Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Computational Intelligence”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 793 records · Page 44

The role of artificial intelligence and expert systems in increasing STS operations productivity

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is discussed. A number of the computer technologies pioneered in the AI world can make significant contributions to increasing STS operations productivity. Application of expert systems, natural language, speech recognition, and other key technologies can reduce manpower while raising productivity. Many aspects of STS support lend themselves to this type of automation. The artificial intelligence section of the mission planning and analysis division has developed a number of functioning prototype systems which demonstrate the potential gains of applying AI technology.

Culbert, C.↗

Heterogeneous Machine Learning on High Performance Computing for End to End Driving of Autonomous Vehicles

Current artificial intelligence techniques for end to end driving of autonomous vehicles typically rely on a single form of learning or training processes along with a corresponding dataset or simulation environment. Relatively speaking, success has been shown for a variety of learning modalities in which it can be shown that the machine can successfully “drive” a vehicle. However, the realm of real-world driving extends significantly beyond the realm of limited test environments for machine training. This creates an enormous gap in capability between these two realms. With their superior neural network structures and learning capabilities, humans can be easily trained within a short period of time to proceed from limited test environments to real world driving. For machines though, this gap is guarded by at least two challenges: 1) machine learning techniques remain brittle and unable to generalize to a wide range of scenarios, and 2) effective training data that enhances generalization and generates the desired driving behavior. Further, each challenge can be computationally intensive on its own thereby exasperating the gap. Moreover, is has not yet been shown that a single form of learning or training is capable of addressing a large range of scenarios. As a result, solving the first challenge does not inherently solve the second and vice versa. The work described here discusses an approach to address the first challenge that would also provide a foundation for solving the second. Our approach utilizes a combination of conditional imitation learning with a static dataset, reinforcement learning with a simulation environment, and high-performance computing to train a neural network. As a result, this reduces the “time to solution” from to the existing techniques for autonomous driving and provides an extensible framework to address the second key challenge.

autonomous vehicles↗

IRIS: Exploring Performance Scaling of the Intelligent Runtime System and its Dynamic Scheduling Policies

High-Performance Computing is becoming increasingly heterogeneous, relying on a diverse mix of hardware to achieve good performance. Paradoxically, current drivers and frameworks for these devices typically require separate languages and implementations for each vendor. Furthermore, there are few tools and little support to schedule codes between these devices in a truly heterogeneous manner-partly because of this fragmentation between vendors and the languages each supports. To overcome both limitations, the Intelligent Runtime System (IRIS) was developed. It allows a common task abstraction to automatically be shared among contemporary vendors and is run from a single host-side API. At runtime, IRIS queries the host system and registers which frameworks and drivers are available, these determine which kernels can be used by the scheduler-CPUs via OpenMP, Nvidia GPUs (CUDA), AMD GPUs (HIP), and Intel and Xilinx FPGAs with OpenCL. IRIS enables tasks to be scheduled to any heterogeneous device and resolves to the appropriate kernel binary at runtimeit only uses the devices supported by the system on which it is run. IRIS supports single-task and graph-based expressions of dependencies of tasks. Additionally, IRIS features a range of dynamic scheduling policies, allowing complex chains of tasks and interactions to be executed, relieving the programmer/user from considering the system to assign tasks to devices optimally. This paper presents the peak performance attainable by IRIS over a range of systems-each with different numbers and types of accelerator devices, it highlights the flexibility of IRIS since these devices are truly heterogeneous, relying on different backends (drivers, frameworks, and languages) which historically required unique implementations to utilize them. We then use this peak performance as a baseline to compare increasingly complex chains of tasks (with increasingly complex task dependencies) and evaluate how IRIS copes. Finally, we consider the performance of different IRIS scheduling policies on this range of task graphs.

Johnston, Beau↗

Intelligent perturbation algorithms to space scheduling optimization

The limited availability and high cost of crew time and scarce resources make optimization of space operations critical. Advances in computer technology coupled with new iterative search techniques permit the near optimization of complex scheduling problems that were previously considered computationally intractable. Described here is a class of search techniques called Intelligent Perturbation Algorithms. Several scheduling systems which use these algorithms to optimize the scheduling of space crew, payload, and resource operations are also discussed.

