Can non-intrusive load monitoring be used for identifying an appliance's anomalous behaviour?

Identification of faulty appliance behaviour in real time can signal energy wastage and the need for appliance servicing or replacement leading to energy savings. The problem of appliance fault or anomaly detection has been tackled vastly in relation to submetering, which is not scalable since it requires separate meters for each appliance. At the same time, for applications such as energy feedback, Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) has been recognised as a scalable and practical alternative to submetering. However, the usability of NILM for anomaly detection has not yet been investigated. Since the goal of NILM is to provide energy consumption estimate, it is unclear if the signal fidelity of appliance signatures generated by state-of-the-art NILM is sufficient to enable accurate appliance fault detection. In this paper, we attempt to determine whether appliance signatures detected by NILM can be used directly for anomaly detection. This is carried out by proposing an anomaly detection algorithm which performs well for submetering data and evaluate its ability to identify the same faulty behaviour of appliances but with NILM-generated appliance power traces. Our results on a dataset of six residential homes using four state-of-the-art NILM algorithms show that, on average, NILM traces are not as robust to identification of faulty behaviour as compared to using submetered data. We discuss in detail observations pertaining to the reconstructed appliance signatures following NILM and their fidelity with respect to noise-free submetered data

WATER FOR A HUNGRY WORLD: Innovation in Water and Food Security: Proceedings of the 2019 Water for Food Global Conference. Lincoln.

