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Abstract Battery lifetime and reliability depend on accurate state-of-health (SOH) estimation, while complex degradation mechanisms and varying operating conditions strengthen this challenge. This study presents two physics-informed neural network (PINN) configurations, PINN-parallel and PINN-series, designed to improve SOH prediction by combining an equivalent circuit model (ECM) with a long short-term memory (LSTM) network. PINN-parallel process inputs data through parallel ECM and LSTM modules and combines their outputs for SOH estimation. On the other hand, the PINN-series uses a sequential approach that feeds ECM-derived parameters into the LSTM network to supplement temporal data analysis with physics information. Both models utilize easily accessible voltage, current, and temperature data that match realistic battery monitoring constraints. Experimental evaluations show that the PINN-series outperforms the PINN-parallel and the baseline LSTM model in accuracy and robustness. It also adapts well to different input conditions. This demonstrates that the simulated battery dynamic states from ECM increase the LSTM's ability to capture degradation patterns and improve the model's ability to explain complex battery behavior. However, a trade-off between the robustness and training efficiency of PINNs is identified. The research outcomes show the potential of PINN models (particularly the PINN-series) in advancing battery management systems, although they require considerable computational resources. 

Accurate prediction of repair durations is a challenge in product maintenance due to its implications for resource allocation, customer satisfaction, and operational performance. This study aims to develop a deep learning framework to help fleet repair shops accurately categorize repair time given product historical data. The study uses an automobile repair and maintenance dataset and creates an end-to-end predictive framework by employing a multi-head attention network designed for tabular data. The developed framework combines categorical information, transformed through embeddings and attention mechanisms, with numerical historical data to facilitate integration and learning from diverse data features. A weighted loss function is introduced to overcome class imbalance issues in large datasets. Moreover, an online learning strategy is used for continuous incremental model updates to maintain predictive accuracy in evolving operational environments. Our empirical findings demonstrate that the multi-head attention mechanism extracts meaningful interactions between vehicle identifiers and repair types compared to a feed-forward neural network. Also, combining historical maintenance data with an online learning strategy facilitates real-time adjustments to changing patterns and increases the model’s predictive performance on new data. The model is tested on real-world repair data spanning 2013 to 2020 and achieves an accuracy of 78%, with attention weight analyses illustrating feature interactions. 

Course and program developers must assess students’ performance and comprehension at multiple levels to identify and implement necessary curriculum improvements in addition to establishing the ultimate utility of the program. Such evaluation efforts ensure that the curriculum remains aligned with industry standards, and effectively meets learning objectives, thereby ensuring that students develop direct, transferable skills relevant to the field. Thus, the objective of the current research is to identify the necessary steps required to construct quantitative learning assessment (QuLA) in an online classroom setting. To achieve this objective, a four-step QuLA method is developed herein. To demonstrate the application of the method, two courses (MFGE 241 and MFGE 341) are selected from the four mechatronics-focused manufacturing engineering courses developed for the online Undergraduate Certificate in Mechatronics for Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University (OSU) under a project entitled Modular Educational Certification for Advancing Training Online through Industry Collaboration (MECHATRONIC) funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The outcomes of this research will be helpful for other education developers to conduct a QuLA for their associated courses/programs and to evaluate student performance and understanding. The developed QuLA method can be used in any engineering area, and is meant to serve as a broad recommendation for developing and implementing assessments in STEM courses. 

Battery lifetime and reliability depend on accurate state-of-health (SOH) estimation, while complex degradation mechanisms and varying operating conditions strengthen this challenge. This study presents two physics-informed neural network (PINN) configurations, PINN-Parallel, and PINN-Series, designed to improve SOH prediction by combining an equivalent circuit model (ECM) with a long short-term memory (LSTM) network. PINN-Parallel process input data through parallel ECM and LSTM modules and combine their outputs for SOH estimation. On the other hand, the PINN-Series uses a sequential approach that feeds ECM-derived parameters into the LSTM network to supplement temporal data analysis with physics information. Both models utilize easily accessible voltage, current, and temperature data that match realistic battery monitoring constraints. Experimental evaluations show that PINN-Series outperforms the PINN-Parallel and the baseline LSTM model in accuracy and robustness. It also adapts well to different input conditions. This demonstrates that the simulated battery dynamic states from ECM increase the LSTM's ability to capture degradation patterns and improve the model's ability to explain complex battery behavior. However, the trade-off between the robustness and training efficiency of PINNs is also discussed. The research findings show the potential of PINN models (particularly the PINN-Series) in advancing battery management systems, but the required computational resources need to be considered.