Kurtzman, Clifford R.↗

Applications of artificial intelligence to scientific research

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a growing field which is just beginning to make an impact on disciplines other than computer science. While a number of military and commercial applications were undertaken in recent years, few attempts were made to apply AI techniques to basic scientific research. There is no inherent reason for the discrepancy. The characteristics of the problem, rather than its domain, determines whether or not it is suitable for an AI approach. Expert system, intelligent tutoring systems, and learning programs are examples of theoretical topics which can be applied to certain areas of scientific research. Further research and experimentation should eventurally make it possible for computers to act as intelligent assistants to scientists.

Prince, Mary Ellen↗

Validation and parameterization of a novel physics-constrained neural dynamics model applied to turbulent fluid flow

We report, in fluid physics, data-driven models to enhance or accelerate time to solution are becoming increasingly popular for many application domains, such as alternatives to turbulence closures, system surrogates, or for new physics discovery. In the context of reduced order models of high-dimensional time-dependent fluid systems, machine learning methods grant the benefit of automated learning from data, but the burden of a model lies on its reduced-order representation of both the fluid state and physical dynamics. In this work, we build a physics-constrained, data-driven reduced order model for Navier–Stokes equations to approximate spatiotemporal fluid dynamics in the canonical case of isotropic turbulence in a triply periodic box. The model design choices mimic numerical and physical constraints by, for example, implicitly enforcing the incompressibility constraint and utilizing continuous neural ordinary differential equations for tracking the evolution of the governing differential equation. We demonstrate this technique on a three-dimensional, moderate Reynolds number turbulent fluid flow. In assessing the statistical quality and characteristics of the machine-learned model through rigorous diagnostic tests, we find that our model is capable of reconstructing the dynamics of the flow over large integral timescales, favoring accuracy at the larger length scales. More significantly, comprehensive diagnostics suggest that physically interpretable model parameters, corresponding to the representations of the fluid state and dynamics, have attributable and quantifiable impact on the quality of the model predictions and computational complexity.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

HEPCloud, an Elastic Hybrid HEP Facility using an Intelligent Decision Support System

HEPCloud is rapidly becoming the primary system for provisioning compute resources for all Fermilab-affiliated experiments. In order to reliably meet the peak demands of the next generation of High Energy Physics experiments, Fermilab must plan to elastically expand its computational capabilities to cover the forecasted need. Commercial cloud and allocation-based High Performance Computing (HPC) resources both have explicit and implicit costs that must be considered when deciding when to provision these resources, and at which scale. In order to support such provisioning in a manner consistent with organizational business rules and budget constraints, we have developed a modular intelligent decision support system (IDSS) to aid in the automatic provisioning of resources spanning multiple cloud providers, multiple HPC centers, and grid computing federations. In this paper, we discuss the goals and architecture of the HEPCloud Facility, the architecture of the IDSS, and our early experience in using the IDSS for automated facility expansion both at Fermi and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Mhashilkar, Parag↗

Tutorial: Lessons Learned for Behavior Analysts from Data Scientists

Big data is a computing term used to refer to large and complex data sets, typically consisting of terabytes or more of diverse data that is produced rapidly. The analysis of such complex data sets requires advanced analysis techniques with the capacity to identify patterns and abstract meanings from the vast data. The field of data science combines computer science with mathematics/statistics and leverages artificial intelligence, in particular machine learning, to analyze big data. This field holds great promise for behavior analysis, where both clinical and research studies produce large volumes of diverse data at a rapid pace (i.e., big data). This article presents basic lessons for the behavior analytic researchers and clinicians regarding integration of data science into the field of behavior analysis. We provide guidance on how to collect, protect, and process the data, while highlighting the importance of collaborating with data scientists to select a proper machine learning model that aligns with the project goals and develop models with input from human experts. Here, we hope this serves as a guide to support the behavior analysts interested in the field of data science to advance their practice or research, and helps them avoid some common pitfalls.

