Paper ID: 2303.04486

Better Together: Using Multi-task Learning to Improve Feature Selection within Structural Datasets

S. C. Bee, E. Papatheou, M Haywood-Alexander, R. S. Mills, L. A. Bull, K. Worden, N. Dervilis

There have been recent efforts to move to population-based structural health monitoring (PBSHM) systems. One area of PBSHM which has been recognised for potential development is the use of multi-task learning (MTL); algorithms which differ from traditional independent learning algorithms. Presented here is the use of the MTL, ''Joint Feature Selection with LASSO'', to provide automatic feature selection for a structural dataset. The classification task is to differentiate between the port and starboard side of a tailplane, for samples from two aircraft of the same model. The independent learner produced perfect F1 scores but had poor engineering insight; whereas the MTL results were interpretable, highlighting structural differences as opposed to differences in experimental set-up.

Submitted: Mar 8, 2023