Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Data-driven model selection”

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.

Evaluation of Anomaly Detection Capability for Ground-Based Pre-Launch Shuttle Operations

This chapter will provide a thorough end-to-end description of the process for evaluation of three different data-driven algorithms for anomaly detection to select the best candidate for deployment as part of a suite of IVHM (Integrated Vehicle Health Management) technologies. These algorithms were deemed to be sufficiently mature enough to be considered viable candidates for deployment in support of the maiden launch of Ares I-X, the successor to the Space Shuttle for NASA's Constellation program. Data-driven algorithms are just one of three different types being deployed. The other two types of algorithms being deployed include a "nile-based" expert system, and a "model-based" system. Within these two categories, the deployable candidates have already been selected based upon qualitative factors such as flight heritage. For the rule-based system, SHINE (Spacecraft High-speed Inference Engine) has been selected for deployment, which is a component of BEAM (Beacon-based Exception Analysis for Multimissions), a patented technology developed at NASA's JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and serves to aid in the management and identification of operational modes. For the "model-based" system, a commercially available package developed by QSI (Qualtech Systems, Inc.), TEAMS (Testability Engineering and Maintenance System) has been selected for deployment to aid in diagnosis. In the context of this particular deployment, distinctions among the use of the terms "data-driven," "rule-based," and "model-based," can be found in. Although there are three different categories of algorithms that have been selected for deployment, our main focus in this chapter will be on the evaluation of three candidates for data-driven anomaly detection. These algorithms will be evaluated upon their capability for robustly detecting incipient faults or failures in the ground-based phase of pre-launch space shuttle operations, rather than based oil heritage as performed in previous studies. Robust detection will allow for the achievement of pre-specified minimum false alarm and/or missed detection rates in the selection of alert thresholds. All algorithms will also be optimized with respect to an aggregation of these same criteria. Our study relies upon the use of Shuttle data to act as was a proxy for and in preparation for application to Ares I-X data, which uses a very similar hardware platform for the subsystems that are being targeted (TVC - Thrust Vector Control subsystem for the SRB (Solid Rocket Booster)).

Martin, Rodney Alexander↗

Towards a program of record of inland water quality: Exploiting present and heritage multispectral sensors for maximum information extraction

Degradation of Earth’s inland water resources due to anthropogenic perturbations and climate anomalies at both local and global scales continues to place human health at substantial risk. There is now a growing necessity to develop pragmatic approaches that allow timely and effective extrapolation of local processes, to spatially resolved global products, and to promote operational and sustainable resource policy management. This research exploits recent advancements in bio-optical modeling, cloud computing, and machine learning to enhance our capacity to leverage present and heritage satellite data. Recent research suggests that sensors with low spectral resolution, such as Sentinel 2 and Landsat missions, contain enough hidden spectral variation which can be exploited using data-driven approaches. The availability of three decades of archival imagery will open doors to discover global trends of eutrophication and increased cyanobacteria dominance and provide valuable insight to the development of predictive methodologies. Preliminary efforts in synthetic emulation of global natural inland waters will be discussed and contextualized against satellite radiometric measurement uncertainty, satellite data product uncertainties and causal signal ambiguity over the visible wavelength range, supported by high quality field and image data for selected inland aquatic sites. Insights on water quality estimation via data-driven machine learning models versus matrix inversions will be discussed, and how we can exploit spectral-spatial relationships in high spatial resolution data. A cross-sensor synergistic approach with detailed uncertainty analysis based on optical water types, will allow for unprecedented global snapshots of fine scale ecological dynamics of inland waters.

Inland↗

Anomaly Detection for Next-Generation Space Launch Ground Operations

NASA is developing new capabilities that will enable future human exploration missions while reducing mission risk and cost. The Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) project aims to demonstrate the utility of integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) tools in the domain of ground support equipment (GSE) to be used for the next generation launch vehicles. In addition to demonstrating the utility of IVHM tools for GSE, FDIR aims to mature promising tools for use on future missions and document the level of effort - and hence cost - required to implement an application with each selected tool. One of the FDIR capabilities is anomaly detection, i.e., detecting off-nominal behavior. The tool we selected for this task uses a data-driven approach. Unlike rule-based and model-based systems that require manual extraction of system knowledge, data-driven systems take a radically different approach to reasoning. At the basic level, they start with data that represent nominal functioning of the system and automatically learn expected system behavior. The behavior is encoded in a knowledge base that represents "in-family" system operations. During real-time system monitoring or during post-flight analysis, incoming data is compared to that nominal system operating behavior knowledge base; a distance representing deviation from nominal is computed, providing a measure of how far "out of family" current behavior is. We describe the selected tool for FDIR anomaly detection - Inductive Monitoring System (IMS), how it fits into the FDIR architecture, the operations concept for the GSE anomaly monitoring, and some preliminary results of applying IMS to a Space Shuttle GSE anomaly.

