This book presents the results of the second workshop on Neural Adaptive Control Technology, NACT II, held on September 9-10, 1996, in Berlin. The workshop was organised in connection with a three-year European-Union-funded Basic Research Project in the ESPRIT framework, called NACT, a collaboration between Daimler-Benz (Germany) and the University of Glasgow (Scotland).The NACT project, which began on 1 April 1994, is a study of the fundamental properties of neural-network-based adaptive control systems. Where possible, links with traditional adaptive control systems are exploited. A major aim is to develop a systematic engineering procedure for designing neural controllers for nonlinear dynamic systems. The techniques developed are being evaluated on concrete industrial problems from within the Daimler-Benz group of companies.The aim of the workshop was to bring together selected invited specialists in the fields of adaptive control, nonlinear systems and neural networks. The first workshop (NACT I) took place in Glasgow in May 1995 and was mainly devoted to theoretical issues of neural adaptive control. Besides monitoring further development of theory, the NACT II workshop was focused on industrial applications and software tools. This context dictated the focus of the book and guided the editors in the choice of the papers and their subsequent reshaping into substantive book chapters. Thus, with the project having progressed into its applications stage, emphasis is put on the transfer of theory of neural adaptive engineering into industrial practice. The contributors are therefore both renowned academics and practitioners from major industrial users of neurocontrol.

The series Advances in Industrial Control aims to report and encourage technology transfer in control engineering. The rapid development of control technology has an impact on all areas of the control discipline. New theory, new controllers, actuators, sensors, new industrial processes, computer methods, new applications, new philosophies ... , new challenges. Much of this development work resides in industrial reports, feasibility study papers and the reports of advanced collaborative projects. The series offers an opportunity for researchers to present an extended exposition of such new work in all aspects of industrial control for wider and rapid dissemination. Neural networks is one of those areas where an initial burst of enthusiasm and optimism leads to an explosion of papers in the journals and many presentations at conferences but it is only in the last decade that significant theoretical work on stability, convergence and robustness for the use of neural networks in control systems has been tackled. George Rovithakis and Manolis Christodoulou have been interested in these theoretical problems and in the practical aspects of neural network applications to industrial problems. This very welcome addition to the Advances in Industrial Control series provides a succinct report of their research. The neural network model at the core of their work is the Recurrent High Order Neural Network (RHONN) and a complete theoretical and simulation development is presented. Different readers will find different aspects of the development of interest. The last chapter of the monograph discusses the problem of manufacturing or production process scheduling.

Recent years have seen a rapid development of neural network control tech niques and their successful applications. Numerous simulation studies and actual industrial implementations show that artificial neural network is a good candidate for function approximation and control system design in solving the control problems of complex nonlinear systems in the presence of different kinds of uncertainties. Many control approaches/methods, reporting inventions and control applications within the fields of adaptive control, neural control and fuzzy systems, have been published in various books, journals and conference proceedings. In spite of these remarkable advances in neural control field, due to the complexity of nonlinear systems, the present research on adaptive neural control is still focused on the development of fundamental methodologies. From a theoretical viewpoint, there is, in general, lack of a firmly mathematical basis in stability, robustness, and performance analysis of neural network adaptive control systems. This book is motivated by the need for systematic design approaches for stable adaptive control using approximation-based techniques. The main objec tives of the book are to develop stable adaptive neural control strategies, and to perform transient performance analysis of the resulted neural control systems analytically. Other linear-in-the-parameter function approximators can replace the linear-in-the-parameter neural networks in the controllers presented in the book without any difficulty, which include polynomials, splines, fuzzy systems, wavelet networks, among others. Stability is one of the most important issues being concerned if an adaptive neural network controller is to be used in practical applications.

Neural Networks for Control brings together examples of all the most important paradigms for the application of neural networks to robotics and control. Primarily concerned with engineering problems and approaches to their solution through neurocomputing systems, the book is divided into three sections: general principles, motion control, and applications domains (with evaluations of the possible applications by experts in the applications areas.) Special emphasis is placed on designs based on optimization or reinforcement, which will become increasingly important as researchers address more complex engineering challenges or real biological-control problems.A Bradford Book. Neural Network Modeling and Connectionism series

This book is an outgrowth of the workshop on Neural Adaptive Control Technology, NACT I, held in 1995 in Glasgow. Selected workshop participants were asked to substantially expand and revise their contributions to make them into full papers.The workshop was organised in connection with a three-year European Union funded Basic Research Project in the ESPRIT framework, called NACT, a collaboration between Daimler-Benz (Germany) and the University of Glasgow (Scotland). A major aim of the NACT project is to develop a systematic engineering procedure for designing neural controllers for nonlinear dynamic systems. The techniques developed are being evaluated on concrete industrial problems from Daimler-Benz.In the book emphasis is put on development of sound theory of neural adaptive control for nonlinear control systems, but firmly anchored in the engineering context of industrial practice. Therefore the contributors are both renowned academics and practitioners from major industrial users of neurocontrol.

Adaptive Sliding Mode Neural Network Control for Nonlinear Systems introduces nonlinear systems basic knowledge, analysis and control methods, and applications in various fields. It offers instructive examples and simulations, along with the source codes, and provides the basic architecture of control science and engineering. - Introduces nonlinear systems' basic knowledge, analysis and control methods, along with applications in various fields - Offers instructive examples and simulations, including source codes - Provides the basic architecture of control science and engineering

Develop New Insight into the Behavior of Adaptive Systems This one-of-a-kind interactive book and CD-ROM will help you develop a better understanding of the behavior of adaptive systems. Developed as part of a project aimed at innovating the teaching of adaptive systems in science and engineering, it unifies the concepts of neural networks and adaptive filters into a common framework. It begins by explaining the fundamentals of adaptive linear regression and builds on these concepts to explore pattern classification, function approximation, feature extraction, and time-series modeling/prediction. The text is integrated with the industry standard neural network/adaptive system simulator NeuroSolutions. This allows the authors to demonstrate and reinforce key concepts using over 200 interactive examples. Each of these examples is 'live,' allowing the user to change parameters and experiment first-hand with real-world adaptive systems. This creates a powerful environment for learning through both visualization and experimentation. Key Features of the Text The text and CD combine to become an interactive learning tool. Emphasis is on understanding the behavior of adaptive systems rather than mathematical derivations. Each key concept is followed by an interactive example. Over 200 fully functional simulations of adaptive systems are included. The text and CD offer a unified view of neural networks, adaptive filters, pattern recognition, and support vector machines. Hyperlinks allow instant access to keyword definitions, bibliographic references, equations, and advanced discussions of concepts. The CD-ROM Contains: A complete, electronic version of the text in hypertext format NeuroSolutions, an industry standard, icon-based neural network/adaptive system simulator A tutorial on how to use NeuroSolutions Additional data files to use with the simulator "An innovative approach to describing neurocomputing and adaptive learning systems from a perspective which unifies classical linear adaptive systems approaches with the modern advances in neural networks. It is rich in examples and practical insight." —James Zeidler, University of California, San Diego