Welcome and Opening Remarks : Mike Boehm, Vice President and Vice Chancellor of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska ; Peter G. McCornick, Executive Director, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska How the Irrigation Industry is Driving the Future through Efficient Technologies. Speaker: Deborah Hamlin, CEO, Irrigation Association Sustainable Solutions for Water and Food Security — Business Perspectives. Speaker: Mark Edge, Director of Collaborations for Developing Countries, Bayer Value of Water. Speakers: Dustin Garrick, Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford ; Tom Iseman, Director of Water Scarcity and Markets Strategy, The Nature Conservancy, Global Program ; Richael Young, Co-Founder and CEO, Mammoth Trading Supporting Profitable & Sustainable, Farmer-led Agriculture — Moderator: Montaha Hassan, Associate Operations Officer, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group ; Speakers/Panelists: Jennie Barron, Professor of Water Management in Agricultural Landscapes, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Rob Bertram, Chief Scientist, Bureau for Food Security, USAID Ariana Constant, Director of Programs, Clinton Development Initiative, Clinton Foundation Selamawit Damtew, World Bank, Africa Fellow Regassa Ensermu Namara, Senior Water Economist, World Bank Water Global Practice Petra Schmitter, Research Group Leader, Agricultural Water Management, International Water Management Institute Innovations in Irrigation — Moderator: Sally Rockey, Executive Director, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research; Presenters: Panelists: Jay Ham, Colorado State University Cathie Lavis, Kansas State University Christopher Neale, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute David Zoldoske, Fresno State University George Burba, Science & Strategy Fellow, LI-COR Biosciences Deborah Hamlin, CEO, Irrigation Association John Kastl, Sr. Director of Innovation and Intellectual Property, Valley Irrigation Val Kovalskky, Lead Remote Sensing Scientist, Geospatial Team of The Climate Corporation Albert Maurin, Sales & Tactical Marketing Manager, FieldNET & FieldNET Advisor, Lindsay Corporation Aric Olson, President, Jain Irrigation “It’s Irrigation, Jim, But Not as We Know It” : Insights From a Synthesis Report, DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme. Speaker: Bruce Lankford, Professor of Water and Irrigation Policy, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom Harnessing Innovation for Sustainable Water Management - Speaker: Sally Rockey, Executive Director, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Developing Strategic Framework for Drought Risk Management and Improving Drought Monitoring Tools for Africa - Speaker: Tsegaye Tadesse, Research Associate Professor, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Climatologist and Remote Sensing Expert, National Drought Mitigation Center Close-range and Remote Sensing Technologies and their Role in Mitigating Drought Stress — Moderator: Archie Clutter, Dean, Agricultural Research Division, University of Nebraska–Lincoln ; Speakers: Tala Awada, Associate Dean, School of Natural Resources; Physiological Plant Ecologist; University of Nebraska–Lincoln Sruti Das Choudhury, Image Analysis Specialist, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln John Gamon, Quantitative Remote Sensing Scientist, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Yufeng Ge, Assistant Professor, Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Ayse Kilic, Professor and Remote Sensing Expert, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Harkamal Walia, Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Water: A War Game Scenario — Facilitators: National Strategic Research Institute and Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Water Quality, Nutrition and Climate Change — Moderator: Claudia Ringler, Deputy Director of Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute ; Speakers: Panelists: Jesse Bell, Claire M. Hubbard Professor of Health and Environment, University of Nebraska Medical Center Martha Mamo, Department Head, John E. Weaver Professor of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Martha Rhoades, Research Manager, Xenobiotics Laboratory, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Claudia Ringler, Director of Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute Graham Christensen, President, GC Resolve, LLC Mik Schulte, Operations Analysit, Water in Agriculture Global Water Solutions, World Bank of Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute Water Reuse, an Untapped Resource for Food Production - Moderator: Yulie Meneses, Research Assistant Professor, Food Science and Technology Department, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Water for Food Processing Specialist, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Speakers: Wei Liao, Director of the Anaerobic Digestion Research Education Center, Michigan State University ; Bahman Sheikh, Independent Water Reuse Consultant ; Kurt Schwabe, Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy, University of California Riverside ; Kristan VandenHeuvel, Research Manager, Water Research Foundation Entrepreneurship Marketplace - Participants: John Gates, Chief Science Officer, CropMetrics Ramsay Huntley, Vice President and Clean Technology and Innovation Philanthropy Program Officer, Wells Fargo Neil Johnson, President and CEO, SmallData Tech Oren Kind, Chief Commercial Officer and U.S. General Manager, Phytech Vishal Singh, CEO and Founder, QuantifiedAg Monty Teeter, CEO, Dragon Line Steve Tippery, President and CEO, RealmFive Agriculture Welcome and Opening Remarks -- Speakers: Ronnie Green, Chancellor, University of Nebraska ; Mike Boehm, Vice President and Vice Chancellor of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska A Water Secure World For All: Sustaining Water Resources, Delivering Services, Building Resilience - Speaker: Jennifer Sara, Senior Director, Water