Feature-based classifier ensembles for diagnosing multiple faults in rotating machinery

Recent researches in fault classification have shown the importance of accurately selecting the features that have to be used as inputs to the diagnostic model. In this work, a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) is considered for the feature selection phase. Then, two different techniques for using the selected features to develop the fault classification model are compared: a single classifier based on the feature subset with the best classification performance and an ensemble of classifiers working on different feature subsets. The motivation for developing ensembles of classifiers is that they can achieve higher accuracies than single classifiers. An important issue for an ensemble to be effective is the diversity in the predictions of the base classifiers which constitute it, i.e. their capability of erring on different sub-regions of the pattern space. In order to show the benefits of having diverse base classifiers in the ensemble, two different ensembles have been developed: in the first, the base classifiers are constructed on feature subsets found by MOGAs aimed at maximizing the fault classification performance and at minimizing the number of features of the subsets; in the second, diversity among classifiers is added to the MOGA search as the third objective function to maximize. In both cases, a voting technique is used to effectively combine the predictions of the base classifiers to construct the ensemble output. For verification, some numerical experiments are conducted on a case of multiple-fault classification in rotating machinery and the results achieved by the two ensembles are compared with those obtained by a single optimal classifier.     

Ensemble feature selection with the simple Bayesian classification

A popular method for creating an accurate classifier from a set of training data is to build several classifiers, and then to combine their predictions. The ensembles of simple Bayesian classifiers have traditionally not been a focus of research. One way to generate an ensemble of accurate and diverse simple Bayesian classifiers is to use different feature subsets generated with the random subspace method. In this case, the ensemble consists of multiple classifiers constructed by randomly selecting feature subsets, that is, classifiers constructed in randomly chosen subspaces. In this paper, we present an algorithm for building ensembles of simple Bayesian classifiers in random subspaces. The EFS_SBC algorithm includes a hill-climbing-based refinement cycle, which tries to improve the accuracy and diversity of the base classifiers built on random feature subsets. We conduct a number of experiments on a collection of 21 real-world and synthetic data sets, comparing the EFS_SBC ensembles with the single simple Bayes, and with the boosted simple Bayes. In many cases the EFS_SBC ensembles have higher accuracy than the single simple Bayesian classifier, and than the boosted Bayesian ensemble. We find that the ensembles produced focusing on diversity have lower generalization error, and that the degree of importance of diversity in building the ensembles is different for different data sets. We propose several methods for the integration of simple Bayesian classifiers in the ensembles. In a number of cases the techniques for dynamic integration of classifiers have significantly better classification accuracy than their simple static analogues. We suggest that a reason for that is that the dynamic integration better utilizes the ensemble coverage than the static integration.     

A novel ensemble-based wrapper method for feature selection using extreme learning machine and genetic algorithm

This paper presents a novel wrapper feature selection algorithm for classification problems, namely hybrid genetic algorithm (GA)- and extreme learning machine (ELM)-based feature selection algorithm (HGEFS). It utilizes GA to wrap ELM to search for the optimum subsets in the huge feature space, and then, a set of subsets are selected to make ensemble to improve the final prediction accuracy. To prevent GA from being trapped in the local optimum, we propose a novel and efficient mechanism specifically designed for feature selection problems to maintain GA’s diversity. To measure each subset’s quality fairly and efficiently, we adopt a modified ELM called error-minimized extreme learning machine (EM-ELM) which automatically determines an appropriate network architecture for each feature subsets. Moreover, EM-ELM has good generalization ability and extreme learning speed which allows us to perform wrapper feature selection processes in an affordable time. In other words, we simultaneously optimize feature subset and classifiers’ parameters. After finishing the search process of GA, to further promote the prediction accuracy and get a stable result, we select a set of EM-ELMs from the obtained population to make the final ensemble according to a specific ranking and selecting strategy. To verify the performance of HGEFS, empirical comparisons are carried out on different feature selection methods and HGEFS with benchmark datasets. The results reveal that HGEFS is a useful method for feature selection problems and always outperforms other algorithms in comparison.     

一种基于旋转森林的集成协同训练算法

集成协同训练算法（ensemble co-training）是将集成学习（ensemble learning）和协同训练算法（co-training）相结合的半监督学习方法,旋转森林（rotation forest）是利用特征提取来构造基分类器差异性的集成学习方法,在对现有的集成协同训练算法研究基础上,提出了基于旋转森林的协同训练算法——ROFCO,该方法重在利用未标记数据提高基分类器之间的差异性和特征提取效果,使基分类器的泛化误差保持不变或下降的同时,能保持甚至提高基分类器之间的差异性,提高集成效果。实验结果表明该方法能取得较好效果。     

