A Lightweight 1D-CNN-Transformer for Bearing Fault Diagnosis Under Limited Data and AWGN Interference

Intelligent bearing fault diagnosis is essential for maintaining the reliability of rotating machinery. However, deploying deep learning models in industrial environments is often constrained by a lack of labeled data, environmental noise, and strict hardware limits. To address these connected challenges, this paper proposes 1D-CNN-Trans, a flexible and resource-efficient hybrid framework. Designed for supervised diagnosis with restricted data, the configurable model combines a compact one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) for local feature extraction, a Transformer encoder for capturing long-range temporal dependencies, and an optional squeeze-and-excitation (SE) module for channel recalibration under favorable conditions. The method is evaluated on two standard mechanical benchmarks under limited sample conditions, controlled additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), and dynamic non-stationary interference. Experimental results indicate that 1D-CNN-Trans shows improved robustness under interference compared to selected baselines, notably improving accuracy against a standard CNN backbone. Furthermore, findings indicate that while the Transformer ensures noise robustness, channel recalibration (via SE) introduces optimization instability under extreme sparsity and noise. Consequently, we reposition the architecture as a configurable framework where recalibration is conditionally activated. Finally, theoretical complexity analysis is provided to validate the model’s low computational burden, indicating its general feasibility for resource-constrained scenarios.