Spirkovska, Lilly↗

Data Science for Weather Impacts on Crop Yield

Private businesses in sectors, such as food, energy, and retail, as well as public sector and federal agencies are interested in the predictive understanding of weather impacts on crop yield, which is an important aspect of food security. Scientific literature has mainly examined how crop yield is impacted by growing season-averaged weather indices. Although a few studies did consider weather extremes in their analysis, their scope was either restricted to measuring their conditional relationship with yield or the extreme event types considered were limited. Selection of regression models, whether the more commonly used linear approaches or nonlinear methods, have not been appropriately justified in this context. Here, we develop data-driven methods to examine two inter-related hypotheses for improved scientific understanding and enhanced predictive modeling. The first hypothesis, that extreme weather indices have a statistically significant information content in them is found to be valid based on linear and nonlinear methods for pairwise dependence. The second hypothesis, examines the value addition of nonlinear regression methods, and suggests that linear approaches may not alone be adequate. The results of this study can inform scientific understanding, generation and relevance of indices and end-to-end risk assessment systems in the context of climate impacts on crop yield. An immediate application may be in the context of NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) which facilitates the generation and dissemination of impacts relevant weather data and indices using a multitude of satellite-derived data sets and model outputs.

Data mining, food security, weather impacts↗

Machine Learning the COSMO Model for Predicting Thermodynamics of Electrolyte Mixtures

Bottom-up design of electrolyte mixtures for battery systems requires predicting macro thermodynamic properties from molecular constituents. For instance, molten salt electrolyte batteries require conditions far above room temperature to operate. Therefore, discovering mixtures with increasingly lower eutectic melting points is desirable. A model that can approximate chemical activity is a valuable tool to search through the vast compositional design space. Machine learning can predict properties of materials such as vibrational free energies, electronic energy gaps, and thermal conductivities. Moreover, they can learn physical models such as interatomic potentials. The COSMO-SAC model uses theory and empirical parameterization to predict liquid-vapor and liquid-solid properties using first-principles calculations. However, obtaining activity coefficients required for parameterizing the COSMO-SAC model is costly and limited to a select chemical space. In this work, we explored if machine learning methods could improve the COSMO-SAC model and bridge density functional theory calculations to liquid phase thermodynamic properties. Our data-driven approach uses existing databases for sigma-profiles of organic solvents and reconciles their methodological differences via ensemble averaging. First, an optimal machine learning model is constructed for each dataset. Our machine learning algorithms use the sigma-profile as an input feature to predict binary mixtures' activity coefficients using multi-output regression. Each dataset uses different choices of functionals, methods, and basis sets. Therefore, our ensemble model attempts to predict corrected activity coefficients given the combination of all the model outputs. The activity coefficients used for training are generated using the COSMO-SAC model. This approach enables the extraction of meaningful information from the existing datasets to improve the COSMO-SAC model for obtaining thermodynamic properties of electrolyte mixtures. With the liquid phase activities, we can identify electrolyte mixtures that meet desired phase equilibria conditions.

Thermodynamics↗

Data-Driven Surface Traversability Analysis for Mars 2020 Landing Site Selection

The objective of this paper is three-fold: 1) to describe the engineering challenges in the surface mobility of the Mars 2020 Rover mission that are considered in the landing site selection processs, 2) to introduce new automated traversability analysis capabilities, and 3) to present the preliminary analysis results for top candidate landing sites. The analysis capabilities presented in this paper include automated terrain classification, automated rock detection, digital elevation model (DEM) generation, and multi-ROI (region of interest) route planning. These analysis capabilities enable to fully utilize the vast volume of high-resolution orbiter imagery, quantitatively evaluate surface mobility requirements for each candidate site, and reject subjectivity in the comparison between sites in terms of engineering considerations. The analysis results supported the discussion in the Second Landing Site Workshop held in August 2015, which resulted in selecting eight candidate sites that will be considered in the third workshop.

