TensorFlow and CrateDB

Distributed Deep-Learning with CrateDB and TensorFlow.

Using deep learning algorithms for Machine Learning use cases has become more and more common in the world of data science. A common library used for solving deep learning problems is TensorFlow. It can be used to generate predictions based on various machine data features.

CrateDB can easily be integrated into a Machine Learning application as a data source, as well as serving as a data store for the resulting predictions. The connection to CrateDB can be established using the psycopg2 and pandas library. Preparing the data can be done with sklearn. This guide will demonstrate the process.

Implementation

Set Up

For this distributed machine learning implementation, you will be using a Kaggle data set called pump_sensor_data.

The dataset contains data gathered from 52 sensors. These data rows come with a timestamp and a machine-status attached to them. A machine can have three unique states:

  • normal

  • broken

  • recovering.

The data is stored in the CrateDB table ml.pump_sensors.

Using this sensor data, you can predict whether the machine will fail within a specified time period in the future.

Using this data with TensorFlow, you will want to accomplish the following:

  1. Retrieve data from CrateDB.

  2. Show extracts of what the data looks like.

  3. Prepare the data and build a machine learning model that will predict whether the machine will fail within a specified time window in the future.

  4. Save the previously built model on AWS S3.

  5. Retrieve the model from AWS S3, predict sample data and insert the results into the CrateDB table ml.pump_sensors_predictions.

Prerequisites

To be able to use the boto3 AWS client, you will need to provide credentials to the client so you can connect to your AWS S3 Bucket. To not have these credentials in the code, use an AWS config file at ~/.aws/config so it contains:

[default]
aws_access_key_id=<key>
aws_secret_access_key=<access_key>

The data from pump_sensor_data was cleaned before it was inserted into CrateDB: in this case, renaming a column that was missing a name and filling in all the missing values with -1.

CrateDB

In this first step, you need to make sure that you create the table that holds the pump sensor dataset as well as the table that will be storing the predictions:

CREATE TABLE "ml"."pump_sensors"
(
   "id" INTEGER,
   "timestamp" TEXT,
   "sensor_00" REAL,
   "sensor_01" REAL,
   "sensor_02" REAL,
   "sensor_03" REAL,
   "sensor_04" REAL,
   "sensor_05" REAL,
   "sensor_06" REAL,
   "sensor_07" REAL,
   "sensor_08" REAL,
   "sensor_09" REAL,
   "sensor_10" REAL,
   "sensor_11" REAL,
   "sensor_12" REAL,
   "sensor_13" REAL,
   "sensor_14" REAL,
   "sensor_15" REAL,
   "sensor_16" REAL,
   "sensor_17" REAL,
   "sensor_18" REAL,
   "sensor_19" REAL,
   "sensor_20" REAL,
   "sensor_21" REAL,
   "sensor_22" REAL,
   "sensor_23" REAL,
   "sensor_24" REAL,
   "sensor_25" REAL,
   "sensor_26" REAL,
   "sensor_27" REAL,
   "sensor_28" REAL,
   "sensor_29" REAL,
   "sensor_30" REAL,
   "sensor_31" REAL,
   "sensor_32" REAL,
   "sensor_33" REAL,
   "sensor_34" REAL,
   "sensor_35" REAL,
   "sensor_36" REAL,
   "sensor_37" REAL,
   "sensor_38" REAL,
   "sensor_39" REAL,
   "sensor_40" REAL,
   "sensor_41" REAL,
   "sensor_42" REAL,
   "sensor_43" REAL,
   "sensor_44" REAL,
   "sensor_45" REAL,
   "sensor_46" REAL,
   "sensor_47" REAL,
   "sensor_48" REAL,
   "sensor_49" REAL,
   "sensor_50" REAL,
   "sensor_51" REAL,
   "machine_status" TEXT
);

CREATE TABLE "ml"."pump_sensors_predictions"
(
   "prediction" REAL,
   "ts" TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE,
   "model_name" TEXT
);

Once the tables have been created, you can import the data:

