A neural-network-based model predictive control of three-phase inverter with an output LC Filter

Model predictive control (MPC) has become one of the well-established modern control methods for three-phase inverters with an output $LC$ filter, where a high-quality voltage with low total harmonic distortion (THD) is needed. Although it is an intuitive controller, easy to understand and implement, it has the significant disadvantage of requiring a large number of online calculations for solving the optimization problem. On the other hand, the application of model-free approaches such as those based on artificial neural networks approaches is currently growing rapidly in the area of power electronics and drives. This paper presents a new control scheme for a two-level converter based on combining MPC and feed-forward ANN, with the aim of getting lower THD and improving the steady and dynamic performance of the system for different types of loads. First, MPC is used, as an expert, in the training phase to generate data required for training the proposed neural network. Then, once the neural network is fine-tuned, it can be successfully used online for voltage tracking purpose, without the need of using MPC. The proposed ANN-based control strategy is validated through simulation, using MATLAB/Simulink tools, taking into account different loads conditions. Moreover, the performance of the ANN-based controller is evaluated, on several samples of linear and non-linear loads under various operating conditions, and compared to that of MPC, demonstrating the excellent steady-state and dynamic performance of the proposed ANN-based control strategy

Accuracy and interpretability trade-offs in machine learning applied to safer gambling

Responsible gambling is an area of research and industry which seeks to understand the pathways to harm from gambling and implement programmes to reduce or prevent harm that gambling might cause. There is a growing body of research that has used gambling behavioural data to model and predict harmful gambling, and the industry is showing increasing interest in technologies that can help gambling operators to better predict harm and prevent it through appropriate interventions. However, industry surveys and feedback clearly indicate that in order to enable wider adoption of such data-driven methods, industry and policy makers require a greater understanding of how machine learning methods make these predictions. In this paper, we make use of the TREPAN algorithm for extracting decision trees from Neural Networks and Random Forests. We present the first comparative evaluation of predictive performance and tree properties for extracted trees, which is also the first comparative evaluation of knowledge extraction for safer gambling. Results indicate that TREPAN extracts better performing trees than direct learning of decision trees from the data. Overall, trees extracted with TREPAN from different models offer a good compromise between prediction accuracy and interpretability. TREPAN can produce decision trees with extended tests rules of different forms, so that interpretability depends on multiple factors. We present detailed results and a discussion of the trade-offs with regard to performance and interpretability and use in the gambling industry

A rotation method which gives linear Lp-Estimates for powers of the Ahlfors-Beurling operator

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The Need for Knowledge Extraction: Understanding Harmful Gambling Behavior with Neural Networks

Responsible gambling is a field of study that involves supporting gamblers so as to reduce the harm that their gambling activity might cause. Recently in the literature, machine learning algorithms have been introduced as a way to predict potentially harmful gambling based on patterns of gambling behavior, such as trends in amounts wagered and the time spent gambling. In this paper, neural network models are analyzed to help predict the outcome of a partial proxy for harmful gambling behavior: when a gambler “self-excludes”, requesting a gambling operator to prevent them from accessing gambling opportunities. Drawing on survey and interview insights from industry and public officials as to the importance of interpretability, a variant of the knowledge extraction algorithm TREPAN is proposed which can produce compact, human-readable logic rules efficiently, given a neural network trained on gambling data. To the best of our knowledge, this paper reports the first industrial-strength application of knowledge extraction from neural networks, which otherwise are black-boxes unable to provide the explanatory insights which are crucially required in this area of application. We show that through knowledge extraction one can explore and validate the kinds of behavioral and demographic profiles that best predict self-exclusion, while developing a machine learning approach with greater potential for adoption by industry and treatment providers. Experimental results reported in this paper indicate that the rules extracted can achieve high fidelity to the trained neural network while maintaining competitive accuracy and providing useful insight to domain experts in responsible gambling