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Master's Thesis
Author of thesis: Ing. Vojtěch Orava
Acad. year: 2025/2026
Supervisor: Ing. Tomáš Kašpárek, Ph.D.
Reviewer: Ing. Jiří Novák, Ph.D.
This thesis addresses anomaly detection in satellite telemetry, where anomalies may signal impending system failures with potentially catastrophic consequences. The work investigates the use of artificial intelligence methods for this task. Multiple detection models were implemented and evaluated, including long short-term memory (LSTM) networks, autoencoders, residual networks (ResNet), and convolutional neural networks, using both forecasting-based and reconstruction-based approaches. Model performance was assessed using several metrics, with PR-AUC (area under the precision–recall curve) as the primary criterion. The experiments were conducted on a synthetic telemetry dataset generated by a custom data generator developed as part of this work. The best results were achieved by an LSTM-based autoencoder model, reaching a PR AUC of 0.946. To evaluate deployment feasibility, inference performance was tested on embedded platforms (AMD ZCU104 and NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano), simulating onboard satellite computing constraints. In addition, real telemetry data from the ESA anomaly detection benchmark were used to assess performance in practical scenarios. Finally, an Anomaly Exploration and Report System (AERS) was developed to complete the detection pipeline, providing an interface for domain experts to implement custom anomaly explanation modules.
satellite telemetry, anomaly detection, neural networks, TensorFlow, machine learning, forecasting-based detection, reconstruction-based detection, synthetic data generator, AMD ZCU104, NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, anomaly analysis, ESA ADB
Date of defence
22.06.2026
Result of the defence
Defended (thesis was successfully defended)
Grading
A
Process of defence
Student nejprve prezentoval výsledky, kterých dosáhl v rámci své práce. Komise se poté seznámila s hodnocením vedoucího a posudkem oponenta práce. Student následně odpověděl na otázky oponenta a na další otázky přítomných. Komise se na základě posudku oponenta, hodnocení vedoucího, přednesené prezentace a odpovědí studenta na položené otázky rozhodla práci hodnotit stupněm A.
Topics for thesis defence
Language of thesis
English
Faculty
Fakulta informačních technologií
Department
Department of Computer Graphics and Multimedia
Study programme
Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence (MITAI)
Specialization
Machine Learning (NMAL)
Composition of Committee
prof. Dr. Ing. Jan Černocký (předseda) prof. Ing. Martin Čadík, Ph.D. (místopředseda) doc. Ing. Vladimír Janoušek, Ph.D. (člen) doc. Ing. Michal Bidlo, Ph.D. (člen) doc. Ing. František Zbořil, Ph.D. (člen) Ing. Petr Veigend, Ph.D. (člen)
Supervisor’s reportIng. Tomáš Kašpárek, Ph.D.
Student předvedl schopnost navrhnout a realizovat nástroje řešící skutečný aktuální problém na úrovni srovnatelné s celosvětově dostupnými výsledky. Oceňuji nadhled na celou problematiku a její uchopení v širším kontextu od práce s generováním vhodných testovacích a trénovacích dat, přes modulární řešení celého postupu, až po nástroj pro vyhodnocení výsledků.
Navrhuji tuto práci na Cenu děkana, případně na nominaci na IT SPY 2026.
Práce měla za cíl prostudovat dostupné metody pro detekci anomálií v univarietních časových řadách. Kromě různých postupů bylo také nutné provést rešerši dostupných dat pro jejich testování a zkušeností s reálnými případy anomálií z historických misí.
Práce byla dokončena s výrazným předstihem a bylo tak dostatek prostoru pro konzultaci její finální podoby.
Student tuto svoji práci úspěšně prezentoval na fakultní Excel@FIT a také na Brno Space Student Conference 2026. Kromě zkušenosti, kterou jistě využije při prezentaci při státní zkoušce se tak podílel i na propagaci FIT.
Student projevil schopnost aktivního a samostatného vyhledávání nejen studijních materiálů k teoretické části, ale i co se týká dostupných zkušeností z reálných misí a potřebných dostupných testovacích dat.
Student na projektu pracoval pravidelně, aktuální stav konzultoval a aktivně hledal další možnosti řešení vzniklých problémů.
Grade proposed by supervisor: A
Reviewer’s reportIng. Jiří Novák, Ph.D.
The submitted thesis presents a comprehensive and well-structured study of anomaly detection in satellite telemetry using modern machine learning and deep learning approaches. The student successfully designed, implemented, and evaluated a wide range of neural network architecture. The experimental evaluation is extensive and well thought out.
The thesis also shows careful consideration of real-world constraints, particularly in the context of satellite onboard systems, where computational resources, energy efficiency, and reliability are critical.
