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Dimitri N. Mavris

Publications and source records attributed to Dimitri N. Mavris.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

AIRHILT: A Human-in-the-Loop Testbed for Multimodal Conflict Detection in Aviation

We introduce AIRHILT (Aviation Integrated Reasoning, Human-in-the-Loop Testbed), a modular and lightweight simulation environment designed to evaluate multimodal pilot and air traffic control (ATC) assistance systems for aviation conflict detection. Built on the open-source Godot engine, AIRHILT synchronizes pilot and ATC radio communications, visual scene understanding from camera streams, and ADS-B surveillance data within a unified, scalable platform. The environment supports pilot- and controller-in-the-loop interactions, providing a comprehensive scenario suite covering both terminal area and en route operational conflicts, including communication errors and procedural mistakes. AIRHILT offers standardized JSON-based interfaces that enable researchers to easily integrate, swap, and evaluate automatic speech recognition (ASR), visual detection, decision-making, and text-to-speech (TTS) models. We demonstrate AIRHILT through a reference pipeline incorporating fine-tuned Whisper ASR, YOLO-based visual detection, ADS-B-based conflict logic, and GPT-OSS-20B structured reasoning, and present preliminary results from representative runway-overlap scenarios, where the assistant achieves an average time-to-first-warning of approximately 7.7 s, with average ASR and vision latencies of approximately 5.9 s and 0.4 s, respectively. The AIRHILT environment and scenario suite are openly available, supporting reproducible research on multimodal situational awareness and conflict detection in aviation; code and scenarios are available at https://github.com/ogarib3/airhilt.

cs.RO

Sun sensor calibration algorithms: A systematic mapping and survey

Attitude sensors determine the spacecraft attitude through the sensing of an astronomical object, field or other phenomena. The Sun and fixed stars are the two primary astronomical sensing objects. Attitude sensors are critical components for the survival and knowledge improvement of spacecraft. Of these, sun sensors are the most common and important sensor for spacecraft attitude determination. The sun sensor measures the Sun vector in spacecraft coordinates. The sun sensor calibration process is particularly difficult due to the complex nature of the uncertainties involved. The uncertainties are small, difficult to observe, and vary spatio-temporally over the lifecycle of the sensor. In addition, the sensors are affected by numerous sources of uncertainties, including manufacturing, electrical, environmental, and interference sources. This motivates the development of advanced calibration algorithms to minimize uncertainty over the sensor lifecycle and improve accuracy. Although modeling and calibration techniques for sun sensors have been explored extensively in the literature over the past two decades, there is currently no resource that consolidates and systematically reviews this body of work. The present review proposes a systematic mapping of sun sensor modeling and calibration algorithms across a breadth of sensor configurations. It specifically provides a comprehensive survey of each methodology, along with an analysis of research gaps and recommendations for future directions in sun sensor modeling and calibration techniques.

cs.CV

Predictive calibration for digital sun sensors using sparse submanifold convolutional neural networks

Recent developments in AI techniques for space applications mirror the success achieved in terrestrial applications. Machine learning, which excels in data rich environments, is particularly well suited to space-based computer vision applications, such as space optical attitude sensing. Of these sensors, digital sun sensors (DSS) are one of the most common and important sensors for spacecraft attitude determination. The main challenge in using the DSS for attitude estimation are sensor errors, which limit the overall achievable estimation accuracy. However, the traditional sun sensor calibration process is costly, slow, labor-intensive and inefficient. These limitations motivate the use of AI techniques to enable more accurate and efficient DSS calibration. The objective of this work is to develop an end-to-end predictive calibration methodology for digital sun sensors to solve 2-axis state estimates utilizing a sparse submanifold convolutional neural network (SSCNN). We find that the proposed framework can achieve state-of-the-art performance on synthetic data with a mean accuracy of 0.005° for the two sun angle estimates. Furthermore, the model is highly capable of implicitly learning complex noise patterns and handling mixed noise types, thereby greatly improving the model robustness and accuracy to real-world applications. The main contributions of this work are: (1) the first application (to our knowledge) of a CNN regression model to the problem of DSS predictive calibration, (2) the introduction of a fused end-to-end training approach for DSS calibration, (3) the creation of a publicly available physics-informed synthetic dataset and simulation for DSS training images, and (4) the evaluation of the performance of the deep learning approach for various mask configurations.

astro-ph.IM

Nonlinear Reduced-Order Modeling of Compressible Flow Fields Using Deep Learning and Manifold Learning

