Charles R. Farrar

Bio: Charles R. Farrar is an academic researcher from Los Alamos National Laboratory. The author has contributed to research in topics: Structural health monitoring & Sensor node. The author has an hindex of 70, co-authored 357 publications receiving 26338 citations. Previous affiliations of Charles R. Farrar include Analysis Group.

Towards the development of tamper-resistant, ground-based mobile sensor nodes

Abstract: Mobile sensor nodes hold great potential for collecting field data using fewer resources than human operators would require and potentially requiring fewer sensors than a fixed-position sensor array. It would be very beneficial to allow these mobile sensor nodes to operate unattended with a minimum of human intervention. In order to allow mobile sensor nodes to operate unattended in a field environment, it is imperative that they be capable of identifying and responding to external agents that may attempt to tamper with, damage or steal the mobile sensor nodes, while still performing their data collection mission. Potentially hostile external agents could include animals, other mobile sensor nodes, or humans. This work will focus on developing control policies to help enable a mobile sensor node to identify and avoid capture by a hostile un-mounted human. The work is developed in a simulation environment, and demonstrated using a non-holonomic, ground-based mobile sensor node. This work will be a preliminary step toward ensuring the cyber-physical security of ground-based mobile sensor nodes that operate unattended in potentially unfriendly environments.

Development of an info-gap-based path planner to enable nondeterministic low-observability mobile sensor nodes

Abstract: Mobile sensor nodes are an ideal solution for efficiently collecting measurements for a variety of applications. Mobile sensor nodes offer a particular advantage when measurements must be made in hazardous and/or adversarial environments. When mobile sensor nodes must operate in hostile environments, it would be advantageous for them to be able to avoid undesired interactions with hostile elements. It is also of interest for the mobile sensor node to maintain low-observability in order to avoid detection by hostile elements. Conventional path-planning strategies typically attempt to plan a path by optimizing some performance metric. The problem with this approach in an adversarial environment is that it may be relatively simple for a hostile element to anticipate the mobile sensor node's actions (i.e. optimal paths are also often predictable paths). Such information could then be leveraged to exploit the mobile sensor node. Furthermore, dynamic adversarial environments are typically characterized by high-uncertainty and highcomplexity that can make synthesizing paths featuring adequate performance very difficult. The goal of this work is to develop a path-planner anchored in info-gap decision theory, capable of generating non-deterministic paths that satisfy predetermined performance requirements in the face of uncertainty surrounding the actions of the hostile element(s) and/or the environment. This type of path-planner will inherently make use of the time-tested security technique of varying paths and changing routines while taking into account the current state estimate of the environment and the uncertainties associated with it.

Endowing Structures with a Nociceptive Sense Enabled by a Graphene-Oxide Sensing Skin

Abstract: In this work we use bio-inspired strategies to move towards a low bandwidth, robust, asynchronous structural health monitoring approach which mimics biological nociceptive sense. A novel sensing skin is developed with graphene-oxide capacitive sensors which act as structural damage receptors.

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

Abstract: Probability Distributions.- Linear Models for Regression.- Linear Models for Classification.- Neural Networks.- Kernel Methods.- Sparse Kernel Machines.- Graphical Models.- Mixture Models and EM.- Approximate Inference.- Sampling Methods.- Continuous Latent Variables.- Sequential Data.- Combining Models.

Anomaly detection: A survey

Abstract: Anomaly detection is an important problem that has been researched within diverse research areas and application domains. Many anomaly detection techniques have been specifically developed for certain application domains, while others are more generic. This survey tries to provide a structured and comprehensive overview of the research on anomaly detection. We have grouped existing techniques into different categories based on the underlying approach adopted by each technique. For each category we have identified key assumptions, which are used by the techniques to differentiate between normal and anomalous behavior. When applying a given technique to a particular domain, these assumptions can be used as guidelines to assess the effectiveness of the technique in that domain. For each category, we provide a basic anomaly detection technique, and then show how the different existing techniques in that category are variants of the basic technique. This template provides an easier and more succinct understanding of the techniques belonging to each category. Further, for each category, we identify the advantages and disadvantages of the techniques in that category. We also provide a discussion on the computational complexity of the techniques since it is an important issue in real application domains. We hope that this survey will provide a better understanding of the different directions in which research has been done on this topic, and how techniques developed in one area can be applied in domains for which they were not intended to begin with.

Damage identification and health monitoring of structural and mechanical systems from changes in their vibration characteristics: A literature review

Abstract: This report contains a review of the technical literature concerning the detection, location, and characterization of structural damage via techniques that examine changes in measured structural vibration response. The report first categorizes the methods according to required measured data and analysis technique. The analysis categories include changes in modal frequencies, changes in measured mode shapes (and their derivatives), and changes in measured flexibility coefficients. Methods that use property (stiffness, mass, damping) matrix updating, detection of nonlinear response, and damage detection via neural networks are also summarized. The applications of the various methods to different types of engineering problems are categorized by type of structure and are summarized. The types of structures include beams, trusses, plates, shells, bridges, offshore platforms, other large civil structures, aerospace structures, and composite structures. The report describes the development of the damage-identification methods and applications and summarizes the current state-of-the-art of the technology. The critical issues for future research in the area of damage identification are also discussed.