employs supervised machine learning with statistical characterization of target materials for threat identification training. The reliance only on statistical characterization information for threat training uniquely enables this style of ATR to adapt quickly to evolving threats. The second type of ATR employs deep learning through convolutional neural networks. Convolutional neural networks are attractive due to their human-like capacity for learning and strong ability to identify trends and patterns. Although this method is more powerful than the first type, it requires large amounts of training data and therefore is less agile. Each ATR performs threat characterization at the voxel neighborhood level. This approach avoids the use of threat shape as a detection criterion, which is prohibited by DHS and TSA guidelines.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Extracting Material Property Measurement Data from Scientific Articles

Machine learning-based prediction of material properties is often hampered by the lack of sufficiently large training datasets. The majority of such measurement data is embedded in scientific literature and the ability to automatically extract these data is essential to support the development of reliable property prediction methods. In this work, we describe a methodology for an automatic property extraction framework using material solubility as the target property. We create an annotated dataset containing tags for solubility-related entities using a combination of regular expressions and manual tagging. We then compare five entity recognition models leveraging both token-level and span-level architectures on the task of classifying solute names, solubility values, and solubility units. Additionally, we explore a novel pretraining approach that leverages automated chemical name and quantity extraction tools to generate large datasets that do not rely on intensive manual effort. Finally, we perform an analysis to identify the causes of classification errors.

Panapitiya, Gihan U.↗

Recognition Method of Vehicle Cluster Situation Based on Set Pair Logic considering Driver’s Cognition

The recognition of vehicle cluster situations is one of the critical technologies of advanced driving, such as intelligent driving and automated driving. The accurate recognition of vehicle cluster situations is helpful for behavior decision‐making safe and efficient. In order to accurately and objectively identify the vehicle cluster situation, a vehicle cluster situation model is proposed based on the interval number of set pair logic. The proposed model can express the traffic environment’s knowledge considering each vehicle’s characteristics, grouping relationships, and traffic flow characteristics in the target vehicle’s interest region. A recognition method of vehicle cluster situation is designed to infer the traffic environment and driving conditions based on the connection number of set pair logic. In the proposed model, the uncertainty of the driver’s cognition is fully considered. In the recognition method, the relative uncertainty and relative certainty of driver’s cognition, traffic information, and vehicle cluster situation are fully considered. The verification results show that the proposed recognition method of vehicle cluster situations can realize accurate and objective recognition. The proposed anthropomorphic recognition method could provide a basis for vehicle autonomous behavior decision‐making.

Liu, Shijie↗

CENC PSN VOID FY20 Report

Maritime trade accounts for approximately 80 percent of international commerce. The high volume of vessels traversing domestic and international ports makes port areas prime targets for terrorism as well as illegal trafficking of drugs and arms (conventional or nuclear). Port security is therefore a worldwide concern affecting global economies, freedom of movement, and national security. However, extensive port monitoring is inherently complex and time consuming — making it truly viable only via an automated framework that can detect potential illicit activity and alert authorities in a timely manner. The development of image processing algorithms for this purpose requires access to large, labeled datasets that cover the breadth of targets of interest as well as the environments that they are observed within. Curated and labeled datasets of this nature are of enormous value to Sandia's Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation and National Security Program portfolios, as well as to Sandia's machine learning/automatic target recognition (ML/ATR) algorithm development and R&D communities. The goal of this project is to create a commercial satellite imagery dataset of labeled maritime vessels in port areas to support the development of ML/ATR algorithms for port security nonproliferation purposes. This dataset — Port Security Nonproliferation Vessel Overhead Imagery Dataset (PSN VOID) — has the potential to support a variety of other ancillary missions, such as maritime domain awareness, domestic and international security, drug interdiction, and weapons trafficking.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Simulation, Challenge Testing and Validation of Solutions for Residential and Commercial Occupancy Sensing/Counting and CO2 Sensing (Final Report)

Carbon dioxide sensors used for monitoring and control applications in buildings are known to be sensitive to long term drift and can be affected by variations in temperature, humidity, other gas interferents, pressure and other factors that cannot be corrected through the typical auto-calibration methods often embedded in the sensor electronics. This investigation was part of the Category D defined in the ARPA-E Saving Energy Nationwide in Structures With Occupancy Recognition (SENSOR) Financial Assistance Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0001737, FFDA No. 81.135, January 18, 2017. The FOA defined target criteria for the evaluation of the Category C commercial CO2 sensors selected for review and development through the ARPA-E SENSOR program and charged the Iowa State Category D team with developing an evaluation methodology for Category C sensors in accordance with these criteria. As part of the work, the Iowa State team chose to engage the standards community in the development of the evaluation methodology. Standard development work in the D22.05 Indoor Air and D22.03 Ambient Atmospheres and Source Emissions subcommittees of ASTM International Committee D22 on Air Quality on the evaluation of low cost sensors and provision of guidance for using indoor carbon dioxide concentrations to evaluate indoor air quality and ventilation is of particular relevance to the Category D efforts. To date, three draft standards with specific input by the Iowa State Category D team have passed the subcommittee balloting stage and are being balloted in December 2022 and January 2023 in the main D22 committee. In addition to the aforementioned standards to which the PI was a contributing author, intellectual property developed in this project pertaining to “An Automated System for Evaluation of the Long Term Performance of Carbon Dioxide Sensors” and “An Automated Ground Truth System for Real-Time Reliability Assessment, Capture of Control Decisions and Energy Savings Measurements for Occupancy Recognition Systems and Other Applications” are the other major deliverables of the project. These standards and the developed intellectual property are expected to benefit the public in a number of ways stemming from their provision of means to benchmark the performance of carbon dioxide and other sensor systems. In particular, there is high interest in techniques to demonstrate the performance of low-cost carbon dioxide sensors which can be used for typical HVAC applications (e.g., demand controlled ventilation, outdoor and indoor air monitoring, estimation of occupancy, etc.).

42 ENGINEERING↗

A semblance measure for model comparison

Algorithmic and computational advances have made it possible that geophysical survey and earth model design can be aided by many systematic trial inverse-modelling runs with synthetic data. Such may, for example, come up in machine-learning approaches. Automated image appraisal pertaining to such applications will involve common statistical tests for goodness-of-data fit as a primary evaluation method. However, solution non-uniqueness may render multiple images equivalent in terms of their data fit, requiring secondary categorizers. A logical choice for classifying synthetic-imaging results quantifies the goodness of model fit where a known reference model replaces the observational input. The task of model intercomparison in terms of measuring the resemblance to the reference model poses challenges to common distance-based metrics like root mean square error and mean absolute error. First, distance-based metrics can introduce spurious contributions when smooth models with fuzzy target contours are to be compared against a sharp reference. Second, large differences due to parameter-estimation overshoots can dominate distance metrics. Here, we propose a remedy that is referred to as semblance and is based on the idea of logistic functions, where a binary-dependent variable adds non-zero or zero accumulation terms for the, respectively, passing or failing of preset target thresholds. This classifying approach is amenable to an objective where model feature recognition is primary. Numerical comparisons to distance-based metrics provide evidence for the advantages of the semblance in view of this objective. Geophysical imaging in conjunction with machine-learning is seen as a benefitting upcoming application area.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