42 ENGINEERING↗

From legacy contamination to watershed systems science: a review of scientific insights and technologies developed through DOE-supported research in water and energy security

Abstract Water resources, including groundwater and prominent rivers worldwide, are under duress because of excessive contaminant and nutrient loads. To help mitigate this problem, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has supported research since the late 1980s to improve our fundamental knowledge of processes that could be used to help clean up challenging subsurface problems. Problems of interest have included subsurface radioactive waste, heavy metals, and metalloids (e.g. uranium, mercury, arsenic). Research efforts have provided insights into detailed groundwater biogeochemical process coupling and the resulting geochemical exports of metals and nutrients to surrounding environments. Recently, an increased focus has been placed on constraining the exchanges and fates of carbon and nitrogen within and across bedrock to canopy compartments of a watershed and in river–floodplain settings, because of their important role in driving biogeochemical interactions with contaminants and the potential of increased fluxes under changing precipitation regimes, including extreme events. While reviewing the extensive research that has been conducted at DOE’s representative sites and testbeds (such as the Oyster Site in Virginia, Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, Hanford in Washington, Nevada National Security Site in Nevada, Riverton in Wyoming, and Rifle and East River in Colorado), this review paper explores the nature and distribution of contaminants in the surface and shallow subsurface (i.e. the critical zone) and their interactions with carbon and nitrogen dynamics. We also describe state-of-the-art, scale-aware characterization approaches and models developed to predict contaminant fate and transport. The models take advantage of DOE leadership-class high-performance computers and are beginning to incorporate artificial intelligence approaches to tackle the extreme diversity of hydro-biogeochemical processes and measurements. Recognizing that the insights and capability developments are potentially transferable to many other sites, we also explore the scientific implications of these advances and recommend future research directions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Really Embedding Domain-Specific Languages into C++

The following topics are dealt with: program compilers; optimising compilers; parallel processing; software engineering; learning (artificial intelligence); multiprocessing systems; shared memory systems; optimisation; computational complexity; specification languages.

Finkel, Hal J.↗

Mixed-Precision S/DGEMM Using the TF32 and TF64 Frameworks on Low-Precision AI Tensor Cores

Using NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) equipped with Tensor Cores has enabled the significant acceleration of general matrix multiplication (GEMM) for applications in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) and in high-performance computing (HPC) generally. The use of such power-efficient, specialized accelerators can provide a performance increase between 8 × and 20 ×, albeit with a loss in precision. However, a high level of precision is required in many large scientific and HPC applications, and computing in single or double precision is still necessary for many of these applications to maintain accuracy. Fortunately, mixed-precision methods can be employed to maintain a higher level of numerical precision while also taking advantage of the performance increases from computing with lower-precision AI cores. With this in mind, we extend the state of the art by using NVIDIA’s new TF32 framework. This new framework not only burdens some constraints of the previous frameworks, such as costly 32 16-bit castings but also provides an equivalent precision and performance by using a much simpler approach. We also propose a new framework called TF64 that attempts double-precision arithmetic with low-precision Tensor Cores. Although this framework does not exist yet, we validated the correctness of this idea and achieved an equivalent of 64-bit precision on 32-bit hardware.

Valero Lara, Pedro↗

DISTRI: Distributed Multi-Facility HPC Simulator (DISTRI) v2.1

DISTRI is an advanced network simulator designed for multi-facility computational infrastructures with agentic behavior. It simulates HPC facilities where computational resources act as autonomous agents, making intelligent decisions about job scheduling, load balancing, and resource allocation. The simulator focuses on developing and testing decentralized algorithms that promote resilience and efficiency in multi-facility environments. Key Features: - Agentic Resource Behavior: Processors and DTNs act as autonomous agents with decision-making capabilities - Pheromone-Based Load Balancing: Decentralized load balancing inspired by ant colony optimization - Dual Topology Support: Mesh (normal operations) and Dumbell (network testing) topologies - Comprehensive TCP Simulation: Realistic TCP implementations with multiple congestion control algorithms - Failure Resilience Testing: Processor failure simulation with automatic job reassignment - Extensive Visualization: Detailed performance analysis and metrics collection - Research-Ready: Designed for algorithm development and benchmarking

Bez, Jean Luca [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborat↗

Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced CMIP6 Climate Projections Across the Conterminous United States