COPY ml.pump_sensors FROM 'file:///path/to/sensor_new.csv'

To verify that the data has been successfully imported, you can query it:

SELECT COUNT(*) from ml.pump_sensors
+----------+
| count(*) |
+----------+
| 220320   |
+----------+
SELECT OK, 1 row in set (0.024sec)

Training A Model

First, you can load the data into our Python context with psycopg2 and pandas:

import pandas.io.aql as sqlio
from psycopg2 import connect

# Connecting to CrateDB and retrieving the pump sensor data.
with connect(conn_str) as conn:
    query = "SELECT * FROM ml.pump_sensors;"
    df = sqlio.read_sql_query(query, conn)

Once the data has been loaded into a dataframe, you can now start to prepare the data. This is so you can train a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) to classify the machine status within a given time window.

You can make an assumption and combine the two labels RECOVERING and BROKEN into a single label: BROKEN. With this, you can say the machine is in either the state NORMAL or the state BROKEN. Then you can binarize the labels so you can use them in the MLP. Additionally, you need to extract the sensor columns and split the data into train and test data frames, while normalizing their values between (0,1).

from sklearn.preprocessing import MinMaxScaler, label_binarize

# Replacing the RECOVERING label with BROKEN so you only have two labels
# and converting the string labels to numeric values (1 -> NORMAL, 0 -> BROKEN)
df["machine_status"] = df["machine_status"].replace("RECOVERING", "BROKEN")
df["machine_status"] = label_binarize(df["machine_status"], classes=["BROKEN", "NORMAL"])

# Transform each feature of the data set in a range between 0 and 1
min_max_scaler = MinMaxScaler(feature_range=(0, 1))

# Defining the size of the train and test data: 70% will be used for training, 30% for testing
test_split = 70
df_size = len(df.index)
split = int((df_size / 100) * test_split)

# Create a new dataframe only containing the training data and the normalized training data columns
df_train = df.iloc[0:split, :]
train_data_cols = df_train.iloc[:, 2:54]
norm_train_data_cols = min_max_scaler.fit_transform(train_data_cols)

# Create a new dataframe only containing the test data and the normalized test data columns
df_test = df.iloc[split:len(df.index), :]
test_data_cols = df_test.iloc[:, 2:54]
norm_test_data_cols = min_max_scaler.transform(test_data_cols)

The next step would be to define your time steps for the data. Let’s take an input time of 60 minutes and try to predict whether the machine will fail in the next 12 hours. After defining these, you can create data pairs for training the MLP model that fit into the time steps.

# Add this function over the main function.
# with this function you check whether the time window contained the machine status BROKEN,
# and if so, the whole time window will be considered to have the state BROKEN. If there
# was no BROKEN state, label it NORMAL.
def add_labels(start, stop, dataset):
    for step in range(start, stop):
        if dataset["machine_status"].iloc[step] == 0:
            return 0
    return 1


timestep = 60
output_timestep = 720

# Now create training pairs. Each pair consists of the data of the specified
# time window as well as the state of that time window. [(array([data]), 1), ...]
# First, get the data of the given time window and flatten that data to a one
# dimensional vector. Then save with the state that results from add_labels.
train_pairs = []
saved_step = 0
for i in df_train.index:
    row = saved_step
    if row + timestep + output_timestep < len(df_train.index):
        data_window = norm_train_data_cols[row:row + timestep]
        data_vector = data_window.flatten()
        state = add_labels(row + timestep, row + timestep + output_timestep, df_train)
        train_pairs.append((data_vector, state))
        saved_step = row + timestep
    else:
        break

Now that you have created your training data pairs, you can start with splitting the pairs into two sets: x and y. Set x will be used to train the model and set y will be used to verify the model’s accuracy.

import numpy as np


# Length of the data vector
input_len = train_pairs[0][0].shape[0]

# Create the x and y train set in the correct size, where x will be used to train the model
# and y for verifying the results
x_train = np.zeros((len(train_pairs), input_len))
y_train = np.zeros((len(train_pairs),))

