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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.

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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Emerging Technologies for Improved Plug Load Management Systems: Learning Behavior Algorithms and Automatic and Dynamic Load Detection

Plug loads are responsible for a significant portion of the energy consumed in commercial buildings, yet their distributed and ever-changing nature makes them one of the most challenging building end uses to manage. Plug load management systems exist today that utilize smart plugs to meter and control devices at the outlet level, however, their uptake has been relatively slow in part due to the significant labor required for installation and maintenance. Learning behavior algorithms and automatic and dynamic load detection have been identified as two technology areas that could accelerate the adoption of plug load management systems by reducing these labor demands and providing additional energy efficiency and non-energy benefits. Learning behavior algorithms learn occupant behavior and adjust plug load management systems accordingly, allowing for the automatic creation of optimized control schedules. Automatic and dynamic load detection allows a plug load management system to identify devices as they are plugged in to a building and keeps the system up to date as devices are moved throughout a building. In this paper, we present our findings with respect to the current state of these two technologies based on a review of existing research and patents, as well as a series of interviews with companies working in the plug load space. We have found that, as of now, no commercialized solutions exist for these plug load technologies and that more work is needed to bring them to market. In addition, we summarize our findings related to the technology challenges, market barriers, drivers, and opportunities for these technologies moving forward.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Astronomaly at scale: searching for anomalies amongst 4 million galaxies

ABSTRACT Modern astronomical surveys are producing data sets of unprecedented size and richness, increasing the potential for high-impact scientific discovery. This possibility, coupled with the challenge of exploring a large number of sources, has led to the development of novel machine-learning-based anomaly detection approaches, such as astronomaly. For the first time, we test the scalability of astronomaly by applying it to almost 4 million images of galaxies from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey. We use a trained deep learning algorithm to learn useful representations of the images and pass these to the anomaly detection algorithm isolation forest, coupled with astronomaly’s active learning method, to discover interesting sources. We find that data selection criteria have a significant impact on the trade-off between finding rare sources such as strong lenses and introducing artefacts into the data set. We demonstrate that active learning is required to identify the most interesting sources and reduce artefacts, while anomaly detection methods alone are insufficient. Using astronomaly, we find 1635 anomalies among the top 2000 sources in the data set after applying active learning, including eight strong gravitational lens candidates, 1609 galaxy merger candidates, and 18 previously unidentified sources exhibiting highly unusual morphology. Our results show that by leveraging the human–machine interface, astronomaly is able to rapidly identify sources of scientific interest even in large data sets.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Improving the Freight Productivity of a Heavy-Duty, Battery Electric Truck by Intelligent Energy Management

This project aimed to enhance the range and reduce the operating costs of battery electric Class 8 trucks traveling over 250 miles daily. This was achieved through the development and implementation of an intelligent-Energy Management System (i-EMS) that leverages vehicle and operations data, physics-aware machine learning algorithms, and vehicle-to-cloud (V2C) connectivity. The project hypothesized that advanced machine learning algorithms and real-time data analytics could significantly improve the energy efficiency and range of these trucks. Key objectives included developing a physics-aware machine learning algorithm, implementing an i-EMS with V2C connectivity and physics-aware spatial data analytics (PSDA), and validating the system’s effectiveness with fleet partners HEB Companies and Murphy Logistics. Extensive data collection from vehicle operations, including vehicle characteristics, road conditions, and payload, was conducted. A machine learning algorithm was developed to predict energy consumption and enable proactive decision-making. The i-EMS was implemented on two Volvo VNR BEVs, with operators receiving charging and routing recommendations. Charging stations were installed at depot locations in Texas and Minnesota, with an additional on-route charger in Minnesota. Significant findings included a 14% range improvement for Murphy Logistics on a highway-driving eco-route and a 22% range improvement for HEB Companies on a city-driving eco-route. The i-EMS utilized rule-based methods and physics-based algorithms to predict and reduce energy consumption, with real-time monitoring and analysis through V2C connectivity enabling proactive decision-making. The project demonstrated the feasibility and economic viability of battery electric Class 8 trucks for long-haul operations, showcasing the potential of physics-aware machine learning in optimizing energy management. The successful implementation of the i-EMS in real-world scenarios validates its practical application and effectiveness, paving the way for the widespread adoption of battery electric vehicles in the freight transportation industry.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Review of machine learning and deep learning models for toxicity prediction

