Hybrid Machine Learning-Based Fault-Tolerant Sensor Data Fusion and Anomaly Detection for Fire Risk Mitigation in IIoT Environment

In the oil and gas IIoT environment, fire detection systems heavily depend on fire sensor data, which can be prone to inaccuracies due to faulty or unreliable sensors. These sensor issues, such as noise, missing values, outliers, sensor drift, and faulty readings, can lead to delayed or missed fire predictions, posing significant safety and operational risks in the oil and gas industrial IoT environment. This paper presents an approach for handling faulty sensors in edge servers within an IIoT environment to enhance the reliability and accuracy of fire prediction through multi-sensor fusion preprocessing, machine learning (ML)-driven probabilistic model adjustment, and uncertainty handling. First, a real-time anomaly detection and statistical assessment mechanism is employed to preprocess sensor data, filtering out faulty readings and normalizing data from multiple sensor types using dynamic thresholding, which adapts to sensor behavior in real-time. The proposed approach also deploys machine learning algorithms to dynamically adjust probabilistic models based on real-time sensor reliability, thereby improving prediction accuracy even in the presence of unreliable sensor data. A belief mass assignment mechanism is introduced, giving more weight to reliable sensors to ensure they have a stronger influence on fire detection. Simultaneously, a dynamic belief update strategy continuously adjusts sensor trust levels, reducing the impact of faulty readings over time. Additionally, uncertainty measurements using Hellinger and Deng entropy, along with Dempster-Shafer Theory, enable the integration of conflicting sensor inputs and enhance decision-making in fire detection. This approach improves decision-making by managing sensor discrepancies and provides a reliable solution for real-time fire predictions, even in the presence of faulty sensor readings, thereby mitigating the fire risks in IIoT environments.