Overfitting cautious selection of classifier ensembles with genetic algorithms

Information fusion research has recently focused on the characteristics of the decision profiles of ensemble members in order to optimize performance. These characteristics are particularly important in the selection of ensemble members. However, even though the control of overfitting is a challenge in machine learning problems, much less work has been devoted to the control of overfitting in selection tasks. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to show that overfitting can be detected at the selection stage; and (2) to present strategies to control overfitting. Decision trees and k nearest neighbors classifiers are used to create homogeneous ensembles, while single- and multi-objective genetic algorithms are employed as search algorithms at the selection stage. In this study, we use bagging and random subspace methods for ensemble generation. The classification error rate and a set of diversity measures are applied as search criteria. We show experimentally that the selection of classifier ensembles conducted by genetic algorithms is prone to overfitting, especially in the multi-objective case. In this study, the partial validation, backwarding and global validation strategies are tailored for classifier ensemble selection problem and compared. This comparison allows us to show that a global validation strategy should be applied to control overfitting in pattern recognition systems involving an ensemble member selection task. Furthermore, this study has helped us to establish that the global validation strategy can be used to measure the relationship between diversity and classification performance when diversity measures are employed as single-objective functions.     

基于特征选择的集成分类器抗噪性能分析

特征选择有助于增强集成分类器成员间的随机差异性,从而提高泛化精度。研究了随机子空间法（RandomSub-space）和旋转森林法（RotationForest）两种基于特征选择的集成分类器构造算法,分析讨论了两算法特征选择的方式与随机差异程度之间的关系。通过对UCI数据集引入噪声,比较两者在噪声环境下的分类精度。实验结果表明：当噪声增加及特征关联度下降时,基本学习算法及噪声程度对集成效果均有影响,当噪声增强到一定程度后。集成效果和单分类器的性能趋于一致。     

Fusion of feature sets and classifiers for facial expression recognition

This paper presents a novel method for facial expression recognition that employs the combination of two different feature sets in an ensemble approach. A pool of base support vector machine classifiers is created using Gabor filters and Local Binary Patterns. Then a multi-objective genetic algorithm is used to search for the best ensemble using as objective functions the minimization of both the error rate and the size of the ensemble. Experimental results on JAFFE and Cohn-Kanade databases have shown the efficiency of the proposed strategy in finding powerful ensembles, which improves the recognition rates between 5% and 10% over conventional approaches that employ single feature sets and single classifiers.     

Classifier ensemble construction with rotation forest to improve medical diagnosis performance of machine learning algorithms

Improving accuracies of machine learning algorithms is vital in designing high performance computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) systems. Researches have shown that a base classifier performance might be enhanced by ensemble classification strategies. In this study, we construct rotation forest (RF) ensemble classifiers of 30 machine learning algorithms to evaluate their classification performances using Parkinson's, diabetes and heart diseases from literature.While making experiments, first the feature dimension of three datasets is reduced using correlation based feature selection (CFS) algorithm. Second, classification performances of 30 machine learning algorithms are calculated for three datasets. Third, 30 classifier ensembles are constructed based on RF algorithm to assess performances of respective classifiers with the same disease data. All the experiments are carried out with leave-one-out validation strategy and the performances of the 60 algorithms are evaluated using three metrics; classification accuracy (ACC), kappa error (KE) and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC).Base classifiers succeeded 72.15%, 77.52% and 84.43% average accuracies for diabetes, heart and Parkinson's datasets, respectively. As for RF classifier ensembles, they produced average accuracies of 74.47%, 80.49% and 87.13% for respective diseases.RF, a newly proposed classifier ensemble algorithm, might be used to improve accuracy of miscellaneous machine learning algorithms to design advanced CADx systems.     

Dynamic ensemble selection for quantification tasks

Ensembles are among the most effective and successful methods for almost all supervised tasks. Not long ago, an ensemble approach has been proposed for quantification learning. The idea of such method is to exploit the prior knowledge about quantification tasks, building ensembles in which diversity is achieved by training each model with a different distribution. These training samples are generated taking into account the expected drift in class distribution. This paper extends this method proposing three new quantifier selection criteria particularly devised for quantification problems, where two of them are defined for dynamic ensemble selection. The experiments demonstrate that, in many cases, these selection functions outperform straightforward approaches, like averaging all models and using quantification accuracy to prune the ensemble. Moreover, the results show that performance heavily depends on the combination of the base quantification algorithm and the selection measure.     

ReinSel: A class-based mechanism for feature selection in ensemble of classifiers

Classifier ensembles are systems composed of a set of individual classifiers structured in a parallel way and a combination module, which is responsible for providing the final output of the system. In the design of these systems, diversity is considered as one of the main aspects to be taken into account, since there is no gain in combining identical classification methods. One way of increasing diversity is to provide different datasets (patterns and/or attributes) for the individual classifiers. In this context, it is envisaged to use, for instance, feature selection methods in order to select subsets of attributes for the individual classifiers. In this paper, it is investigated the ReinSel method, which is a class-based feature selection method for ensemble systems. This method is inserted into the filter approach of feature selection methods and it chooses only the attributes that are important only for a specific class through the use of a reinforcement procedure.     