Global Practice, World Bank Group Water and Food Security in the State of Bahía, Brazil - Speaker: Leonardo Góes Silva, Secretary of Water Infrastructure and Sanitation, State of Bahía, Brazil Flash Talk Presentations : Technology and Resilience in Irrigated Row Crop Systems - Speaker: Hannah E. Birgé, Water and Agriculture Program Manager,The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska ; Nebraska Strong: Rebuilding After Historic Flood - Speaker: Steve Nelson, President, Nebraska Farm Bureau ; Malawi — USA via The Netherlands: How My Career Path Changed My Perspective - Speaker: Mavuto Banda, double masters degree graduate, University of Nebraska–Lincoln and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (The Netherlands) Policy Strategies for Agriculture Supply Chain Management - Presenters: S. Sajeesh, Assistant Professor, Marketing Department, College of Business, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Shivam Gupta, Assistant Professor, Supply Chain Management and Analytics Department, College of Business, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Marco Ugarte, Sustainability Consultant, Antea Group J. Kalu Osiri, Director of International Business, College of Business, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Kelechi Chibuikem, Graduate student, Community and Regional Planning, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Azariah Lawal, Graduate student, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Jacob Monti, Mechanical Engineering, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Alum) Theo Udeigwe, Director of Research, Institute for the Advancement of Developing Economies Water Footprint: How Light Are We Treading - Moderator: Christopher Neale, Director of Research, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Speakers: Galen Erickson, Animal Science Professor, University of Nebraska–Lincoln ; Landon Marston, Assistant Professor, Kansas State University ; Mesfin Mekonnen, Post-doctoral Research Associate, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Christopher Neale, Director of Research, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Pasquale Steduto, Regional Strategic Program Coordinator, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Drought Early Warning and Risk Management: Provision of Tools and Services for Informed Decision and Policy Making - Moderator: Mike Hayes, Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Speakers: Jesse Bell, Claire M Hubbard Professor of Health and Environment, University of Nebraska Medical Center Ravinder Kaur, Principal Scientist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute Eduardo Martins, President, FUNCEME, Brazil Rachael McDonnell, Principal Researcher, International Water Management Institute Mark Svoboda, Director, Associate Research Professor, National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Business Models for Smallholder Irrigation - Presenters: Samuel Adewole, Co-Founder, Volta Irrigatio William Shyaka Bakunda, Entreprenuer and Farmer, Rwanda Charles Kwarteng, CEO and Co-Founder, Volta Irrigation Grace Mukarusagara, Irrigation Consultant, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Fabien Ngoga, Rwanda Project Coordinator and Country Representative, European Cooperative for Rural Development Petra Schmitter, Research Group Leader, Agricultural Water Management, International Water Management Institute Keeping It Fresh: Protecting Fresh Water Quality and Mitigating Pollution - Moderator: Mike Hayes, Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln ; Panelists: Richard B. Ferguson, Vice Chancellor, Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture Matthew Helmers, Director, Iowa Nutrient Research Center, Iowa State University Brian Krienke, Assistant Extension Educator, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Martha Kauffman, Managing Director, Northern Great Plains, World Wildlife Fund View From the Field - Moderator: Leticia Obeng, International Advisory Panel member, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Panelists: William Shyaka Bakunda, Entreprenuer and Farmer, Rwanda Dean Eisenhauer, Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Farmer, Nebraska Grace Mukarusagara, Irrigation Consultant, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Jerry Stahr, Farmer, Nebraska Elisa Zancanaro Zanella, Farmer, Brazil Closing Remarks - Peter G. McCornick, Executive Director, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Managing Water and Agriculture for Sustainable Food Security - Heuermann Lecture - Mark Rosegrant, Research Fellow Emeritus, International Food Policy Research Institute WOMEN FOR WATER : A Side Event of the Water for Food Global Conference Peter Rogers Memorial Student Poster Competition — Online Competition Winners : First Place $1,000 cash + conference registration - Ear Formation Issues in Corn: a Field Survey. Osler Ortez; Second Place$750 cash + conference registration - Pesticide Application Practices And Knowledge Among Small-Scale Local Rice Growers And Communities in Rwanda. Ben Ndayambaje ; Third Place $500 cash + conference registration - Effect of Chlorination on Treatment of Meat Processing Wastewater Using Immobilized Co-culture of Microalgae and Activated Sludge. Xinjuan Hu. On-site Competition Winners: First Place$1,000 cash - Improving Aquifer Characterization through Integration of Airborne Electromagnetics (AEM) and Well Hydrographs. Jacqueline Polashek. Second Place $750 cash - Predicting Crop Yield Losses Due to Soil- Water Alinity: Comparison of Traditional and Alternative Approaches. Ansley Brown. Third Place$500 cash - Sustainability of Safe Foods: An Integrated Life Cycle Assessment of Antimicrobial Systems during U.S. Beef Processing in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. Shaobin Li. People’s Choice $300 cash - Soil Structure and Soil Texture Effects on Soil Water Content Measurement by a Capacitance-Based Electromagnetic Sensor. Jasreman Singh. Metrics (attendees, etc.) Photo

