Georgia Institute of Technology

May 4, 2024

The Force of ML awakens   

"This application problem is indeed significant and worthy of serious consideration. While you may assert that I lack the capability to resolve it, it remains undeniable that this issue holds considerable importance."  

With this wisdom imparted by his advisor, Professor Jianjun Shi, Jianjun Shi, Shancong Mou started his academic journey on developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)-enabled data fusion methodologies aimed at addressing real and significant engineering challenges. 

As a fan of both the epic Star Wars saga and machine learning, Mou, expressed his enthusiasm for leveraging the force of ML for quality and productivity improvement in advanced manufacturing systems. 

"If a problem remains unsolved, it highlights both its complexity and the urgent need for creative solutions." 

Jedi-Level Precision 

From the iconic lightsaber to the X-wing aircraft, Mou shared his fascination with Star Wars’ depiction of advanced control systems and aircraft maneuverability.  

“The spacecraft in those films maneuver with remarkable precision, navigating the narrow corridors of the Death Star effortlessly. Crafting such aircraft would entail integrating millions of intricate parts manufactured to the highest standards. Achieving such precision in manufacturing, coupled with stringent quality control, would indeed be challenging but groundbreaking.” 

Much like a Jedi, governed by a problem-solving philosophy and mindset, one of Mou’s research project explores physics-informed machine learning for the control and design optimization of complex engineering systems.  

One major application is the reduction of variation in fuselage assembly processes, a critical step in the manufacturing process of modern airplanes, such as the Boeing 787.[1] 

In another research avenue, Mou innovates with generative models, specifically generative adversarial networks (GANs), to learn and interpret the underlying patterns of normal signals.  

This approach, termed 'robust GAN inversion', transcends traditional statistical methods to reconstruct signals from corruption, offering a distributional-assumption-free perspective, which provides a tool for unsupervised fine-grained anomaly detection.  

These elements are crucial in high-value and safety-critical industrial applications, such as personal electronic manufacturing process quality monitoring. 

Advanced Sensors & ML: A New Hope for Manufacturing  

The synergy between increasingly advanced sensor capabilities and the development of cutting-edge ML methodologies acts as a crucial factor in achieving unprecedented levels of product detail monitoring and defect detection.  

Mou noted, "Quality and productivity improvement is the goal of my research. The development of sensing technology offers new opportunities and challenges for further adopting/developing advanced ML algorithms to solve this problem." 

Mou’s vision for the integration of ML in IE, mirrors the innovative spirit seen in the Star Wars saga, potentially leading towards a future where technology and human expertise converge to create smarter, cleaner and more efficient manufacturing systems. 

Author: Atharva Anand Dave