The role of learning on industrial simulation design and analysis

The capability of modeling real-world system operations has turned simulation into an indispensable problemsolving methodology for business system design and analysis. Today, simulation supports decisions ranging from sourcing to operations to finance, starting at the strategic level and proceeding towards tactical and operational levels of decision-making. In such a dynamic setting, the practice of simulation goes beyond being a static problem-solving exercise and requires integration with learning. This article discusses the role of learning in simulation design and analysis motivated by the needs of industrial problems and describes how selected tools of statistical learning can be utilized for this purpose

Quantification of Uncertainty in the Mathematical Modelling of a Multivariable Suspension Strut Using Bayesian Interval Hypothesis-Based Approach

Mathematical models of a suspension strut such as an aircraft landing gear are utilized by engineers in order to predict its dynamic response under different boundary conditions. The prediction of the dynamic response, for example the external loads, the stress and the strength as well as the maximum compression in the spring-damper component aids engineers in early decision making to ensure its structural reliability under various operational conditions. However, the prediction of the dynamic response is influenced by model uncertainty. As far as the model uncertainty is concerned, the prediction of the dynamic behavior via different mathematical models depends upon various factors such as the model's complexity in terms of the degrees of freedom, material and geometrical assumptions, their boundary conditions and the governing functional relations between the model input and output parameters. The latter can be linear or nonlinear, axiomatic or empiric, time variant or time-invariant. Hence, the uncertainty that arises in the prediction of the dynamic response of the resulting different mathematical models needs to be quantified with suitable validation metrics, especially when the system is under structural risk and failure assessment. In this contribution, the authors utilize the Bayesian interval hypothesis-based method to quantify the uncertainty in the mathematical models of the suspension strut

Bayesian learning of models for estimating uncertainty in alert systems: application to air traffic conflict avoidance

Alert systems detect critical events which can happen in the short term. Uncertainties in data and in the models used for detection cause alert errors. In the case of air traffic control systems such as Short-Term Conflict Alert (STCA), uncertainty increases errors in alerts of separation loss. Statistical methods that are based on analytical assumptions can provide biased estimates of uncertainties. More accurate analysis can be achieved by using Bayesian Model Averaging, which provides estimates of the posterior probability distribution of a prediction. We propose a new approach to estimate the prediction uncertainty, which is based on observations that the uncertainty can be quantified by variance of predicted outcomes. In our approach, predictions for which variances of posterior probabilities are above a given threshold are assigned to be uncertain. To verify our approach we calculate a probability of alert based on the extrapolation of closest point of approach. Using Heathrow airport flight data we found that alerts are often generated under different conditions, variations in which lead to alert detection errors. Achieving 82.1% accuracy of modelling the STCA system, which is a necessary condition for evaluating the uncertainty in prediction, we found that the proposed method is capable of reducing the uncertain component. Comparison with a bootstrap aggregation method has demonstrated a significant reduction of uncertainty in predictions. Realistic estimates of uncertainties will open up new approaches to improving the performance of alert systems