WATER FOR A HUNGRY WORLD: Innovation in Water and Food Security: Proceedings of the 2019 Water for Food Global Conference. Lincoln.

Welcome and Opening Remarks : Mike Boehm, Vice President and Vice Chancellor of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska ; Peter G. McCornick, Executive Director, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska How the Irrigation Industry is Driving the Future through Efficient Technologies. Speaker: Deborah Hamlin, CEO, Irrigation Association Sustainable Solutions for Water and Food Security — Business Perspectives. Speaker: Mark Edge, Director of Collaborations for Developing Countries, Bayer Value of Water. Speakers: Dustin Garrick, Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford ; Tom Iseman, Director of Water Scarcity and Markets Strategy, The Nature Conservancy, Global Program ; Richael Young, Co-Founder and CEO, Mammoth Trading Supporting Profitable & Sustainable, Farmer-led Agriculture — Moderator: Montaha Hassan, Associate Operations Officer, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group ; Speakers/Panelists: Jennie Barron, Professor of Water Management in Agricultural Landscapes, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Rob Bertram, Chief Scientist, Bureau for Food Security, USAID Ariana Constant, Director of Programs, Clinton Development Initiative, Clinton Foundation Selamawit Damtew, World Bank, Africa Fellow Regassa Ensermu Namara, Senior Water Economist, World Bank Water Global Practice Petra Schmitter, Research Group Leader, Agricultural Water Management, International Water Management Institute Innovations in Irrigation — Moderator: Sally Rockey, Executive Director, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research; Presenters: Panelists: Jay Ham, Colorado State University Cathie Lavis, Kansas State University Christopher Neale, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute David Zoldoske, Fresno State University George Burba, Science & Strategy Fellow, LI-COR Biosciences Deborah Hamlin, CEO, Irrigation Association John Kastl, Sr. Director of Innovation and Intellectual Property, Valley Irrigation Val Kovalskky, Lead Remote Sensing Scientist, Geospatial Team of The Climate Corporation Albert Maurin, Sales & Tactical Marketing Manager, FieldNET & FieldNET Advisor, Lindsay Corporation Aric Olson, President, Jain Irrigation “It’s Irrigation, Jim, But Not as We Know It” : Insights From a Synthesis Report, DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme. Speaker: Bruce Lankford, Professor of Water and Irrigation Policy, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom Harnessing Innovation for Sustainable Water Management - Speaker: Sally Rockey, Executive Director, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Developing Strategic Framework for Drought Risk Management and Improving Drought Monitoring Tools for Africa - Speaker: Tsegaye Tadesse, Research Associate Professor, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Climatologist and Remote Sensing Expert, National Drought Mitigation Center Close-range and Remote Sensing Technologies and their Role in Mitigating Drought Stress — Moderator: Archie Clutter, Dean, Agricultural Research Division, University of Nebraska–Lincoln ; Speakers: Tala Awada, Associate Dean, School of Natural Resources; Physiological Plant Ecologist; University of Nebraska–Lincoln Sruti Das Choudhury, Image Analysis Specialist, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln John Gamon, Quantitative Remote Sensing Scientist, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Yufeng Ge, Assistant Professor, Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Ayse Kilic, Professor and Remote Sensing Expert, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Harkamal Walia, Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Water: A War Game Scenario — Facilitators: National Strategic Research Institute and Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Water Quality, Nutrition and Climate Change — Moderator: Claudia Ringler, Deputy Director of Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute ; Speakers: Panelists: Jesse Bell, Claire M. Hubbard Professor of Health and Environment, University of Nebraska Medical Center Martha Mamo, Department Head, John E. Weaver Professor of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Martha Rhoades, Research Manager, Xenobiotics Laboratory, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Claudia Ringler, Director of Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute Graham Christensen, President, GC Resolve, LLC Mik Schulte, Operations Analysit, Water in Agriculture Global Water Solutions, World Bank of Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute Water Reuse, an Untapped Resource for Food Production - Moderator: Yulie Meneses, Research Assistant Professor, Food Science and Technology Department, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Water for Food Processing Specialist, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Speakers: Wei Liao, Director of the Anaerobic Digestion Research Education Center, Michigan State University ; Bahman Sheikh, Independent Water Reuse Consultant ; Kurt Schwabe, Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy, University of California Riverside ; Kristan VandenHeuvel, Research Manager, Water Research Foundation Entrepreneurship Marketplace - Participants: John Gates, Chief Science Officer, CropMetrics Ramsay Huntley, Vice President and Clean Technology and Innovation Philanthropy Program Officer, Wells Fargo Neil Johnson, President and CEO, SmallData Tech Oren Kind, Chief Commercial Officer and U.S. General Manager, Phytech Vishal Singh, CEO and Founder, QuantifiedAg Monty Teeter, CEO, Dragon Line Steve Tippery, President and CEO, RealmFive Agriculture Welcome and Opening Remarks -- Speakers: Ronnie Green, Chancellor, University of Nebraska ; Mike Boehm, Vice President and Vice Chancellor of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska A Water Secure World For All: Sustaining Water Resources, Delivering Services, Building