This dataset comprises high-resolution climate projections at 1/24 degree grid (~4km) over the conterminous United States (CONUS) based on ten Global Climate Models (GCMs) that are part of the Coupled Models Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6). The CMIP6 GCMs are downscaled using two artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, primarily based on the computer vision approach called super-resolution. We train two separate networks: super-resolution convolutional neural network (SRCNN) and super-resolution generative adversarial network (SRGAN). The networks are trained using Daymet observations, originally available at a 1 km resolution. For training purposes, the Daymet data is interpolated to 1/24 degree (~4km), 0.25 degree and 1 degree, which serve as high, intermediate and low-resolution inputs respectively. For each of the SRCNN and SRGAN network, we use a two-step resolution enhancement, the first step generates 4x refinement from 1 degree to 0.25 degree and the second step generates 6x refinement from 0.25 degree to 1/24 degree (~4km). We downscale daily scale precipitation, maximum temperature and minimum temperature for the six CMIP6 GCMs for 1980 to 2019 in the historical period and 2020 to 2059 in the near-term future under the shared socioeconomic pathway 585 and 245 (SSP585 and SSP245) emission scenarios. We also perform double bias-correction with Daymet observations using a quantile mapping approach, first for GCMs prior to making predictions at 1 degree grid and second after making final predictions at ~4km.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Opportunities and Challenges from Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for the Advancement of Science, Technology, and the Office of Science Missions

In February 2019, the President signed Executive Order 13859, Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. This order launched the American Artificial Intelligence Initiative, a concerted effort to promote and protect AI technology and innovation in the United States. The Initiative implements a government-wide strategy in collaboration and engagement with the private sector, academia, the public, and like-minded international partners. Among other actions, key directives in the Initiative called for Federal agencies to: Prioritize AI research and development investments, Enhance access to high-quality cyberinfrastructure and data, Ensure that the US maintains an international leadership role in the development of technical standards for AI, and Provide education and training opportunities to prepare the American workforce for the new era of AI. The mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. In terms of Science and Innovation, the DOE’s mission is to maintain a vibrant US effort in science and engineering as a cornerstone of our economic prosperity with clear leadership in strategic areas. From July to October in 2019, the Argonne, Oak Ridge, and Berkeley National Laboratories hosted a series of four AI for Science Town Hall meetings in Chicago, Oak Ridge, Berkeley, and Washington DC. The four meetings were attended by over 1300 scientists from the 17 DOE Labs, 39 companies, and over 90 universities. The goal of the Town Hall series was ‘to examine scientific opportunities in the areas of artificial intelligence, Big Data, and high-performance computing (HPC) in the next decade, and to capture the big ideas, grand challenges, and next steps to realizing these.’ The discussions at the meetings were captured in the final report of the AI for Science Town Hall meetings.

42 ENGINEERING↗

2021 GeoAI Workshop Report: The Trillion Pixel Challenge

The convergence of geospatial big data with advancements from artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, and high-performance computing continues to revolutionize mapping and analysis of Earth's surface in unprecedented detail. Rapid innovations in sensing technologies will soon collect geospatial data in even higher resolution and throughput. These developments offer the potential for breakthroughs in science, policy, and national security via end-to-end GeoAI systems that can provide fresh insights into how humans occupy and alter their environment over time. At the 2021 GeoAI Trillion Pixel workshop, international subject matter experts from government, academia, industry, and nonprofit organizations gathered virtually to discuss the Trillion Pixel GeoAI Challenge. The event focused on six major themes currently influencing scientific innovation and breakthroughs. Particular focus was paid to societal impacts. As an additional takeaway message, the gathering identified remaining application gaps and challenges that are in need of stronger community partnerships and collaborations.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Optimization and Evaluation of Energy Savings for Connected and Autonomous Off-Road Vehicles

