IFAC Workshop Series – serie

Presented at this workshop were mathematical models upon which process control is based and the practical applications of this method of control within industry; case studies include examples from the paper and pulp industry, materials industry and the chemical industry, among others. From these presentations emerged a need for further research and development into process control. Containing 19 papers these Proceedings will be a valuable reference work for all those involved in the designing of continuous production processes for industry and for the end user involved in the practical application of process control within their manufacturing process.

The papers within this volume reflect the multidisciplinary approach taken by the workshop to the development and improvement of existing production control theories and practices as applied to the process industry. Subjects covered include production planning, quality control and assurance, operational control and maintenance strategy. The development of this area is seen by those at the workshop as only being achieved by various groups working together rather than in isolation, so that the overall aim of production control is not lost in too much detail. This volume will provide the reader with essential information on new initiatives in the process industry with regard to production control.

The problems surrounding the subject of distributed databases in real-time control were addressed at the workshop. The difficulties included finding new, high-level conceptual models as conventional solutions are rendered useless in distributed databases. The other problems covered include the difficulties faced due to huge transaction fluxes and time constraints. The papers cover these theoretical issues plus an applications section which provides case studies of efficient applied systems which will be important for the development of this essential field.

This title provides a general overview of recent developments and research into types of systems and their uses in the agricultural and horticultural industry. 64 papers are included, containing both theoretical models and applied examples for greenhouse systems, harvesting technology and plant factory systems.

This Proceedings contains the papers presented at the AIA'2001 Workshop on "Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture", held at the Hotel Eben in Budapest and the Campus of the Szent István University Gödöllo, Hungary, on 6-8 June 2001.The papers demonstrate the aim of the workshop, which was to bring together leading researchers and practitioners from academy and industry in order to favour the emergence or consolidation of bridges between AI and its applications in Agriculture and domains connected to it (in particular, environmental sciences).This Proceedings concentrate on five main topic areas: Fundamentals, Decision tools; Neural networks; Quality and measurements; Fuzzy modelling and control and Modelling and control.

An international conference attended by scientists and engineers from six of the world's leading natural producers of minerals and metals. The emphasis is on the application of measurements including problems and their solution, within the gold, platinum and diamond producing industries. There are also papers by researchers from the steel industry which provide a valuable insight into measurement application in metal processing.

The Workshop brought together researchers interested in the field of production management in automated manufacturing, who provided papers from different standpoints of industrial automation, manufacturing and information technologies and system management methodologies. These contributions cover virtually all the principal aspects and problems relevant to production management ranging from production control in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) and robotized cells, to production scheduling and process planning. In addition, methods and tools for implementing procedures to solve these problems and for integrating such procedures into a hierarchical architecture are also included.

The workshop concentrated on adaptive techniques which are used for system identification and control and which have been developing during the last two decades. Papers covered three main topics: a comparative analysis of different classes of algorithms for system identification and control; design methods for adaptive algorithms which are introduced and evaluated and the practical aspects discussed; the application of adaptive control in the areas of the metal and chemical industries, nuclear energetics, robotics, navigation and flight control. These proceedings provide the reader with the state-of-the-art in the field of adaptive control applications and recommendations for the use of specific algorithms.

The focus of the workshop was on recent advances in the theory, applications and techniques for distributed computer control systems. Topics included: tools and methods for inner layers of DCCS; application papers presenting operational DCCS; the infiltration of true real-time or "time critical" concepts and the emergence of artificial intelligence methods in DCCS applications, leading to novel computer architectures being integrated in computer networks. The book will be of interest not only to those involved in DCCS but also software engineers and distributed computing scientists.