Resilience - Speaker: Jennifer Sara, Senior Director, Water Global Practice, World Bank Group Water and Food Security in the State of Bahía, Brazil - Speaker: Leonardo Góes Silva, Secretary of Water Infrastructure and Sanitation, State of Bahía, Brazil Flash Talk Presentations : Technology and Resilience in Irrigated Row Crop Systems - Speaker: Hannah E. Birgé, Water and Agriculture Program Manager,The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska ; Nebraska Strong: Rebuilding After Historic Flood - Speaker: Steve Nelson, President, Nebraska Farm Bureau ; Malawi — USA via The Netherlands: How My Career Path Changed My Perspective - Speaker: Mavuto Banda, double masters degree graduate, University of Nebraska–Lincoln and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (The Netherlands) Policy Strategies for Agriculture Supply Chain Management - Presenters: S. Sajeesh, Assistant Professor, Marketing Department, College of Business, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Shivam Gupta, Assistant Professor, Supply Chain Management and Analytics Department, College of Business, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Marco Ugarte, Sustainability Consultant, Antea Group J. Kalu Osiri, Director of International Business, College of Business, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Kelechi Chibuikem, Graduate student, Community and Regional Planning, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Azariah Lawal, Graduate student, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Jacob Monti, Mechanical Engineering, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Alum) Theo Udeigwe, Director of Research, Institute for the Advancement of Developing Economies Water Footprint: How Light Are We Treading - Moderator: Christopher Neale, Director of Research, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Speakers: Galen Erickson, Animal Science Professor, University of Nebraska–Lincoln ; Landon Marston, Assistant Professor, Kansas State University ; Mesfin Mekonnen, Post-doctoral Research Associate, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Christopher Neale, Director of Research, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Pasquale Steduto, Regional Strategic Program Coordinator, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Drought Early Warning and Risk Management: Provision of Tools and Services for Informed Decision and Policy Making - Moderator: Mike Hayes, Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Speakers: Jesse Bell, Claire M Hubbard Professor of Health and Environment, University of Nebraska Medical Center Ravinder Kaur, Principal Scientist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute Eduardo Martins, President, FUNCEME, Brazil Rachael McDonnell, Principal Researcher, International Water Management Institute Mark Svoboda, Director, Associate Research Professor, National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Business Models for Smallholder Irrigation - Presenters: Samuel Adewole, Co-Founder, Volta Irrigatio William Shyaka Bakunda, Entreprenuer and Farmer, Rwanda Charles Kwarteng, CEO and Co-Founder, Volta Irrigation Grace Mukarusagara, Irrigation Consultant, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Fabien Ngoga, Rwanda Project Coordinator and Country Representative, European Cooperative for Rural Development Petra Schmitter, Research Group Leader, Agricultural Water Management, International Water Management Institute Keeping It Fresh: Protecting Fresh Water Quality and Mitigating Pollution - Moderator: Mike Hayes, Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln ; Panelists: Richard B. Ferguson, Vice Chancellor, Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture Matthew Helmers, Director, Iowa Nutrient Research Center, Iowa State University Brian Krienke, Assistant Extension Educator, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Martha Kauffman, Managing Director, Northern Great Plains, World Wildlife Fund View From the Field - Moderator: Leticia Obeng, International Advisory Panel member, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute ; Panelists: William Shyaka Bakunda, Entreprenuer and Farmer, Rwanda Dean Eisenhauer, Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Farmer, Nebraska Grace Mukarusagara, Irrigation Consultant, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Jerry Stahr, Farmer, Nebraska Elisa Zancanaro Zanella, Farmer, Brazil Closing Remarks - Peter G. McCornick, Executive Director, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute Managing Water and Agriculture for Sustainable Food Security - Heuermann Lecture - Mark Rosegrant, Research Fellow Emeritus, International Food Policy Research Institute WOMEN FOR WATER : A Side Event of the Water for Food Global Conference Peter Rogers Memorial Student Poster Competition — Online Competition Winners : First Place $1,000 cash + conference registration - Ear Formation Issues in Corn: a Field Survey. Osler Ortez; Second Place$750 cash + conference registration - Pesticide Application Practices And Knowledge Among Small-Scale Local Rice Growers And Communities in Rwanda. Ben Ndayambaje ; Third Place $500 cash + conference registration - Effect of Chlorination on Treatment of Meat Processing Wastewater Using Immobilized Co-culture of Microalgae and Activated Sludge. Xinjuan Hu. On-site Competition Winners: First Place$1,000 cash - Improving Aquifer Characterization through Integration of Airborne Electromagnetics (AEM) and Well Hydrographs. Jacqueline Polashek. Second Place $750 cash - Predicting Crop Yield Losses Due to Soil- Water Alinity: Comparison of Traditional and Alternative Approaches. Ansley Brown. Third Place$500 cash - Sustainability of Safe Foods: An Integrated Life Cycle Assessment of Antimicrobial Systems during U.S. Beef Processing in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus. Shaobin Li. People’s Choice $300 cash - Soil Structure and Soil Texture Effects on Soil Water Content Measurement by a Capacitance-Based Electromagnetic Sensor. Jasreman Singh. Metrics (attendees, etc.) Photo