The ever-increasing number of chemicals has raised public concerns due to their adverse effects on human health and the environment. To protect public health and the environment, it is critical to assess the toxicity of these chemicals. Traditional in vitro and in vivo toxicity assays are complicated, costly, and time-consuming and may face ethical issues. These constraints raise the need for alternative methods for assessing the toxicity of chemicals. Recently, due to the advancement of machine learning algorithms and the increase in computational power, many toxicity prediction models have been developed using various machine learning and deep learning algorithms such as support vector machine, random forest, k-nearest neighbors, ensemble learning, and deep neural network. This review summarizes the machine learning- and deep learning-based toxicity prediction models developed in recent years. Support vector machine and random forest are the most popular machine learning algorithms, and hepatotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, and carcinogenicity are the frequently modeled toxicity endpoints in predictive toxicology. It is known that datasets impact model performance. The quality of datasets used in the development of toxicity prediction models using machine learning and deep learning is vital to the performance of the developed models. The different toxicity assignments for the same chemicals among different datasets of the same type of toxicity have been observed, indicating benchmarking datasets is needed for developing reliable toxicity prediction models using machine learning and deep learning algorithms. This review provides insights into current machine learning models in predictive toxicology, which are expected to promote the development and application of toxicity prediction models in the future.

Research & Experimental Medicine↗
DOE OSTI2025

Polarized and unpolarized gluon PDFs: Generative machine learning applications for lattice QCD matrix elements at short distance and large momentum

Lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) calculations share a defining challenge by requiring a small finite range of spatial separation z between quark/gluon bilinears for controllable power corrections in the perturbative QCD factorization, and a large hadron boost p z for a successful determination of collinear parton distribution functions (PDFs). However, these two requirements make the determination of PDFs from lattice data very challenging. We present the application of generative machine learning algorithms to estimate the polarized and unpolarized gluon correlation functions utilizing short-distance data and extending the correlation up to z p z ≲ 14 , surpassing the current capabilities of lattice QCD calculations. We train physics-informed machine learning algorithms to learn from the short-distance correlation at z ≲ 0.36 fm and take the limit, p z → ∞ , thereby minimizing possible contamination from the higher-twist effects for a successful reconstruction of the polarized gluon PDF. We also expose the bias and problems with underestimating uncertainties associated with the use of model-dependent and overly constrained functional forms, such as x α ( 1 − x ) β and its variants to extract PDFs from the lattice data. We propose the use of generative machine learning algorithms to mitigate these issues and present our determination of the polarized and unpolarized gluon PDFs in the nucleon. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Estimating Cosmological Constraints from Galaxy Cluster Abundance using Simulation-Based Inference

Inferring the values and uncertainties of cosmological parameters in a cosmology model is of paramount importance for modern cosmic observations. In this paper, we use the simulation-based inference (SBI) approach to estimate cosmological constraints from a simplified galaxy cluster observation analysis. Using data generated from the Quijote simulation suite and analytical models, we train a machine learning algorithm to learn the probability function between cosmological parameters and the possible galaxy cluster observables. The posterior distribution of the cosmological parameters at a given observation is then obtained by sampling the predictions from the trained algorithm. Our results show that the SBI method can successfully recover the truth values of the cosmological parameters within the 2σ limit for this simplified galaxy cluster analysis, and acquires similar posterior constraints obtained with a likelihood-based Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, the current state-of the-art method used in similar cosmological studies.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

Constrained Deep Reinforcement Learning for Energy Sustainable Multi-UAV Based Random Access IoT Networks With NOMA

In this paper, we apply the Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) technique to improve the massive channel access of a wireless IoT network where solar-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) relay data from IoT devices to remote servers. Specifically, IoT devices contend for accessing the shared wireless channel using an adaptive p-persistent slotted Aloha protocol; and the solar-powered UAVs adopt Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) to decode multiple received data from IoT devices to improve access efficiency. To enable an energy-sustainable capacity-optimal network, we study the joint problem of dynamic multi-UAV altitude control and multi-cell wireless channel access management of IoT devices as a stochastic control problem with multiple energy constraints. We first formulate this problem as a Constrained Markov Decision Process (CMDP), and propose an online model-free Constrained Deep Reinforcement Learning (CDRL) algorithm based on Lagrangian primal-dual policy optimization to solve the CMDP. Extensive simulations demonstrate that our proposed algorithm learns a cooperative policy in which the altitude of UAVs and channel access probability of IoT devices are dynamically controlled to attain the maximal long-term network capacity while ensuring energy sustainability of UAVs, outperforming baseline schemes. The proposed CDRL agent can be trained on a small network, yet the learned policy can efficiently manage networks with a massive number of IoT devices and varying initial states, which can amortize the cost of training the CDRL agent.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Neuromorphic ionic computing in droplet interface synapses

Ionic devices with memory capabilities can emulate neural functionality, enabling neuromorphic computing and biomedical applications. In this study, we report an ionic spiking synapse based on aqueous droplet interface bilayer assembly. Under stepwise triangular voltages, the device displays coupled memcapacitive-memristive behavior, showing noncrossing pinched hysteretic I-V loops. This hysteretic ion dynamics can be regulated by modifying bilayer components, reconstituting protein channels, or adjusting droplet assembly configuration. Droplet interface synapses (DIS) exhibit fundamental neuromorphic behaviors such as paired-pulse facilitation/depression, spike rate–dependent plasticity, Hebbian learning, and short-term associative learning under classical conditioning. We also used reservoir computing with DIS to implement two learning algorithms: a classification algorithm that recognizes handwritten digits and a reinforcement learning algorithm that learns to play a board game of tic-tac-toe.