Ono, Masahiro↗

Observations on the Application of Machine Learning Techniques to Aviation Operations

There is an increasing interest in applying methods based on Machine Learning Techniques (MLT) to problems in aviation operations. The current interest is based on developments in Cloud Computing, the availability of open software and the success of MLT in automation, consumer behavior and finance involving large database. Historically aviation operations have been analyzed using physics-based models and provide information for making operational decisions. This talk describes issues to be addressed in applying either model-driven or data-driven methods. Aviation operations involving many decision makers, multiple objectives, poor or unavailable physics-based models and a rich historical database are prime candidates for analysis using data-driven methods. The issues are illustrated by a detailed example and summary of current research in the area. The application of MLT to aviation operations falls into two categories: (a) based on the lack of a physics-based model, MLT is the favored approach and (b) marginal difference between regression methods using physics-based models and MLT. Further research is needed in the selection of MLT to critical aviation operations. As always, the best approach depends on the task, the physical understanding of the problem and the quality and quantity of the available data.

Sridhar, Banavar↗

Application of Machine Learning Techniques to Aviation Operations: A Case Study

There is an increasing interest in applying methods based on Machine Learning Techniques (MLT) to problems in aviation operations. The current interest is based on developments in Cloud Computing, the availability of open software and the success of MLT in automation, consumer behavior and finance involving large database. Historically aviation operations have been analyzed using physics-based models and provide information for making operational decisions. This talk describes issues to be addressed in applying either model-driven or data-driven methods. Aviation operations involving many decision makers, multiple objectives, poor or unavailable physics-based models and a rich historical database are prime candidates for analysis using data-driven methods. The issues are illustrated by a detailed example and summary of current research in the area. The application of MLT to aviation operations falls into two categories 58; (a) based on the lack of a physics-based model, MLT is the favored approach and (b) marginal difference between regression methods using physics-based models and MLT. Further research is needed in the selection of MLT to critical aviation operations. As always, the best approach depends on the task, the physical understanding of the problem and the quality and quantity of the available data.

Sridhar, Banavar↗

Exploring data-driven modeling of boundary layer transition

Prediction of laminar-turbulent transition in boundary layer flows is an important component of predicting the aerodynamic performance of a number of aerospace configurations. According to the CFD Vision 2030 [1], transition modeling represents acriticalarea in CFD simulation capability that will remain a pacing item for the foreseeable future. The fact thattransition can take placevia either one of a myriad possible paths adds to the challenges inreliable transition predictions, despite a limited knowledge of the relevant input parameters. In the low disturbance environments typical of flight applications, transition is often initiated by small amplitude disturbances in the form of linear instability waves of the laminar boundary layer. These disturbances amplify linearly at first and eventually undergo a sequence of nonlinear interactions that result in transition to turbulence. Because the nonlinear phase is rather rapid, the amplification of boundary layer instabilities is governed by the linearstability theory over a majority of the distance leading up to the onset of transition. Semi-empirical transition correlations based on the linear stability theory have been successful in explaining the observed trends in transition location within a broad class of flows. However, the application of stability theory is highly non-robust and often requires a significant domain expertise. Recent work at the NASA Langley Research Center has beenaimed at bridging the gap between physics based transition analyses such as those based on linear stability theory and practical applications that require transition prediction by users that may not be well versed in transition physics. The applications of deep learning have been at the center of these efforts. This presentation will focus on the progress achieved thus far, highlighting the applications of neural networks to selectedtransition scenarios across a range of Mach numbers and flow configuration, as well as the lessons learnedand remaining challengeswithrespect to the selection of training data and neural networks architectures, hyperparameter tuning, and the physical insights distilled from the otherwise black-box models.