Predictive Maintenance of an External Gear Pump using Machine Learning Algorithms

The importance of Predictive Maintenance is critical for engineering industries, such as manufacturing, aerospace and energy. Unexpected failures cause unpredictable downtime, which can be disruptive and high costs due to reduced productivity. This forces industries to ensure the reliability of their equip-ment. In order to increase the reliability of equipment, maintenance actions, such as repairs, replacements, equipment updates, and corrective actions are employed. These actions affect the flexibility, quality of operation and manu-facturing time. It is therefore essential to plan maintenance before failure occurs.Traditional maintenance techniques rely on checks conducted routinely based on running hours of the machine. The drawback of this approach is that maintenance is sometimes performed before it is required. Therefore, conducting maintenance based on the actual condition of the equipment is the optimal solu-tion. This requires collecting real-time data on the condition of the equipment, using sensors (to detect events and send information to computer processor).Predictive Maintenance uses these types of techniques or analytics to inform about the current, and future state of the equipment. In the last decade, with the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning (ML), cloud computing and Big Data Analytics, manufacturing industry has moved forward towards implementing Predictive Maintenance, resulting in increased uptime and quality control, optimisation of maintenance routes, improved worker safety and greater productivity.The present thesis describes a novel computational strategy of Predictive Maintenance (fault diagnosis and fault prognosis) with ML and Deep Learning applications for an FG304 series external gear pump, also known as a domino pump. In the absence of a comprehensive set of experimental data, synthetic data generation techniques are implemented for Predictive Maintenance by perturbing the frequency content of time series generated using High-Fidelity computational techniques. In addition, various types of feature extraction methods considered to extract most discriminatory informations from the data. For fault diagnosis, three types of ML classification algorithms are employed, namely Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Naive Bayes (NB) algorithms. For prognosis, ML regression algorithms, such as MLP and SVM, are utilised. Although significant work has been reported by previous authors, it remains difficult to optimise the choice of hyper-parameters (important parameters whose value is used to control the learning process) for each specific ML algorithm. For instance, the type of SVM kernel function or the selection of the MLP activation function and the optimum number of hidden layers (and neurons).It is widely understood that the reliability of ML algorithms is strongly depen-dent upon the existence of a sufficiently large quantity of high-quality training data. In the present thesis, due to the unavailability of experimental data, a novel high-fidelity in-silico dataset is generated via a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model, which has been used for the training of the underlying ML metamodel. In addition, a large number of scenarios are recreated, ranging from healthy to faulty ones (e.g. clogging, radial gap variations, axial gap variations, viscosity variations, speed variations). Furthermore, the high-fidelity dataset is re-enacted by using degradation functions to predict the remaining useful life (fault prognosis) of an external gear pump.The thesis explores and compares the performance of MLP, SVM and NB algo-rithms for fault diagnosis and MLP and SVM for fault prognosis. In order to enable fast training and reliable testing of the MLP algorithm, some predefined network architectures, like 2n neurons per hidden layer, are used to speed up the identification of the precise number of neurons (shown to be useful when the sample data set is sufficiently large). Finally, a series of benchmark tests are presented, enabling to conclude that for fault diagnosis, the use of wavelet features and a MLP algorithm can provide the best accuracy, and the MLP al-gorithm provides the best prediction results for fault prognosis. In addition, benchmark examples are simulated to demonstrate the mesh convergence for the CFD model whereas, quantification analysis and noise influence on training data are performed for ML algorithms

IoT in smart communities, technologies and applications.