Li, Zhongwu [Lawrence Livermore National Laborator↗
DOE OSTI2021

A General Framework to Learn Tertiary Structure for Protein Sequence Characterization

During the past five years, deep-learning algorithms have enabled ground-breaking progress towards the prediction of tertiary structure from a protein sequence. Very recently, we developed SAdLSA, a new computational algorithm for protein sequence comparison via deep-learning of protein structural alignments. SAdLSA shows significant improvement over established sequence alignment methods. In this contribution, we show that SAdLSA provides a general machine-learning framework for structurally characterizing protein sequences. By aligning a protein sequence against itself, SAdLSA generates a fold distogram for the input sequence, including challenging cases whose structural folds were not present in the training set. About 70% of the predicted distograms are statistically significant. Although at present the accuracy of the intra-sequence distogram predicted by SAdLSA self-alignment is not as good as deep-learning algorithms specifically trained for distogram prediction, it is remarkable that the prediction of single protein structures is encoded by an algorithm that learns ensembles of pairwise structural comparisons, without being explicitly trained to recognize individual structural folds. As such, SAdLSA can not only predict protein folds for individual sequences, but also detects subtle, yet significant, structural relationships between multiple protein sequences using the same deep-learning neural network. The former reduces to a special case in this general framework for protein sequence annotation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1990

A coordination theory for intelligent machines

A formal model for the coordination level of intelligent machines is established. The framework of the coordination level investigated consists of one dispatcher and a number of coordinators. The model called coordination structure has been used to describe analytically the information structure and information flow for the coordination activities in the coordination level. Specifically, the coordination structure offers a formalism to (1) describe the task translation of the dispatcher and coordinators; (2) represent the individual process within the dispatcher and coordinators; (3) specify the cooperation and connection among the dispatcher and coordinators; (4) perform the process analysis and evaluation; and (5) provide a control and communication mechanism for the real-time monitor or simulation of the coordination process. A simple procedure for the task scheduling in the coordination structure is presented. The task translation is achieved by a stochastic learning algorithm. The learning process is measured with entropy and its convergence is guaranteed. Finally, a case study of the coordination structure with three coordinators and one dispatcher for a simple intelligent manipulator system illustrates the proposed model and the simulation of the task processes performed on the model verifies the soundness of the theory.

Wang, Fei-Yue↗
NASA NTRS2019

Using Machine-Learning to Dynamically Generate Operationally Acceptable Strategic Reroute Options

The newly developed Trajectory Option Set (TOS), a preference-weighted set of alternative routes submitted by flight operators, is a capability in the U.S. traffic flow management system that enables automated trajectory negotiation between flight operators and Air Navigation Service Providers. The objective of this paper is to describe and demonstrate an approach for automatically generating pre-departure and airborne TOSs that have a high probability of operational acceptance. The approach uses hierarchical clustering of historical route data to identify route candidates. The probability of operational acceptance is then estimated using predictors trained on historical flight plan amendment data using supervised machine learning algorithms, allowing the routes with highest probability of operational acceptance to be selected for the TOS. Features used describe historical route usage, difference in flight time and downstream demand to capacity imbalance. A random forest was found to be the best performing algorithm for learning operational acceptability, with a model accuracy of 0.96. The approach is demonstrated for an historical pre-departure flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Evans, Antony↗
NASA NTRS2019

Using Machine-Learning to Dynamically Generate Operationally Acceptable Strategic Reroute Options

The newly developed Trajectory Option Set (TOS), a preference-weighted set of alternative routes submitted by flight operators, is a capability in the U.S. traffic flow management system that enables automated trajectory negotiation between flight operators and Air Navigation Service Providers. The objective of this paper is to describe and demonstrate an approach for automatically generating pre-departure and airborne TOSs that have a high probability of operational acceptance. The approach uses hierarchical clustering of historical route data to identify route candidates. The probability of operational acceptance is then estimated using predictors trained on historical flight plan amendment data using supervised machine learning algorithms, allowing the routes with highest probability of operational acceptance to be selected for the TOS. Features used describe historical route usage, difference in flight time and downstream demand to capacity imbalance. A random forest was found to be the best performing algorithm for learning operational acceptability, with a model accuracy of 0.96. The approach is demonstrated for an historical pre-departure flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Evans, Antony↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Generation of Continental Scale Percent Tree Cover Product Using Deep-learning and Multi-scale Remote Sensing Data