# Put the data vector from train_pairs in the x array and the state in the y array
for index in range(0, len(train_pairs)):
    (x, y) = train_pairs[index]
    x_train[index, 0:input_len] = x
    y_train[index] = y

After creating your training data frames, you can now continue with creating the MLP model. For this example, use three layers, with the ReLU activation function for the first two layers. You can prevent the model degrading over successive epochs by stopping training, using the EarlyStopping callback.

import tensorflow as f
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from tensorflow.python.keras.callbacks import EarlyStopping
from tensorflow.keras import layers


# Create the Sequential object, which will function as a linear stack of the neural network
# layers with exactly one input vector and one output.
mlp_model = tf.keras.Sequential()

# Adding the layers to the model, layers. 'Dense' means that it creates a fully connected
# neural network layer.
mlp_model.add(layers.Dense(200, activation="relu", input_shape=(input_len,)))
mlp_model.add(layers.Dense(40, activation="relu"))
mlp_model.add(layers.Dense(1))

# Put together the the neural network and configure it with the
# optimization algorithm, loss function and the metric which the
# model uses to evaluate training and testing.
mlp_model.compile(optimizer="adam",
                  loss=tf.keras.losses.MeanSquaredError(),
                  metrics=["accuracy"])

# Set up the EarlyStopping: if the model gets worse 50 epochs in a row the
# training will be stopped preemptively. Then you fit the data on our model,
# meaning you train it with the given x_train and it can verify against y_train
es = EarlyStopping(monitor="loss", mode="auto", verbose=1, patience=50)
hist = mlp_model.fit(x_train, y_train, epochs=500, callbacks=[es])

# Show a plot of the loss for each epoch
plt.plot(hist.history["loss"])
plt.show()
../../_images/mlp_model_train_loss.png

This figure shows us the loss of each epoch. In the first 200 epochs it is slowly going down, while starting to go up again at around the 250 epoch mark. The EarlyStopping, that should stop the training when degrading, does not stop it here because it needs to degrade consistently over (in this case) 50 epochs to be stopped.

Now that you have your MLP model, you can start preparing the test data to verify the accuracy of the model.

# This works just like when you did the train_pairs before
test_pairs = []
test_saved_step = 0
for i in df_test.index:
    row = test_saved_step
    if row + timestep + output_timestep < len(df_test.index):
        data_window = norm_test_data_cols[row:row + timestep]
        data_vector = data_window.flatten()
        state = add_labels(row + timestep, row + timestep + output_timestep, df_test)
        test_pairs.append((data_vector, state))
        test_saved_step = row + timestep
    else:
        break

# This works just like when you did the x_train and y_train before
x_test = np.zeros((len(test_pairs), input_len))
y_test = np.zeros((len(test_pairs),))

for index in range(0, len(test_pairs)):
    (x, y) = test_pairs[index]
    x_test[index, 0:input_len] = x
    y_test[index] = y

This data is prepared in the same way as the training data was prepared. It can now be used with the model to generate predictions and to estimate the model’s accuracy.

# Predict the x_test data with the model you created before. This works with
# feed-forward passes in the neural network. Then the data is put into
# a one dimensional vector form
predictions = mlp_model.predict(x_test)
predictions = predictions.flatten()

# Evaluate the precision of the model by comparing the x and y data sets
_, train_acc = mlp_model.evaluate(x_train, y_train, verbose=0)
_, test_acc = mlp_model.evaluate(x_test, y_test, verbose=0)

print("train_acc: ", train_acc)
print("test_acc: ", test_acc)

[1] train_acc: 0.9827990531921387
[2] test_acc:  0.8741965293884277

The accuracy will vary slightly between the different executions. The training accuracy is nearly perfect, while the test accuracy is at 87%. These percentages apply when the training input is 60 minutes and the prediction output is for the next 720 minutes (12 hours). The results also vary depending on how many epochs one uses and the size of the timesteps.