Off-road vehicles, such as wheel loaders, excavators, and harvesters, are extensively utilized across a wide range of industries, including construction, agriculture, and mining. These machines have become indispensable in supporting the day-to-day operational needs of a nation, playing a critical role in various sectors' infrastructure and productivity. However, despite their utility, off-road vehicles are significant consumers of fossil fuels, resulting in substantial emissions that contribute to environmental degradation. This highlights the pressing need for research and technological advancements aimed at improving their energy efficiency and reducing their carbon footprint. There are, however, two primary challenges that must be addressed to achieve these goals. First, off-road vehicles typically perform both driving and working tasks simultaneously, which introduces a high level of complexity into their overall dynamic systems. Analysis the interactions between these functions is challenging. Second, research into off-road vehicles is inherently interdisciplinary, demanding expertise across several domains such as fluid power systems, vehicle dynamics, control theory, optimization techniques, and real-world implementation. Recognizing these challenges, we proposed the project titled "Optimization and Evaluation of Energy Savings for Connected and Autonomous Off-Road Vehicles" as a comprehensive solution to enhance fuel efficiency while simultaneously improving productivity. This project specifically focuses on autonomous off-road vehicles, with particular attention to wheel loaders, and seeks to develop novel methods to optimize energy consumption without sacrificing operational performance. The project integrates real-time control algorithms, vehicle dynamics modeling, and co-optimization of powertrain system and vehicle system to achieve these goals. Our optimization strategy dynamically co-optimizes critical parameters at both the powertrain and vehicle levels, including vehicle speed, working tool movements, powertrain dynamics, and engine operations in real-time. To streamline this optimization process, we developed a vehicle model that captures the key dynamics while significantly enhancing computational efficiency. This allows the system to intelligently minimize fuel consumption, all while maintaining or even improving productivity through real-time calculations during various off-road operations. To validate the effectiveness of this energy optimization method, we introduced a state-of-the-art Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testbed. This reconfigurable testbed seamlessly integrates the actual engine with virtual models of the wheel loader's subsystems, allowing for accurate emulation of real-world operational loads and environments. By simulating these conditions, the HIL testbed enables us to evaluate the wheel loader’s performance under diverse working scenarios, ensuring the developed solution is applicable in real-world operations. This testbed proved to be instrumental in validating the optimization algorithms and demonstrating the system's practical effectiveness. During the evaluation and testing phase, we employed the HIL testbed to rigorously assess the energy savings and productivity improvements generated by the optimized system. The results were highly encouraging, revealing that the automated wheel loader achieved over 30% fuel savings compared to traditional, human-operated cycles, with comparable or even enhanced levels of productivity. The insights gained from this HIL-based testing provided critical validation of our approach and highlighted the potential for deploying these optimized autonomous technologies in real-world off-road vehicles.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Envisioning urban environments resilient to vector-borne diseases: a protocol to study dengue in Vietnam

Transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti) and Aedes albopictus (Ae. albopictus), arboviral diseases pose a major global public health threat. Dengue, chikungunya, and zika are increasingly prevalent in Southeast Asia. Among other arboviruses, dengue and zika are becoming more common in Central and South America. Given human encroachment into previously uninhabited, often deforested areas, to provide new housing in regions of population expansion, conceptualizing built urban environments in a novel way is urgently needed to safeguard against the growing climate change-driven threat of vector-borne diseases. By understanding the spread from a One Health perspective, enhanced control and prevention can be achieved. This is particularly important considering that climate change is likely to significantly impact the persistence of ponded water where mosquitoes breed due to increasing temperature and shifting rainfall patterns with regard to magnitude, duration, frequency, and season. Models can incorporate aquatic mosquito stages and adult spatial dynamics when habitats are heterogeneously available, thereby including dispersal and susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered (SEIR) epidemiology. Coupled with human population distribution (density, locations), atmospheric conditions (air temperature, precipitation), and hydrological conditions (soil moisture distribution, ponding persistence in topographic depressions), modeling has improved predictive ability for infection rates. However, it has not informed interventional approaches from an urban environment perspective which considers the role of ponds/lakes that support green spaces, the density of population that enables rapid spread of disease, and varying micro-habitats for various mosquito stages under climate change. Here, for an example of dengue in Vietnam, a preventive and predictive approach to design resilient urban environments is proposed, which uses data from rapidly expanding metropolitan communities to learn continually. This protocol deploys computational approaches including simulation and machine learning/artificial intelligence, underpinned by surveillance and medical data for validation and adaptive learning. Its application may best inform urban planning in low-middle income countries in tropical zones where arboviral pathogens are prevalent.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Robot computer problem solving system

The conceptual, experimental, and practical phases of developing a robot computer problem solving system are outlined. Robot intelligence, conversion of the programming language SAIL to run under the THNEX monitor, and the use of the network to run several cooperating jobs at different sites are discussed.

Becker, J. D.↗