This paper presents a nonlinear reduced-order modeling (ROM) framework that leverages deep learning and manifold learning to predict compressible flow fields with complex nonlinear features, including shock waves. The proposed DeepManifold (DM)-ROM methodology is computationally efficient, avoids pixelation or interpolation of flow field data, and is adaptable to various grids and geometries. The framework consists of four main steps: First, a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based parameterization network extracts nonlinear shape modes directly from aerodynamic geometries. Next, manifold learning is applied to reduce the dimensionality of the high-fidelity output flow fields. A multilayer perceptron (MLP)-based regression network is then trained to map the nonlinear input and output modes. Finally, a back-mapping process reconstructs the full flow field from the predicted low-dimensional output modes. DM-ROM is rigorously tested on a transonic RAE2822 airfoil test case, which includes shock waves of varying strengths and locations. Metrics are introduced to quantify the model's accuracy in predicting shock wave strength and location. The results demonstrate that DM-ROM achieves a field prediction error of approximately 3.5% and significantly outperforms reference ROM techniques, such as POD-ROM and ISOMAP-ROM, across various training sample sizes.

physics.flu-dyn

A Methodology to Identify Physical or Computational Experiment Conditions for Uncertainty Mitigation

Complex engineering systems require integration of simulation of sub-systems and calculation of metrics to drive design decisions. This paper introduces a methodology for designing computational or physical experiments for system-level uncertainty mitigation purposes. The methodology follows a previously determined problem ontology, where physical, functional and modeling architectures are decided upon. By carrying out sensitivity analysis techniques utilizing system-level tools, critical epistemic uncertainties can be identified. Afterwards, a framework is introduced to design specific computational and physical experimentation for generating new knowledge about parameters, and for uncertainty mitigation. The methodology is demonstrated through a case study on an early-stage design Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) aircraft concept, showcasing how aerostructures analyses can be leveraged for mitigating system-level uncertainty, by computer experiments or guiding physical experimentation. The proposed methodology is versatile enough to tackle uncertainty management across various design challenges, highlighting the potential for more risk-informed design processes.

cs.CE

A Multi-Fidelity Methodology for Reduced Order Models with High-Dimensional Inputs

In the early stages of aerospace design, reduced order models (ROMs) are crucial for minimizing computational costs associated with using physics-rich field information in many-query scenarios requiring multiple evaluations. The intricacy of aerospace design demands the use of high-dimensional design spaces to capture detailed features and design variability accurately. However, these spaces introduce significant challenges, including the curse of dimensionality, which stems from both high-dimensional inputs and outputs necessitating substantial training data and computational effort. To address these complexities, this study introduces a novel multi-fidelity, parametric, and non-intrusive ROM framework designed for high-dimensional contexts. It integrates machine learning techniques for manifold alignment and dimension reduction employing Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and Model-based Active Subspace with multi-fidelity regression for ROM construction. Our approach is validated through two test cases: the 2D RAE~2822 airfoil and the 3D NASA CRM wing, assessing combinations of various fidelity levels, training data ratios, and sample sizes. Compared to the single-fidelity PCAS method, our multi-fidelity solution offers improved cost-accuracy benefits and achieves better predictive accuracy with reduced computational demands. Moreover, our methodology outperforms the manifold-aligned ROM (MA-ROM) method by 50% in handling scenarios with large input dimensions, underscoring its efficacy in addressing the complex challenges of aerospace design.

cs.LG

Decentralized and Privacy-Preserving Learning of Approximate Stackelberg Solutions in Energy Trading Games with Demand Response Aggregators

In this work, a novel Stackelberg game theoretic framework is proposed for trading energy bidirectionally between the demand-response (DR) aggregator and the prosumers. This formulation allows for flexible energy arbitrage and additional monetary rewards while ensuring that the prosumers' desired daily energy demand is met. Then, a scalable (linear with the number of prosumers), decentralized, privacy-preserving algorithm is proposed to find approximate equilibria with online sampling and learning of the prosumers' cumulative best response, which finds applications beyond this energy game. Moreover, cost bounds are provided on the quality of the approximate equilibrium solution. Finally, real data from the California day-ahead market and the UC Davis campus building energy demands are utilized to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed framework and algorithm.

cs.LG

Improved Aircraft Environmental Impact Segmentation via Metric Learning

Accurate modeling of aircraft environmental impact is pivotal to the design of operational procedures and policies to mitigate negative aviation environmental impact. Aircraft environmental impact segmentation is a process which clusters aircraft types that have similar environmental impact characteristics based on a set of aircraft features. This practice helps model a large population of aircraft types with insufficient aircraft noise and performance models and contributes to better understanding of aviation environmental impact. Through measuring the similarity between aircraft types, distance metric is the kernel of aircraft segmentation. Traditional ways of aircraft segmentation use plain distance metrics and assign equal weight to all features in an unsupervised clustering process. In this work, we utilize weakly-supervised metric learning and partial information on aircraft fuel burn, emissions, and noise to learn weighted distance metrics for aircraft environmental impact segmentation. We show in a comprehensive case study that the tailored distance metrics can indeed make aircraft segmentation better reflect the actual environmental impact of aircraft. The metric learning approach can help refine a number of similar data-driven analytical studies in aviation.