Overall, the thesis is of excellent quality and clearly exceeds the standard expectations for a diploma thesis. Therefore, I evaluate the thesis with a grade A.
Given the technical level of the work and its quality in integration and evaluation, I recommended the thesis for the Dean’s Award.
Evaluation level: zadání splněno
The submitted work can be considered as largely fulfilling the assigned requirements, with several parts even exceeding the original scope of the thesis assignment.
All core objectives were addressed. The thesis also successfully covers the required distinction between time-independent and time-dependent telemetry data, and correctly focuses on methods suitable for sequential signals, such as forecasting-based and reconstruction-based anomaly detection.
The assignment also required implementation and evaluation using relevant datasets, specifically ESA and NASA benchmarks (SMAP & MSL). This requirement has been fully met, and the evaluation is extended by additional datasets (OPS-SAT, ESA AD benchmark subsets) as well as a custom-generated synthetic dataset, which goes beyond the original assignment scope.
Evaluation level: je v obvyklém rozmezí
The submitted technical report clearly meets the required length criteria and is likely within or slightly above the typical recommended range, based on the provided structure and chapter distribution.
The work contains a comprehensive and well-balanced structure, covering all essential parts of a research-oriented thesis.
At the same time, the distribution of content indicates that the thesis does not appear excessively inflated with non-essential material. Sections such as on-board performance evaluation, edge device testing, and anomaly reporting system development appropriately support the main objective and contribute meaningfully to the overall scope.
The technical report is well-structured and logically organized, with a clear progression from theoretical background to implementation, experiments, and final evaluation. The chapter structure is appropriate and supports good orientation in the text, and the separation of topics is generally consistent and meaningful.
The presentation benefits from the inclusion of figures, tables, and mathematical definitions, which help clarify key concepts and evaluation procedures. The neural network architecture block diagrams also help get better intuition of the theoretical concepts.
Overall, the presentation quality is very strong and meets the criteria for grade A
The technical report is well-structured and consistently formatted. The chapter organization, numbering, and hierarchical structure of sections are clear and logically arranged, supporting good readability and orientation within the document.
From a typographic perspective, the document is of high quality. Equations and technical notation are correctly formatted, references are properly integrated, and visual elements are consistently labeled and placed. The overall layout is clean and professional, with only minor and infrequent inconsistencies that do not affect readability.
The language quality is also strong. Although there are occasional minor grammatical imperfections or slightly non-native phrasings, they are rare and do not interfere with understanding.
Overall, the formal and typographic quality of the thesis is excellent, with only minimal flaws, corresponding to grade A.
The selection of literature is highly appropriate with respect to the topic and assignment. The student works with a balanced mix of foundational and up-to-date sources. The bibliography includes both comprehensive survey papers and key original works.
Citations are generally well handled in the text, with clear separation between referenced knowledge and the author’s own contributions. The bibliography is extensive, well-structured, and mostly consistent in formatting.
Overall, the use of literature is at a very good and corresponds to grade A.
The technical realization of the thesis is at a very high level and demonstrates a well-designed and fully functional implementation of a complex anomaly detection system for satellite telemetry. The student successfully implemented and compared multiple neural network architectures and integrated them into a unified experimental framework.
The software solution is functionally complete and covers all required stages of the workflow. The system is additionally extended by synthetic data generation and an anomaly exploration/reporting module, which significantly increases the practical value of the implementation.
The experimental setup is carefully designed, allowing consistent measurement of performance metrics such as PR AUC, inference time, and model size.
Validation and verification are performed thoroughly. The use of multiple datasets (synthetic data, NASA SMAP/MSL, ESA AD benchmark, and Kaggle subset) provides strong evidence of robustness and generalization testing. Additionally, hardware-based validation on embedded and edge devices strengthens the practical relevance of the results.
Overall, the realization output is of excellent quality, demonstrating both strong engineering capability and a high level of practical applicability, corresponding to grade A.
The thesis is primarily of an extending nature, building upon existing published research in the field of anomaly detection in time series and satellite telemetry. It is particularly focused on resource-constrained and onboard (edge) deployment scenarios.
A significant practical contribution is the detailed analysis of model suitability for onboard execution on space-oriented hardware platforms such as Raspberry Pi 4B, NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, and AMD ZCU104. This directly supports real-world applicability in satellite systems with strict constraints on memory, power consumption, and computational resources.
Evaluation level: obtížnější zadání
The assignment can be evaluated asabove-average in difficulty and research-intensive, as it addresses the complex and safety-critical domain of anomaly detection in satellite telemetry. The work requires not only a theoretical understanding of statistical, machine learning, and deep learning approaches, but also their adaptation to both time-independent and, in particular, time-dependent telemetry data, which is essential for real satellite systems.
Grade proposed by reviewer: A
Responsibility: Mgr. et Mgr. Hana Odstrčilová