Tiny Machine Learning for Energy Applications

Dear Colleagues,

As the demand for energy-efficient solutions continues to rise across various sectors, the integration of efficient Machine Learning algorithms into small and low-power devices has emerged as promising technology to optimize energy usage and enhancing the efficiency of distributed systems. This approach is commonly referred to as Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML). TinyML enables intelligent decision-making and data filtering at the edge of the network, optimizing energy usage, avoiding unnecessary data transmission enabling higher operational efficiency.

This Special Issue seeks original contributions to explore the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in deploying TinyML solutions with an emphasis on energy aspects to address the pressing need for sustainable and efficient energy management. Contributions should demonstrate progress, address challenges, and showcase practical applications of TinyML in improving the efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of such systems.

We welcome original high-quality research papers, review articles, case studies, and perspectives that contribute to advancing the field of TinyML for energy efficient applications.

Contributions may cover a wide range of topics, including but not limited to:

• TinyML Applications: Novel applications across energy efficiency and emerging use cases; Practical implementations of TinyML in energy conservation, efficiency, and sustainability; Application in smart grid technologies for e1ective demand response, load forecasting, and energy distribution optimization; Discussions about real-world use cases; Survey on practical experiences.
• TinyML Algorithms: Innovative Algorithms and models for energy forecasting, monitoring, and management; Real-time data analytics for energy; ML algorithms optimization and fine-tuning for resources constrained devices; Innovative TinyML architectures; Optimization strategies for energy constrained TinyML deployments.
• TinyML Architectures: Energy-aware edge computing architectures leveraging TinyML capabilities to enhance operational efficiency. Exploration, evaluation and characterization of hybrid computing approaches (i.e., fog/mist computing); Interdisciplinary approaches combining TinyML with other technologies (e.g., IoT, blockchain, augmented/virtual reality).
• TinyML Systems: Energy-efficient architectures and hardware for energy applications; performance characterization and power figures of distributed infrastructures; Hardware and Software co-design-based solutions; characterization of tiny real-world embedded systems; in-sensor processing, design, and implementation
• Battery-Less Design: Integration of TinyML with renewable energy sources for improved efficiency and sustainability; Energy harvesting and power management solutions for TinyML-enabled devices; Transiently powered devices; Batteryless system design; Integration of renewable energy sources using TinyML for optimization and forecasting; Novel hardware architectures and platforms designed to support energy-efficient TinyML inference.
• TinyML security and privacy: Security and privacy considerations in TinyML deployments; Privacy-preserving Techniques in Edge AI Systems; Secure model deployment; Model encryption, tamper-proofing, and secure boot mechanisms; Robustness techniques such as adversarial training, model distillation, and input sanitization; Transparent governance frameworks for data collection, model training, and inference in TinyML systems.

Dr. Riccardo Berta
Dr. Luca Lazzaroni
Dr. Matteo Nardello
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• tiny machine learning (TinyML)
• energy management
• sustainable energy
• edge computing
• edge intelligence
• edge applications
• energy forecasting
• energy-harvesting technologies
• batteryless technologies
• smart grid technologies

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