ARTIE and MUSCLE models: building ensemble classifiers from fuzzy ART and SOM networks

Ensemble Learning has proven to be an efficient method to improve the performance of single classifiers. In this context, the present article introduces ARTIE (ART networks in Ensembles) and MUSCLE (Multiple SOM Classifiers in Ensembles), two novel ensemble models that use Fuzzy ART and SOM networks as base classifiers, respectively. In addition, a hybrid metaheuristic solution based on Particle Swarm Optimization and Simulated Annealing is used for parameter tuning of the base classifiers. A comprehensive performance comparison using 10 benchmarking data sets indicates that the ARTIE and MUSCLE architectures consistently outperform ensembles built from standard supervised neural networks, such as the Fuzzy ARTMAP, Learning Vector Quantization, and the Extreme Learning Machine.     

选择策略的集成学习方法研究

差异性是提高分类器集成泛化性能的重要因素。采用熵差异性度量及数据子集法训练基分类器,研究了爬山选择、集成前序选择、集成后序选择以及聚类选择策略选取个体模型的集成学习。实验结果表明,由选择策略选取差异性较大的个体模型,其集成性能表现出较好的优势;从总体角度考虑,爬山选择策略的集成性能优于集成前序选择和集成后序选择的集成性能;另外,由聚类技术选取的集成模型,当集成正确率较稳定时,则模型间的差异性变化较小;簇数也对集成性能与集成模型间的差异性产生一定的影响。     

Feature selection for ensembles applied to handwriting recognition

Feature selection for ensembles has shown to be an effective strategy for ensemble creation due to its ability of producing good subsets of features, which make the classifiers of the ensemble disagree on difficult cases. In this paper we present an ensemble feature selection approach based on a hierarchical multi-objective genetic algorithm. The underpinning paradigm is the “overproduce and choose”. The algorithm operates in two levels. Firstly, it performs feature selection in order to generate a set of classifiers and then it chooses the best team of classifiers. In order to show its robustness, the method is evaluated in two different contexts:supervised and unsupervised feature selection. In the former, we have considered the problem of handwritten digit recognition and used three different feature sets and multi-layer perceptron neural networks as classifiers. In the latter, we took into account the problem of handwritten month word recognition and used three different feature sets and hidden Markov models as classifiers. Experiments and comparisons with classical methods, such as Bagging and Boosting, demonstrated that the proposed methodology brings compelling improvements when classifiers have to work with very low error rates. Comparisons have been done by considering the recognition rates only.     

The online performance estimation framework: heterogeneous ensemble learning for data streams

Ensembles of classifiers are among the best performing classifiers available in many data mining applications, including the mining of data streams. Rather than training one classifier, multiple classifiers are trained, and their predictions are combined according to a given voting schedule. An important prerequisite for ensembles to be successful is that the individual models are diverse. One way to vastly increase the diversity among the models is to build an heterogeneous ensemble, comprised of fundamentally different model types. However, most ensembles developed specifically for the dynamic data stream setting rely on only one type of base-level classifier, most often Hoeffding Trees. We study the use of heterogeneous ensembles for data streams. We introduce the Online Performance Estimation framework, which dynamically weights the votes of individual classifiers in an ensemble. Using an internal evaluation on recent training data, it measures how well ensemble members performed on this and dynamically updates their weights. Experiments over a wide range of data streams show performance that is competitive with state of the art ensemble techniques, including Online Bagging and Leveraging Bagging, while being significantly faster. All experimental results from this work are easily reproducible and publicly available online.     

多分类器融合在语音情感识别中的应用

针对语音情感识别问题,提出一种采用决策模板的多分类器融合方法,利用不同类型的声学特征子集来构造子分类器。不同的子集能充分提高各子分类器之间的“多样性”指标,这是多分类器融合算法能够成功应用的必备条件。与多数投票融合算法和支持向量机相比该方法取得了较好的识别结果。另一方面,从多样性指标分析的角度出发探究该方法能获得较好识别效果的原因。     

What influences the accuracy of decision tree ensembles?