cs.LG

Multi-Class Multiple Instance Learning for Predicting Precursors to Aviation Safety Events

In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in the application of machine learning techniques that leverage aviation data collected from commercial airline operations to improve safety. Anomaly detection and predictive maintenance have been the main targets for machine learning applications. However, this paper focuses on the identification of precursors, which is a relatively newer application. Precursors are events correlated with adverse events that happen prior to the adverse event itself. Therefore, precursor mining provides many benefits including understanding the reasons behind a safety incident and the ability to identify signatures, which can be tracked throughout a flight to alert the operators of the potential for an adverse event in the future. This work proposes using the multiple-instance learning (MIL) framework, a weakly supervised learning task, combined with carefully designed binary classifier leveraging a Multi-Head Convolutional Neural Network-Recurrent Neural Network (MHCNN-RNN) architecture. Multi-class classifiers are then created and compared, enabling the prediction of different adverse events for any given flight by combining binary classifiers, and by modifying the MHCNN-RNN to handle multiple outputs. Results obtained showed that the multiple binary classifiers perform better and are able to accurately forecast high speed and high path angle events during the approach phase. Multiple binary classifiers are also capable of determining the aircraft's parameters that are correlated to these events. The identified parameters can be considered precursors to the events and may be studied/tracked further to prevent these events in the future.

stat.ML

Aerodynamic Data Fusion Towards the Digital Twin Paradigm

We consider the fusion of two aerodynamic data sets originating from differing fidelity physical or computer experiments. We specifically address the fusion of: 1) noisy and in-complete fields from wind tunnel measurements and 2) deterministic but biased fields from numerical simulations. These two data sources are fused in order to estimate the \emph{true} field that best matches measured quantities that serves as the ground truth. For example, two sources of pressure fields about an aircraft are fused based on measured forces and moments from a wind-tunnel experiment. A fundamental challenge in this problem is that the true field is unknown and can not be estimated with 100\% certainty. We employ a Bayesian framework to infer the true fields conditioned on measured quantities of interest; essentially we perform a \emph{statistical correction} to the data. The fused data may then be used to construct more accurate surrogate models suitable for early stages of aerospace design. We also introduce an extension of the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition with constraints to solve the same problem. Both methods are demonstrated on fusing the pressure distributions for flow past the RAE2822 airfoil and the Common Research Model wing at transonic conditions. Comparison of both methods reveal that the Bayesian method is more robust when data is scarce while capable of also accounting for uncertainties in the data. Furthermore, given adequate data, the POD based and Bayesian approaches lead to \emph{similar} results.

cs.CE

A Methodology for Projection-Based Model Reduction with Black-Box High-Fidelity Models

This paper presents a methodology that enables projection-based model reduction for black-box high-fidelity models such as commercial CFD codes. The methodology specifically addresses the situation where the high-fidelity model may be a black-box but there is complete knowledge of the governing equations. The main idea is that the linear operator matrix, resulting from the discretization of the linear differential terms is approximated directly using a suitable discretization method such as the Finite Volume Method and requires only the computational grid as input. In this regard, the governing equations are first cast in terms of a set of scalar observables of the state variables, leading to a linear set of equations. By applying the snapshots of the observables to the discrete linear operator, a right hand side vector is obtained, providing the necessary system matrices for the Galerkin projection step. This way an online database of ROMs are generated for various parameter snapshots which are then interpolated online to predict the state for new parameter instances. Finally, the reduced order model is posed as a non-linear constrained optimization problem that can be solved at a significantly cheaper cost compared to the full order model. The method is successfully demonstrated on on a canonical non-linear parametric PDE with exponential non-linearity, followed by the compressible inviscid ow past the NACA0012 airfoil. As a first step, this paper focuses only on establishing feasibility of the method.

math.AP

A Message Passing Strategy for Decentralized Connectivity Maintenance in Agent Removal

In a multi-agent system, agents coordinate to achieve global tasks through local communications. Coordination usually requires sufficient information flow, which is usually depicted by the connectivity of the communication network. In a networked system, removal of some agents may cause a disconnection. In order to maintain connectivity in agent removal, one can design a robust network topology that tolerates a finite number of agent losses, and/or develop a control strategy that recovers connectivity. This paper proposes a decentralized control scheme based on a sequence of replacements, each of which occurs between an agent and one of its immediate neighbors. The replacements always end with an agent, whose relocation does not cause a disconnection. We show that such an agent can be reached by a local rule utilizing only some local information available in agents' immediate neighborhoods. As such, the proposed message passing strategy guarantees the connectivity maintenance in arbitrary agent removal. Furthermore, we significantly improve the optimality of the proposed scheme by incorporating $δ$-criticality (i.e. the criticality of an agent in its $δ$-neighborhood).

eess.SY