M. R. Malik↗

Development of a Ground Test and Analysis Protocol for NASA's NextSTEP Phase 2 Habitation Concepts

The NASA Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program is a public-private partnership model that seeks commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities to support human spaceflight missions around and beyond cislunar space. NASA first issued the Phase 1 NextSTEP Broad Agency Announcement to U.S. industries in 2014, which called for innovative cislunar habitation concepts that leveraged commercialization plans for low-Earth orbit. These habitats will be part of the Deep Space Gateway (DSG), the cislunar space station planned by NASA for construction in the 2020s. In 2016, Phase 2 of the NextSTEP program selected five commercial partners to develop ground prototypes. A team of NASA research engineers and subject matter experts (SMEs) have been tasked with developing the ground-test protocol that will serve as the primary means by which these Phase 2 prototypes will be evaluated. Since 2008, this core test team has successfully conducted multiple spaceflight analog mission evaluations utilizing a consistent set of operational tools, methods, and metrics to enable the iterative development, testing, analysis, and validation of evolving exploration architectures, operations concepts, and vehicle designs. The purpose of implementing a similar evaluation process for the Phase 2 Habitation Concepts is to consistently evaluate different commercial partner ground prototypes to provide data-driven, actionable recommendations for Phase 3. This paper describes the process by which the ground test protocol was developed and the objectives, methods, and metrics by which the NextSTEP Phase 2 Habitation Concepts will be rigorously and systematically evaluated. The protocol has been developed using both a top-down and bottom-up approach. Top-down development began with the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) exploration objectives and ISS Exploration Capability Study Team (IECST) candidate flight objectives. Strategic questions and associated rationales, derived from these candidate architectural objectives, provide the framework by which the ground-test protocol will address the DSG stack elements and configurations, systems and subsystems, and habitation, science, and EVA functions. From these strategic questions, high-level functional requirements for the DSG were drafted and associated ground-test objectives and analysis protocols were established. Bottom-up development incorporated objectives from NASA SMEs in autonomy, avionics and software, communication, environmental control and life support systems, exercise, extravehicular activity, exploration medical operations, guidance navigation and control, human factors and behavioral performance, human factors and habitability, logistics, Mission Control Center operations, power, radiation, robotics, safety and mission assurance, science, simulation, structures, thermal, trash management, and vehicle health. Top-down and bottom-up objectives were integrated to form overall functional requirements - ground-test objectives and analysis mapping. From this mapping, ground-test objectives were organized into those that will be evaluated through inspection, demonstration, analysis, subsystem standalone testing, and human-in-the-loop (HITL) testing. For the HITL tests, mission-like timelines, procedures, and flight rules have been developed to directly meet ground test objectives and evaluate specific functional requirements. Data collected from these assessments will be analyzed to determine the acceptability of habitation element configurations and the combinations of capabilities that will result in the best habitation platform to be recommended by the test team for Phase 3.

Gernhardt, Michael L.↗

Development of a Ground Test and Analysis Protocol to Support NASA's NextSTEP Phase 2 Habitation Concepts

The NASA Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program is a public-private partnership model that seeks commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities to support extensive human spaceflight missions around and beyond cislunar space. NASA first issued the Phase 1 NextSTEP Broad Agency Announcement to U.S. industries in 2014, which called for innovative cislunar habitation concepts that leveraged commercialization plans for low Earth orbit. These habitats will be part of the Deep Space Gateway (DSG), the cislunar space station planned by NASA for construction in the 2020s. In 2016, Phase 2 of the NextSTEP program selected five commercial partners to develop ground prototypes. A team of NASA research engineers and subject matter experts have been tasked with developing the ground test protocol that will serve as the primary means by which these Phase 2 prototype habitats will be evaluated. Since 2008, this core test team has successfully conducted multiple spaceflight analog mission evaluations utilizing a consistent set of operational products, tools, methods, and metrics to enable the iterative development, testing, analysis, and validation of evolving exploration architectures, operations concepts, and vehicle designs. The purpose of implementing a similar evaluation process for the NextSTEP Phase 2 Habitation Concepts is to consistently evaluate the different commercial partner ground prototypes to provide data-driven, actionable recommendations for Phase 3.