Internet of Things is a system that integrates different devices and technologies, removing the necessity of human intervention. This enables the capacity of having smart (or smarter) cities around the world. By hosting different technologies and allowing interactions between them, the internet of things has spearheaded the development of smart city systems for sustainable living, increased comfort and productivity for citizens. The Internet of Things (IoT) for Smart Cities has many different domains and draws upon various underlying systems for its operation, in this work, we provide a holistic coverage of the Internet of Things in Smart Cities by discussing the fundamental components that make up the IoT Smart City landscape, the technologies that enable these domains to exist, the most prevalent practices and techniques which are used in these domains as well as the challenges that deployment of IoT systems for smart cities encounter and which need to be addressed for ubiquitous use of smart city applications. It also presents a coverage of optimization methods and applications from a smart city perspective enabled by the Internet of Things. Towards this end, a mapping is provided for the most encountered applications of computational optimization within IoT smart cities for five popular optimization methods, ant colony optimization, genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, artificial bee colony optimization and differential evolution. For each application identified, the algorithms used, objectives considered, the nature of the formulation and constraints taken in to account have been specified and discussed. Lastly, the data setup used by each covered work is also mentioned and directions for future work have been identified. Within the smart health domain of IoT smart cities, human activity recognition has been a key study topic in the development of cyber physical systems and assisted living applications. In particular, inertial sensor based systems have become increasingly popular because they do not restrict users’ movement and are also relatively simple to implement compared to other approaches. Fall detection is one of the most important tasks in human activity recognition. With an increasingly aging world population and an inclination by the elderly to live alone, the need to incorporate dependable fall detection schemes in smart devices such as phones, watches has gained momentum. Therefore, differentiating between falls and activities of daily living (ADLs) has been the focus of researchers in recent years with very good results. However, one aspect within fall detection that has not been investigated much is direction and severity aware fall detection. Since a fall detection system aims to detect falls in people and notify medical personnel, it could be of added value to health professionals tending to a patient suffering from a fall to know the nature of the accident. In this regard, as a case study for smart health, four different experiments have been conducted for the task of fall detection with direction and severity consideration on two publicly available datasets. These four experiments not only tackle the problem on an increasingly complicated level (the first one considers a fall only scenario and the other two a combined activity of daily living and fall scenario) but also present methodologies which outperform the state of the art techniques as discussed. Lastly, future recommendations have also been provided for researchers

On the Recognition of Emotion from Physiological Data

This work encompasses several objectives, but is primarily concerned with an experiment where 33 participants were shown 32 slides in order to create ‗weakly induced emotions‘. Recordings of the participants‘ physiological state were taken as well as a self report of their emotional state. We then used an assortment of classifiers to predict emotional state from the recorded physiological signals, a process known as Physiological Pattern Recognition (PPR). We investigated techniques for recording, processing and extracting features from six different physiological signals: Electrocardiogram (ECG), Blood Volume Pulse (BVP), Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), Electromyography (EMG), for the corrugator muscle, skin temperature for the finger and respiratory rate. Improvements to the state of PPR emotion detection were made by allowing for 9 different weakly induced emotional states to be detected at nearly 65% accuracy. This is an improvement in the number of states readily detectable. The work presents many investigations into numerical feature extraction from physiological signals and has a chapter dedicated to collating and trialing facial electromyography techniques. There is also a hardware device we created to collect participant self reported emotional states which showed several improvements to experimental procedure

GIS and Remote Sensing for Renewable Energy Assessment and Maps

This book aims at providing the state-of-the-art on all of the aforementioned tools in different energy applications and at different scales, i.e., urban, regional, national, and even continental for renewable scenarios planning and policy making

Production of 30 National Summary briefs : Deliverable 2.5

This document (ENERGISE D2.5) provides an overview of national energy and supply dynamics across 30 European countries. The Deliverable encompasses reviews of the current state of the art and existing trends in national energy policies, energy systems and energy campaigns in each of the 30 countries. To enhance accessibility and engagement with the material, the information gathered is presented in 30 independent National Briefs