An ensemble in machine learning is defined as a set of models (such as classifiers or predictors) that are induced individually from data by using one or more machine learning algorithms for a given task and then work collectively in the hope of generating improved decisions. In this paper we investigate the factors that influence ensemble performance, which mainly include accuracy of individual classifiers, diversity between classifiers, the number of classifiers in an ensemble and the decision fusion strategy. Among them, diversity is believed to be a key factor but more complex and difficult to be measured quantitatively, and it was thus chosen as the focus of this study, together with the relationships between the other factors. A technique was devised to build ensembles with decision trees that are induced with randomly selected features. Three sets of experiments were performed using 12 benchmark datasets, and the results indicate that (i) a high level of diversity indeed makes an ensemble more accurate and robust compared with individual models; (ii) small ensembles can produce results as good as, or better than, large ensembles provided the appropriate (e.g. more diverse) models are selected for the inclusion. This has implications that for scaling up to larger databases the increased efficiency of smaller ensembles becomes more significant and beneficial. As a test case study, ensembles are built based on these findings for a real world application—osteoporosis classification, and found that, in each case of three datasets used, the ensembles out-performed individual decision trees consistently and reliably.     

基于ReliefF和改进乌鸦搜索优化的并行入侵检测方法

针对微阵列基因表达数据高维小样本、高冗余且高噪声的问题,提出一种基于FCBF特征选择和集成优化学习的分类算法FICS-EKELM。首先使用快速关联过滤方法FCBF滤除部分不相关特征和噪声,找出与类别相关性较高的特征集合;其次,运用抽样技术生成多个样本子集,在每个训练子集上利用改进乌鸦搜索算法同步实现最优特征子集选择和核极限学习机KELM分类器参数优化;然后基于基分类器构建集成分类模型对目标数据进行分类识别;此外运用多核平台多线程并行方式进一步提高算法计算效率。在六组基因数据集上的实验结果表明,本文算法不仅能用较少特征基因达到较优的分类效果,并且分类结果显著高于已有和相似方法,是一种有效的高维数据分类方法。     

Rotation forest: A new classifier ensemble method

We propose a method for generating classifier ensembles based on feature extraction. To create the training data for a base classifier, the feature set is randomly split into K subsets (K is a parameter of the algorithm) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is applied to each subset. All principal components are retained in order to preserve the variability information in the data. Thus, K axis rotations take place to form the new features for a base classifier. The idea of the rotation approach is to encourage simultaneously individual accuracy and diversity within the ensemble. Diversity is promoted through the feature extraction for each base classifier. Decision trees were chosen here because they are sensitive to rotation of the feature axes, hence the name "forest.” Accuracy is sought by keeping all principal components and also using the whole data set to train each base classifier. Using WEKA, we examined the Rotation Forest ensemble on a random selection of 33 benchmark data sets from the UCI repository and compared it with Bagging, AdaBoost, and Random Forest. The results were favorable to Rotation Forest and prompted an investigation into diversity-accuracy landscape of the ensemble models. Diversity-error diagrams revealed that Rotation Forest ensembles construct individual classifiers which are more accurate than these in AdaBoost and Random Forest, and more diverse than these in Bagging, sometimes more accurate as well.     

Diversity-based combination of non-parametric classifiers for EMG signal decomposition

Non-parametric classification procedures based on a certainty measure and nearest neighbour rule for motor unit potential classification (MUP) during electromyographic (EMG) signal decomposition were explored. A diversity-based classifier fusion approach is developed and evaluated to achieve improved classification performance. The developed system allows the construction of a set of non-parametric base classifiers and then automatically chooses, from the pool of base classifiers, subsets of classifiers to form candidate classifier ensembles. The system selects the classifier ensemble members by exploiting a diversity measure for selecting classifier teams. The kappa statistic is used as the diversity measure to estimate the level of agreement between base classifier outputs, i.e., to measure the degree of decision similarity between base classifiers. The pool of base classifiers consists of two kinds of classifiers: adaptive certainty-based classifiers (ACCs) and adaptive fuzzy k-NN classifiers (AFNNCs) and both utilize different types of features. Once the patterns are assigned to their classes, by the classifier fusion system, firing pattern consistency statistics for each class are calculated to detect classification errors in an adaptive fashion. Performance of the developed system was evaluated using real and simulated EMG signals and was compared with the performance of the constituent base classifiers and the performance of the fixed ensemble containing the full set of base classifiers. Across the EMG signal data sets used, the diversity-based classifier fusion approach had better average classification performance overall, especially in terms of reducing classification errors.     

基于随机子空间核极端学习机集成的高光谱遥感图像分类

结合随机子空间和核极端学习机集成提出了一种新的高光谱遥感图像分类方法。首先利用随机子空间方法从高光谱遥感图像数据的整体特征中随机生成多个大小相同的特征子集;然后利用核极端学习机在这些特征子集上进行训练从而获得基分类器;最后将所有基分类器的输出集成起来,通过投票机制得到分类结果。在高光谱遥感图像数据集上的实验结果表明:所提方法能够提高分类效果,且其分类总精度要高于核极端学习机和随机森林方法。