Beaton, Kara H.↗

Vector-Ordering Filter Procedure for Data Reduction

The vector-ordering filter (VOF) technique involves a procedure for sampling a large population of data vectors to select a subset of data vectors that fully characterize the state space of the large population. The VOF technique enables a large reduction of the volume of data that must be handled in the automated monitoring system and method discussed in the two immediately preceding articles. In so doing, the VOF technique enables the development of data-driven mathematical models of a monitored asset from sets of data that would otherwise exceed the memory capacities of conventional engineering computers. Data-driven mathematical models have been shown to offer high fidelity for purposes of control and monitoring of assets. In practice, a collection of asset-operating observations is acquired with the intention that the collection contain observations characteristic of the full dynamic range of operation of the asset. Often, such a collection contains an extremely large number of observations, many of which are redundant. The VOF technique fills the need for a means to extract, from the original collection of observational data, a reduced data matrix that excludes redundant data while maintaining the full statistical character and dynamic range of the original data. The reduced data matrix can then be used as the input data for development of a mathematical model of the monitored asset, or as training data for a neural-network substitute for an explicit mathematical model of the asset. Alternatively, the reduced data matrix can, itself, be used directly as a mathematical model of the monitored asset, as is commonly done in multivariate state-estimation techniques. The original data are collected from the asset over a range of operating states and are put in matrix form. Each column vector in the original data matrix represents the signal values acquired at a particular operational state of the asset. Thus, the number of columns of the original data matrix equals the number of observed states and the number of rows in this matrix equals the number of signals acquired at each observation. In the VOF technique, one extracts the reduced data matrix from the original data matrix through the selection of a representative subset of the column (state) vectors.

Bickford, Randall L.↗

Application of Machine Learning Techniques to Aviation Operations: NASA Case Studies

There is an increasing interest in applying methods based on Machine Learning Techniques(MLT) to problems in aviation operations. The current interest is based on developments in Cloud Computing, the availability of open software and the success of MLT in automation, consumer behavior and finance involving large database. Historically aviation operations have been analyzed using physics-based models and provide information for making operational decisions. This talk describes issues to be addressed in applying either model-driven or data-driven methods. Aviation operations involving many decision makers, multiple objectives, poor or unavailable physics-based models and a rich historical database are prime candidates for analysis using data-driven methods. The issues relating to data, feature selection and validation of the models are illustrated by examining case studies of the application of MLT to problems in air traffic management at NASA. Further research is needed in the application of MLT to critical aviation operations. As always, the best approach depends on the task, the physical understanding of the problem and the quality and quantity of the available data.

Sridhar, Banavar↗

Lessons Learned in the Application of Machine Learning Techniques to Air Traffic Management

There is an increasing interest in applying methods based on Machine Learning Techniques (MLT) to problems in Air Traffic Management (ATM). The current interest is based on developments in Cloud Computing, the availability of open software and the success of MLT in automation, consumer behavior and finance involving large databases. This paper reviews the current-state-of-the art in applying MLT to aviation operations, its promises and challenges. Historically aviation operations have been analyzed using physics-based models and provide information for making operational decisions. Aviation operations involving many decision makers, multiple objectives, poor or unavailable physics-based models and a rich historical database are prime candidates for analysis using data-driven methods. The promises and challenges in applying MLT to ATM is traced through three examples based on the authors’ experience, each separated by a decade, to show the influence of data and feature selection in the successful application of MLT to ATM. As always, the best approach depends on the task, the physical understanding of the problem and the quality and quantity of the available data.

Machine Learning Techniques↗

A New Machine Learning Based Analysis for Improving Satellite Retrieved Atmospheric Composition Data: OMI SO2 as an Example

Despite recent progress, satellite retrievals of anthropogenic SO2 still suffer from relatively low signal-tonoise ratios. In this study, we demonstrate a new machine learning data analysis method to improve the quality of satellite SO2 products. In the absence of large ground-truth datasets for SO2, we start from SO2 slant column densities (SCDs) retrieved from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) using a data-driven, physically based algorithm and calculate the ratio between the SCD and the root mean square (rms) of the fitting residuals for each pixel. To build the training data, we select presumably clean pixels with small SCD / rms ratios (SRRs) and set their target SCDs to zero. For polluted pixels with relatively large SRRs, we set the target to the original retrieved SCDs. We then train neural networks (NNs) to reproduce the target SCDs using predictors including SRRs for individual pixels, solar zenith, viewing zenith and phase angles, scene reflectivity, and O3 column amounts, as well as the monthly mean SRRs. For data analysis, we employ two NNs: (1) one trained daily to produce analyzed SO2 SCDs for polluted pixels each day and (2) the other trained once every month to produce analyzed SCDs for less polluted pixels for the entire month. Test results for 2005 show that our method can significantly reduce noise and artifacts over background regions. Over polluted areas, the monthly mean NN-analyzed and original SCDs generally agree to within ±15 %, indicating that our method can retain SO2 signals in the original retrievals except for large volcanic eruptions. This is further confirmed by running both the NN-analyzed and original SCDs through a topdown emission algorithm to estimate the annual SO2 emissions for ∼ 500 anthropogenic sources, with the two datasets yielding similar results. We also explore two alternative approaches to the NN-based analysis method. In one, we employ a simple linear interpolation model to analyze the original SCD retrievals. In the other, we develop a PCA–NN algorithm that uses OMI measured radiances, transformed and dimension-reduced with a principal component analysis (PCA) technique, as inputs to NNs for SO2 SCD retrievals. While the linear model and the PCA–NN algorithm can reduce retrieval noise, they both underestimate SO2 over polluted areas. Overall, the results presented here demonstrate that our new data analysis method can significantly improve the quality of existing OMI SO2 retrievals. The method can potentially be adapted for other sensors and/or species and enhance the value of satellite data in air quality research and applications.

