Uncertainty-Aware Prognosis via Deep Gaussian Process

The task of predicting how long a certain industrial asset will be able to operate within its nominal specifications is called Remaining Useful Life (RUL) estimation. Efficient methods of performing this task promise to drastically transform the world of industrial maintenance, paving the way for th...

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Main Authors: Luca Biggio, Alexander Wieland, Manuel Arias Chao, Iason Kastanis, Olga Fink
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2021-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9530487/
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author Luca Biggio
Alexander Wieland
Manuel Arias Chao
Iason Kastanis
Olga Fink
author_facet Luca Biggio
Alexander Wieland
Manuel Arias Chao
Iason Kastanis
Olga Fink
author_sort Luca Biggio
collection DOAJ
description The task of predicting how long a certain industrial asset will be able to operate within its nominal specifications is called Remaining Useful Life (RUL) estimation. Efficient methods of performing this task promise to drastically transform the world of industrial maintenance, paving the way for the so-called Industry 4.0 revolution. Given the abundance of data resulting from the advent of the digitalization era, Machine Learning (ML) models are the ideal candidates for tackling the RUL estimation problem in a fully data-driven fashion. However, given the safety-critical nature of maintenance operations on industrial assets, it’s crucial that such ML-based methods be designed such that their levels of transparency and reliability are maximized. Modern ML algorithms, however, are often employed as black-box methods, which do not provide any clue regarding the confidence level associated with their output. In this paper, we address this limitation by investigating the performance of a recently proposed class of algorithms, Deep Gaussian Processes, which provide uncertainty estimates associated with their RUL prediction, yet retain the expressive power of modern ML techniques. Contrary to standard approaches to uncertainty quantification, such methods scale favourably with the size of the available datasets, allowing their usage in the “big data” setting. We perform a thorough evaluation and comparison of several variants of DGPs applied to RUL predictions. The performance of the algorithms is evaluated on the NASA N-CMAPSS (New Commercial Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation) dataset for aircraft engines. The results show that the proposed methods are able to yield very accurate RUL predictions along with sensible uncertainty estimates, providing more reliable solutions for (safety-critical) real-life industrial applications.
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spelling doaj.art-8aa2be57e55c43519f4f84d2f9790d912022-12-21T23:32:22ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362021-01-01912351712352710.1109/ACCESS.2021.31100499530487Uncertainty-Aware Prognosis via Deep Gaussian ProcessLuca Biggio0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4903-727XAlexander Wieland1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0269-511XManuel Arias Chao2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6134-3582Iason Kastanis3Olga Fink4Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zürich), Zürich, SwitzerlandEidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zürich), Zürich, SwitzerlandEidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zürich), Zürich, SwitzerlandCentre Suisse d’Électronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM), Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandEidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zürich), Zürich, SwitzerlandThe task of predicting how long a certain industrial asset will be able to operate within its nominal specifications is called Remaining Useful Life (RUL) estimation. Efficient methods of performing this task promise to drastically transform the world of industrial maintenance, paving the way for the so-called Industry 4.0 revolution. Given the abundance of data resulting from the advent of the digitalization era, Machine Learning (ML) models are the ideal candidates for tackling the RUL estimation problem in a fully data-driven fashion. However, given the safety-critical nature of maintenance operations on industrial assets, it’s crucial that such ML-based methods be designed such that their levels of transparency and reliability are maximized. Modern ML algorithms, however, are often employed as black-box methods, which do not provide any clue regarding the confidence level associated with their output. In this paper, we address this limitation by investigating the performance of a recently proposed class of algorithms, Deep Gaussian Processes, which provide uncertainty estimates associated with their RUL prediction, yet retain the expressive power of modern ML techniques. Contrary to standard approaches to uncertainty quantification, such methods scale favourably with the size of the available datasets, allowing their usage in the “big data” setting. We perform a thorough evaluation and comparison of several variants of DGPs applied to RUL predictions. The performance of the algorithms is evaluated on the NASA N-CMAPSS (New Commercial Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation) dataset for aircraft engines. The results show that the proposed methods are able to yield very accurate RUL predictions along with sensible uncertainty estimates, providing more reliable solutions for (safety-critical) real-life industrial applications.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9530487/Deep Gaussian processesremaining useful life estimationuncertainty quantification
spellingShingle Luca Biggio
Alexander Wieland
Manuel Arias Chao
Iason Kastanis
Olga Fink
Uncertainty-Aware Prognosis via Deep Gaussian Process
IEEE Access
Deep Gaussian processes
remaining useful life estimation
uncertainty quantification
title Uncertainty-Aware Prognosis via Deep Gaussian Process
title_full Uncertainty-Aware Prognosis via Deep Gaussian Process
title_fullStr Uncertainty-Aware Prognosis via Deep Gaussian Process
title_full_unstemmed Uncertainty-Aware Prognosis via Deep Gaussian Process
title_short Uncertainty-Aware Prognosis via Deep Gaussian Process
title_sort uncertainty aware prognosis via deep gaussian process
topic Deep Gaussian processes
remaining useful life estimation
uncertainty quantification
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9530487/
work_keys_str_mv AT lucabiggio uncertaintyawareprognosisviadeepgaussianprocess
AT alexanderwieland uncertaintyawareprognosisviadeepgaussianprocess
AT manuelariaschao uncertaintyawareprognosisviadeepgaussianprocess
AT iasonkastanis uncertaintyawareprognosisviadeepgaussianprocess
AT olgafink uncertaintyawareprognosisviadeepgaussianprocess