A Causal Model-Inspired Automatic Feature-Selection Method for Developing Data-Driven Soft Sensors in Complex Industrial Processes

The soft sensing of key performance indicators (KPIs) plays an essential role in the decision-making of complex industrial processes. Many researchers have developed data-driven soft sensors using cutting-edge machine learning (ML) or deep learning (DL) models. Moreover, feature selection is a cruci...

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Main Authors: Yan-Ning Sun, Wei Qin, Jin-Hua Hu, Hong-Wei Xu, Poly Z.H. Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-03-01
Series:Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809922005641
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author Yan-Ning Sun
Wei Qin
Jin-Hua Hu
Hong-Wei Xu
Poly Z.H. Sun
author_facet Yan-Ning Sun
Wei Qin
Jin-Hua Hu
Hong-Wei Xu
Poly Z.H. Sun
author_sort Yan-Ning Sun
collection DOAJ
description The soft sensing of key performance indicators (KPIs) plays an essential role in the decision-making of complex industrial processes. Many researchers have developed data-driven soft sensors using cutting-edge machine learning (ML) or deep learning (DL) models. Moreover, feature selection is a crucial issue because a raw industrial dataset is usually high-dimensional, and not all features are conducive to the development of soft sensors. A perfect feature-selection method should not rely on hyperparameters and subsequent ML or DL models. Rather, it should be able to automatically select a subset of features for soft sensor modeling, in which each feature has a unique causal effect on industrial KPIs. Therefore, this study proposes a causal model-inspired automatic feature-selection method for the soft sensing of industrial KPIs. First, inspired by the post-nonlinear causal model, we integrate it with information theory to quantify the causal effect between each feature and the KPIs in the raw industrial dataset. After that, a novel feature-selection method is proposed to automatically select the feature with a non-zero causal effect to construct the subset of features. Finally, the constructed subset is used to develop soft sensors for the KPIs by means of an AdaBoost ensemble strategy. Experiments on two practical industrial applications confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. In the future, this method can also be applied to other industrial processes to help develop more advanced data-driven soft sensors.
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spelling doaj.art-6d15e26bd6d346a39354e98a6d3b96d02023-05-05T04:40:27ZengElsevierEngineering2095-80992023-03-01228293A Causal Model-Inspired Automatic Feature-Selection Method for Developing Data-Driven Soft Sensors in Complex Industrial ProcessesYan-Ning Sun0Wei Qin1Jin-Hua Hu2Hong-Wei Xu3Poly Z.H. Sun4School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; Corresponding author.School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, ChinaThe soft sensing of key performance indicators (KPIs) plays an essential role in the decision-making of complex industrial processes. Many researchers have developed data-driven soft sensors using cutting-edge machine learning (ML) or deep learning (DL) models. Moreover, feature selection is a crucial issue because a raw industrial dataset is usually high-dimensional, and not all features are conducive to the development of soft sensors. A perfect feature-selection method should not rely on hyperparameters and subsequent ML or DL models. Rather, it should be able to automatically select a subset of features for soft sensor modeling, in which each feature has a unique causal effect on industrial KPIs. Therefore, this study proposes a causal model-inspired automatic feature-selection method for the soft sensing of industrial KPIs. First, inspired by the post-nonlinear causal model, we integrate it with information theory to quantify the causal effect between each feature and the KPIs in the raw industrial dataset. After that, a novel feature-selection method is proposed to automatically select the feature with a non-zero causal effect to construct the subset of features. Finally, the constructed subset is used to develop soft sensors for the KPIs by means of an AdaBoost ensemble strategy. Experiments on two practical industrial applications confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. In the future, this method can also be applied to other industrial processes to help develop more advanced data-driven soft sensors.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809922005641Big data analyticsMachine intelligenceQuality predictionSoft sensorsIntelligent manufacturing
spellingShingle Yan-Ning Sun
Wei Qin
Jin-Hua Hu
Hong-Wei Xu
Poly Z.H. Sun
A Causal Model-Inspired Automatic Feature-Selection Method for Developing Data-Driven Soft Sensors in Complex Industrial Processes
Engineering
Big data analytics
Machine intelligence
Quality prediction
Soft sensors
Intelligent manufacturing
title A Causal Model-Inspired Automatic Feature-Selection Method for Developing Data-Driven Soft Sensors in Complex Industrial Processes
title_full A Causal Model-Inspired Automatic Feature-Selection Method for Developing Data-Driven Soft Sensors in Complex Industrial Processes
title_fullStr A Causal Model-Inspired Automatic Feature-Selection Method for Developing Data-Driven Soft Sensors in Complex Industrial Processes
title_full_unstemmed A Causal Model-Inspired Automatic Feature-Selection Method for Developing Data-Driven Soft Sensors in Complex Industrial Processes
title_short A Causal Model-Inspired Automatic Feature-Selection Method for Developing Data-Driven Soft Sensors in Complex Industrial Processes
title_sort causal model inspired automatic feature selection method for developing data driven soft sensors in complex industrial processes
topic Big data analytics
Machine intelligence
Quality prediction
Soft sensors
Intelligent manufacturing
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809922005641
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