Can Li↗

Validation of Machine Learning Algorithms for Hyperspectral Inversion of Common Water Quality Indicators

The upcoming transition to a diverse suite hyperspectral airborne and orbiting optical sensors will provide an unprecedented opportunity to measure inland water quality characteristics at a fidelity not previously achievable. This presentation will assess prototype deep learning models trained on synthetic hyperspectral data and validated with collocated in-situ measurements. Synthesized data is becoming increasingly popular for use in data-driven approaches to complex problems, and can compliment real data to increase performance on complex and unusual phenomenon, reduce or test bias, and experiment to demonstrate explainability. We will present insights from hyperspectral inversions of Chlorophyl-a, Phycocyanin, and concentration of non-algal particles using selected orbiting and airborne sensors over diverse, optically complex aquatic scenarios. We analyze how various optical water types affect fidelity of results and where improvements can be made as we prototype for globally operational water quality algorithms which can be leveraged by upcoming hyperspectral missions such as the Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) mission.

Surface Biology and Geology (SBG)↗

Enabling Mission Flexibility to Battery Driven Deep Space Endeavors With Generalized Battery-Health-Monitoring Using Physics-Based and Data-Driven Reduced-Order Models

The needs and requirements for an electrochemical energy storage for deep space exploration is well explored. It is often understood that different mission sites and environmental conditions require different battery chemistries or technologies. Additionally, various engineering solutions are deployed to overcome specific chemical challenges. One often overlooked need is the “health” monitoring of an electrochemical storage system. The term generalized health monitoring, as envisioned in this work, refers to the monitoring of various aspects such as electrode health, electrolyte health, reaction pathway health, cooling system health, sensor health, and BMS health [1]. Generalized health monitoring allows mission leads, engineers, and scientists to incorporate flexibility in mission designs, make on-the-fly mission changes, and extend the duration of science missions. Moreover, it enables automation and data-driven decision-making without compromising safety and performance. Recently, our group developed a hierarchy of thermal reduced-order models (TROM) by combining a physics-based modeling approach and data-driven model reduction techniques applied to flight data [2]. The resulting TROMs were found to be not only accurate but also identifiable from the flight data. Consequently, the coefficient of variance of the model parameters is small over the course of hundreds of flights, allowing for monitoring the parameter evolution trajectories as the battery ages and degrades. These parameters constitute the metrics of the generalized health of a battery. Monitoring their evolution allows such models to be used for anomaly detection and prognostics, improving early detection of abnormal behavior and thus enabling timely maintenance, longer battery life, and enhanced battery safety. For this presentation, the practicality of the thermal model will be validated on a pack of 14cells under various topology configurations such as 1S14P, 2P7S, 7S2P, and 1P14S. It is well known that manufacturing and non-uniform aging lead to variability in the performance of a cell, which is exacerbated by cell balancing during active load. Additionally, in extreme scenarios, the paramount objective is to complete the mission, regardless of the stresses on the battery. Topology-induced balancing issues further stress the battery. The goal of this study is to determine if the noise (identifiability) in the reduced-order thermal model parameters is sensitive to topology, cell spacing, cooling strategy, and manufacturing or age variability. The variability in cells is considered by assuming a multimodal distribution for microscopic parameters of a cell (such as porosity, tortuosity, reaction kinetics, volumetric thermal conductivity, and volumetric heat capacity). The compounded effect of manufacturing variability, topological selection, cooling strategies, and cell balancing ages each cell in a battery differently. The study aims to clarify whether the challenge in extracting maximum information depends on the minimum number of sensors or models used for data extraction.

Automation↗