Novelty detection by multivariate kernel density estimation and growing neural gas algorithm

•Comparison of two approaches for novelty detection.•Multivariate kernel density estimation approach.•Growing neural gas (GNG) approach.•Application to railway turnout systems•GNG shows superior flexibility for practical applications.

One of the underlying assumptions when using data-based methods for pattern recognition in diagnostics or prognostics is that the selected data sample used to train and test the algorithm is representative of the entire dataset and covers all combinations of parameters and conditions, and resulting system states. However in practice, operating and environmental conditions may change, unexpected and previously unanticipated events may occur and corresponding new anomalous patterns develop. Therefore for practical applications, techniques are required to detect novelties in patterns and give confidence to the user on the validity of the performed diagnosis and predictions.In this paper, the application of two types of novelty detection approaches is compared: a statistical approach based on multivariate kernel density estimation and an approach based on a type of unsupervised artificial neural network, called the growing neural gas (GNG). The comparison is performed on a case study in the field of railway turnout systems. Both approaches demonstrate their suitability for detecting novel patterns. Furthermore, GNG proves to be more flexible, especially with respect to dimensionality of the input data and suitability for online learning.