Saving A Model To S3

The next step is to save the model to a AWS S3 Bucket, so the model can be accessed from other applications. Since the data you want to predict will not be normalized like the model, you also need to save the MinMaxScaler you created previously alongside the TensorFlow model.

import os
import boto3
from joblib import dump


bucket = "some-s3-bucket-name"

# The .h5 extension is the common file extension for tensorflow models
# Saving the model as a file
model_name = "some-model-name" + ".h5"
mlp_model.save(model_name)

# The common file extension for joblib is .joblib
# Save scaler as file
scaler_name = "some-scaler-name" + ".joblib"
dump(min_max_scaler, scaler_name)

# Create the boto3 client to connect to the AWS S3 bucket, the credentials
# will be read from the ~/.aws/config file and then the files will be
# uploaded
client = boto3.client("s3")
client.upload_file(model_name, bucket, model_name)
client.upload_file(scaler_name, bucket, scaler_name)

# Remove the model / scaler files
os.remove(model_name)
os.remove(scaler_name)

The model and scaler will now be present in the S3 bucket, available for use from other applications.

Predicting With Pre-Trained Model

Now you can switch to another application. The following code should be put into a different Python file than the above.

As the model is saved in an AWS S3 Bucket, you can load it from there and use it to predict pump sensor data without having to first train a model.

bucket = "some-s3-bucket-name"

# These name should be the same as you used for saving the model, including the file extension
model_name = "some-model-name"
scaler_name = "some-scaler-name"

# Create the boto3 client to connect to AWS S3 Bucket and download the files
client = boto3.client("s3")
client.download_file(bucket, model_name, model_name)
client.download_file(bucket, scaler_name, scaler_name)

Now that the application has the trained models, you can load them and use them to make predictions from new sets of sensor data.

import pandas.io.aql as sqlio
import tensorflow as tf
from joblib import load
from psycopg2 import connect

# Connecting to CrateDB and retrieving the pump sensor data.
with connect(conn_str) as conn:
    query = "SELECT * FROM ml.pump_sensors;"
    df = sqlio.read_sql_query(query, conn)

# Load the model and scaler from file
model = tf.keras.models.load_model(model_name)
scaler = load(scaler_name)

# Retrieve the data cols from the whole data set as you only need those and then
# normalize them with the scaler
data_cols = df.iloc[:, 2:54]
norm_data_cols = scaler.transform(data_cols)

# Create the x_pred data set, containing the data of the specified time window as a vector
x_pred = []
pred_saved_step = 0
for i in norm_data_cols.index:
    row = pred_saved_step
    if row + timestep < len(df_train.index):
        data_window = norm_data_cols[row:row + timestep]
        data_vector = data_window.flatten()
        x_pred.append(data_vector)
        pred_saved_step = row + timestep
    else:
        break

# Predict the x_pred data set and make it into an array of one dimensional vectors
predictions = model.predict(x_pred.reshape(1, -1))
predictions.flatten()

[1] [0.8614458441734314, 0.8530051112174988, 0.8502672910690308, 0.8750132918357849, 0.8636448979377747, ...]

Here you can see the first few predicted values. Everything ≥ 0.5 would mean that the machine is in a NORMAL state, while < 0.5 would mean it is BROKEN.

Saving The Predicted Values

As the final step, you can insert the predictions from the previous step into our CrateDB instance.

import time


query = "INSERT INTO ml.pump_sensors_predictions (prediction, ts, model_name) VALUES (%s, %s, %s);"

with connect(conn_str) as conn:
    with conn.cursor() as cur:
        print("Inserting data...")
        for entry in predictions:
            cur.execute(query, (float(entry), time.time(), model_name))

With this, you have successfully used a deep learning algorithm, namely a multilayer perceptron. Using CrateDB to store raw data and model predictions, alongside using S3 for blob storage, you have created a distributed architecture where applications can use various pieces of this Machine Learning pipeline. The training and prediction stages are decoupled, and can be distributed across different machines, contexts, and scenarios.