A perfect automated anomaly detector

Ever since machinery and production processes became complex, we have been on a quest to accurately and automatically identify unexpected or unusual behavior from industrial automation data. These unusual behaviors – or instances where the data differs significantly from the expected – are what we call anomalies. Now, you may ask, why does anomaly detection matter in the first place? The answer is simply that we cannot possibly pay attention to all the data we generate today. We need something that will narrow down the data to only the parts that are important – the parts that are unexplained and therefore likely to provide us with a learning opportunity. These anomalies are what we can spare some attention to in order to keep production in our control.