Multiclass Incremental Learning for Fault Diagnosis in Induction Motors Using Fine-Tuning with a Memory of Exemplars and Nearest Centroid Classifier

Early detection of fault events through electromechanical systems operation is one of the most attractive and critical data challenges in modern industry. Although these electromechanical systems tend to experiment with typical faults, a common event is that unexpected and unknown faults can be presented during operation. However, current models for automatic detection can learn new faults at the cost of forgetting concepts previously learned. This article presents a multiclass incremental learning (MCIL) framework based on 1D convolutional neural network (CNN) for fault detection in induction motors. The presented framework tackles the forgetting problem by storing a representative exemplar set from past data (known faults) in memory. Then, the 1D CNN is fine-tuned over the selected exemplar set and data from new faults. Test samples are classified using nearest centroid classifier (NCC) in the feature space from 1D CNN. The proposed framework was evaluated and validated over two public datasets for fault detection in induction motors (IMs): asynchronous motor common fault (AMCF) and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). Experimental results reveal the proposed framework as an effective solution to incorporate and detect new induction motor faults to already known, with a high accuracy performance across different incremental phases.