Papers for

process control teams

Papers whose findings have a practical use for this group, as judged from the abstract. Open a paper to read what it means in practice.

Graph neural nets predict key flow behaviors with coarser data

Predicting Sparse Observables in Parameterized Unsteady Flows Using Coarse-Mesh Graph Neural Networks

Abstract: Full-order surrogates for high-dimensional nonlinear flows are often unnecessary when applications require only selected degrees of freedom. We propose reduced-order models that bypass full-state reconstruction by deploying graph neural networks (GNNs) directly on coarse meshes. Applied to parameterized 2D/3D confined cylinder flows and an unevenly heated cavity over Reynolds/Rayleigh-number ranges, the models generalize to unseen conditions and accurately predict sparse probe locations and integrated quantities. Coarse-mesh GNNs match or outperform finer-mesh surrogates while reducing training time and memory, even for 3D chaotic dynamics. A dynamics-informed adaptive sampling strategy guided by frequency-spectrum variations reduces maximum errors by an order of magnitude versus uniform sampling at negligible cost. Coarse-mesh training also makes noise-augmented multi-step unrolling practical, improving long-horizon autoregressive predictions. The approach outperforms parametric DMD, sparse MLPs, U-Nets, and Fourier neural operators at lower cost, and enables system identification and state estimation from sparse observations. These results show that coarse-mesh representations, adaptive sampling, and noise-augmented unrolled training form an efficient framework for reduced-order modeling of parameterized unsteady flows without solver-resolution reconstruction.

Tue 27 OctMachine Learning
The gist
Predicting certain important parts of complex fluid flows often requires heavy computations of the entire flow field. The authors present a way to predict just the important details directly on simplified, coarser models of the flow using graph neural networks. Their approach works well across different flow conditions and uses less computing power than detailed methods. They also improve accuracy by focusing training data on challenging cases and by making the model resilient to noise over longer predictions.
Open → 2610.37986v1

Plant-aware assistant enhances plc programming with chat and context

From Code Generator to Engineering Companion: A Plant-aware Agent for PLC Programming

Abstract: Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) coding remains a manual, IDE-centric task that demands constant context switching between documentation, project files, and code editors. Recent work has demonstrated that retrieval-augmented large language models can generate vendor-compliant Structured Text at high compilation rates \cite{pred}, yet these systems treat code generation as a one-shot pipeline: the engineer submits a query and receives code, with no persistent knowledge of the specific plant. We present a plant-aware conversational copilot that extends this paradigm in three directions: plant-specific context ingestion, a chat-first interaction model for explanation and debugging, and a graduated tool-access ladder from chat to deployment. The system is designed for real plant infrastructure and keeps the engineer in control of each step that produces real-world effects.

Tue 20 OctSoftware EngineeringArtificial IntelligenceMachine Learning
The gist
Programming industrial controllers is usually a manual task where engineers switch between code and documents. The authors created a system that understands the specific plant’s details and helps programmers by chatting with them, explaining code, and guiding deployment. Unlike previous tools, it remembers plant-specific information and supports ongoing interaction rather than one-time code generation. This design keeps control with the engineer, making programming smoother and safer.
Open → 2610.28160v1

Machine learning reconstructs full physical fields from sparse data

Inferring physical fields in coupled systems with unknown parameters from incomplete observations using physics-constrained attentive neural operators

Abstract: Given incomplete measurements of a single physical field in a coupled system with unknown parameters, can we infer its full physical state and identify the underlying parameters? This problem is challenging because multiple coupled fields must be reconstructed simultaneously from limited observations of only one, while the system parameters are unknown. In this work, we propose a machine learning framework for full-field reconstruction and parameter identification of unknown physical systems from sparse observations of a single physical field. Specifically, the cross-attention encoder propagates sparse sensor observations onto a regular grid to construct a sensor-conditioned latent representation, while a Fourier neural operator (FNO) decoder captures global spatial dependencies to reconstruct all coupled physical fields. The network parameters and unknown physical parameters are jointly optimized by minimizing observation losses, governing equation residuals, and boundary/initial condition constraints. The proposed approach is validated on two- and three-dimensional lid-driven cavity flows, a two-dimensional cylinder wake, and a two-dimensional non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics problem, demonstrating the recovery performance of unobserved fields and physical parameters from incomplete observations.

Mon 5 OctMachine Learning
The gist
This work tackles the problem of figuring out complete physical information about interconnected systems when only limited data from one part is available and the system’s properties are unknown. The authors designed a special neural network that uses attention mechanisms to spread sparse sensor data across a grid and a Fourier-based approach to capture spatial patterns. This setup helps them predict all related physical fields and discover unknown system parameters by combining data fitting and physics rules. Their method was tested on fluid and magnetic flow simulations, showing it can reconstruct unseen physical details effectively.
Open → 2610.05723v1