Spatially explicit percent tree cover (TC) estimation is critical for mapping forest aboveground biomass and its dynamics. While various TC products have been developed, there has not been a generalized framework that can be applied to diverse terrestrial ecosystems due to underlain extreme complexities. Deep learning algorithms can learn a spatial pattern and radiometric characteristics of tree canopy as a robust approximation of physical or empirical models, and thus have emerged as promising and efficient tools for large-scale TC mapping. In this study, we synergistically use very high-resolution aerial imageries (National Agriculture Imagery Program, NAIP) and medium resolution Landsat data to map continental-scale TC (CONUS and Mexico) through a hierarchical deep learning approach (Convolutional Neural Network), i.e., NAIP TC generated from a NAIP model is utilized to train a Landsat model. The produced TC product (hereafter, NEX-TC) is able to capture the spatial pattern of TC distribution and its changes driven by natural disturbance and human land management. We further explore and analyze the reliability and potential uncertainty of the NEX-TC by comparing it to lidar- (lidar-TC), National Land Cover Database (NLCD-TC), and MODIS Vegetation Continuous Field (MODIS-TC). This evaluation practice reveals that TC products based on passive optical sensors tend to underestimate TC across all land cover types while Landsat-based TCs (i.e., NEX-TC & NLCD-TC) perform better than the coarser MODIS TC estimate. Our results show that the NEX-TC is generally comparable to NLCD-TC but it particularly outperforms NLCD-TC and MODIS-TC over the dense forests where lidar-TC indicates >80% TC. These results indicate that our hierarchical deep learning approach and TC product will be effective and useful for characterizing large-scale tree cover and possibly associated carbon dynamics.

Landsat↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards Autonomous Lunar Resource Excavation via Deep Reinforcement Learning

To support sustainable infrastructure on the Moon, NASA needs to leverage lunar resources for in-situ processing and construction. NASA’s Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) is principally designed to mine and deliver regolith for these tasks. To reliably perform these operations on the lunar surface, RASSOR's sensors and control systems need to be robust and maximize information extracted from a reduced sensor payload. Herein, we present our findings from the Intelligent Capabilities Enhanced RASSOR project. We created reduced-order simulation environments in which we applied reinforcement learning algorithms to learn autonomous trenching controllers and produced state estimation architectures. We developed two simulations: a 2D excavation simulation used to facilitate parameter selection, and a 3D simulation developed using a game physics engine to simulate simplified soil interactions and incorporate robotic agents parameterized by dynamic models. Within these simulations, we learned autonomous excavation routines that exceed excavation efficiency measures as compared against RASSOR's existing control and teleoperation-based methods.

RASSOR↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards Autonomous Lunar Resource Excavation via Deep Reinforcement Learning

To support sustainable infrastructure on the Moon, NASA needs to leverage lunar resources for in-situ processing and construction. NASA’s Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) is principally designed to mine and deliver regolith for these tasks. To reliably perform these operations on the lunar surface, RASSOR's sensors and control systems need to be robust and maximize information extracted from a reduced sensor payload. Herein, we present our findings from the Intelligent Capabilities Enhanced RASSOR project. We created reduced-order simulation environments in which we applied reinforcement learning algorithms to learn autonomous trenching controllers and produced state estimation architectures. We developed two simulations: a 2D excavation simulation used to facilitate parameter selection, and a 3D simulation developed using a game physics engine to simulate simplified soil interactions and incorporate robotic agents parameterized by dynamic models. Within these simulations, we learned autonomous excavation routines that exceed excavation efficiency measures as compared against RASSOR's existing control and teleoperation-based methods.

RASSOR↗
DOE OSTI2021

Artificial Diversity and Defense Security (ADDSec)

Artificial Diversity and Defense Security (ADDSec) machine learning algorithms are used to classify and cluster threats so that an appropriate response can be initiated as a mitigation strategy. The package includes an ensemble of machine learning algorithms such as Support Vector Machines, naïve bayes, logistic regression, and random forest that evolve with the data to recognize anomalous behavior at the host and network levels. Inputs into the machine learning algorithms include end host system calls, system utilization, packet captures, and syslog messages. The machine learning algorithms can be retrained based on user defined intervals or on the number of packets received. ADDSEC's threat responses include Internet Protocol (IP) Address randomization, application port number randomization, and application library randomization. The IP randomization implementation is built on top of a Software Defined Networking (SDN) framework. The SDN controller installs flows on each of the SDN switches with randomized source and destination IP addresses. The application port numbers are randomized using iptables. The application library randomization is created with a LLVM compiler. All randomization schemes are transparent to the endpoints on the network. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. SAND2021-3379 O

Cox, RebeccaE.↗