Research in advanced nuclear development and planning

Master's Project (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014This project began as an examination of small and mini nuclear power plants as an emergent energy technology capable of sustained base-load power generation in northern climates. Literature review immediately demonstrated Alaska should remain current on small and mini nuclear power plants because commercial vendors are promoting their products to state leaders as certain solutions. Is Alaska prepared to receive, operate, and decommission advanced nuclear technology as an alternative to traditional hydrocarbon power plants? The graduate committee encouraged me to facilitate discussions with Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) leadership in reference to their 2010 study on small modular reactors. Gwen Holdman, Brent Sheets, and George Roe offered great encouragement for this project and allowed me to participated in nuclear related meetings with affiliates. In fall 2013, ACEP was hosting Idaho National Laboratory guests to discuss areas of common research interest. I was invited to prepare a short presentation of this project to Dr. Steven Aumeier, Director of Center for Advanced Energy Studies and Michael Hagood, Director of Program Development. ACEP and INL later determined a mobile mini reactor design for remote terrestrial deployment represents common research interests, and INL funded three UAF student fellowships at the Center for Space Nuclear Research (CSNR) Dr. Stephen Howe, Director of CSNR, allocated a team of six graduate fellows to explore terrestrial applications of a tungsten fuel matrix currently under design for nuclear thermal propulsion. UAF students selected for CSNR fellowship included Haley McIntyre, Alana Vilagi, and me. The team designed a Passively Operating Lead Arctic Reactor (POLAR), presented the POLAR design to INL staff and industry leaders and a subsequent poster was provided for the INE conference for Alaska Energy Leaders in October 2014. In addition to exceptional engineering experience, I was able to advance the graduate project in areas of technology, policy, economics, and energy infrastructure requirements needed to accept advanced nuclear technology. Concurrently, under a memorandum of agreement between the University of Alaska and Alaska Command ALCOM, I was able to advance the project to consider military applications of small modular reactors with ALCOM Energy Steering Group. It was in this context where I evaluated military installation energy usage in interior Alaska as compared to production of integral pressurized water reactors likely to emerge first in the commercial sector, and the ability of Alaska military to adopt this technology. As a side project, select courses of action were prepared and briefed to the commanding general of ALCOM should the nuclear option become attractive to the military. What began as an independent examination of small and mini nuclear power plants to satisfy a three-credit project requirement became an incredible collaboration among civilian, state, university, military, and industrial shareholders of the Alaska energy sector. Specific recognition for this report belongs to Haley McIntyre for her contribution to policy frameworks and as editor for this report, and Alana Vilagi for her contribution to process heat applications. The graduate committee along with ACEP leadership, INL-CSNR, and ALCOM should all be recognized as facilitators in this review of nuclear power in Alaska. The following report is presented in six chapters. The first two chapters attempt to introduce the reader to the current state of commercial nuclear energy in the nation as a pretext to developing the advanced reactor designs. Modifications to the existing framework are provided and the total cost of nuclear in Alaska is considered as opportunities and barriers to deployment are evaluated. As a conclusion, scenarios are developed to explain how this technology may contribute to our energy sector in the future. This project was unfunded, and its findings are intended to present a neutral examination of emergent nuclear design in the Alaska energy sector

Integration, control and optimization of the solar photovoltaic-battery system in microgrids

This document composes the work realised and the research results developed within the scope of electric energy storage at the Renewable Energy Chair of the University of Évora. The current legal and technological framework of electrochemical energy storage technologies is reported, and its framework is demonstrated in the Portuguese and European contexts. Next, the experimental microgrid that comprises several electric energy storage technologies is described. The lithium-ion and vanadium redox flow technologies were tested and characterized for later validation of the electrical models that describe their performance. A state-of-the-art review allowed the experimentation of energy management strategies that fit the technologies studied, allowing smarter management in residential and services sectors. In this thesis, management algorithms, battery models, and an indication of technical, economic and energy parameters were combined in a tool to study the simulation of the operation of these technologies, allowing to define different operating objectives, fine-tune parameters and even join the operation of different technologies. This work was accompanied by national and international projects, attempting to respond to existing problems in the operation of real systems and gaps identified in the design phase, such as a robust dimensioning tool, with the integration of different battery managing methods; Integração, controlo e otimização do sistema solar fotovoltaico-bateria em microrredes Resumo: Este documento compõe o trabalho realizado e respetivos resultados da investigação desenvolvida no âmbito do armazenamento de energia elétrica na Cátedra Energias Renováveis da Universidade de Évora. Os atuais enquadramentos legais e tecnológicos das tecnologias eletroquímicas de armazenamento de energia são relatados, nos contextos português e europeu. Seguidamente, uma microrrede experimental que inclui diversas tecnologias de armazenamento de energia elétrica é descrita. As tecnologias de fluxo redox de vanádio e de iões de lítio foram objeto de ensaio e caracterização, para posterior validação dos correspondentes modelos que descrevem a sua performance elétrica. A revisão do estado da arte permitiu a experimentação de estratégias de gestão de energia que se adequam às tecnologias estudadas, que permitam a sua gestão inteligente, no contexto residencial e de serviços. Nesta tese, os algoritmos de gestão, os modelos das baterias, a indicação de parâmetros técnicos, económicos e energéticos foram combinados numa ferramenta para estudo da simulação da operação destas tecnologias permitindo definir diferente objetivos, afinar parâmetros e até operar conjuntamente diferentes tecnologias. Este trabalho foi acompanhado pelo paralelismo de projetos nacionais e internacionais, tentado dar resposta a problemas existentes na operação de sistemas reais, e lacunas identificadas na fase de projeto, tal como uma ferramenta de dimensionamento robusto, com a integração de diferentes formas de gerir baterias