NEURAL NETWORKS IN MANUFACTURING

Abstract

In today's rapidly and continuously advancing manufacturing realm, new approaches

are consistently introduced to design and develop for the better aspects. In recent years,
there has been noticeable growth in the area of artificial intelligence, particularly
Artificial Neural Networks. Artificial neural networks have several benefits that are
desired in manufacturing practice, which includes learning and adapting ability,
tractability, low solution cost via parallel distributed computation, robustness, etc. The
following content explores the wide applications of Neural Networks in the field of
manufacturing. Some of the possible problems are mentioned and some solutions are
suggested.

Introduction

Manufacturing refers to the value added manufacturing of products for use or sale using
machines and labor, tools, biological, chemical and mechanical processing, or
formulation. In order to achieve so, a set of correlated operations and activities have to
be carried out, which includes product design, material selection, planning, production,
inspection, management, and marketing of the products, for the manufacturing
industries. Today, almost all design processes are computer aided, i.e., computer
systems are used to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a
design. The computer-aided manufacturing systems development is advancing to the
stage where computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems are in a fast-growing,
world-wide increase in quantity. AI has provided various techniques with applications in
the field of manufacturing. Knowledge-based expert systems are the most popular AI
techniques in the 1980s. Neural networks are very good at a wide variety of problems,
most of which involve finding trends in large quantities of data.

Origin and Principle objective

Artificial Neural Networks are processing devices (algorithms or actual hardware) that
are loosely modeled on the design and working of the neuronal structure. A large ANN
might have hundreds or thousands of processor units, whereas a human brain has
billions of neurons with a corresponding increase in magnitude of their overall
interaction and emergent behavior. In computers, the signals and bits are used to store
information whereas in human brain, impulse and neuron store and manipulate the
information.

Neural networks are organized in various layers. Layers comprise a number of

interconnected 'nodes' which have an 'activation function' associated to them.
Patterns/input data are presented to the network via the 'input layer', which
communicates and transmits to one or more 'hidden layers' where the actual processing
is done via a system of weighted 'connections'.
Neural networks attempt to achieve a good performance via concentrated mesh of
computing nodes and connections. The basic models of ANN are specified by three basic
entities -
1. Synaptic interconnections
2. Training or Learning rules
3. Activation functions

The ANN consists of a set of processing elements which are highly interconnected
called neurons. Each processing nodes output is found to be connected through weights
(which are responsible to store the memory) to the other processing nodes or itself. In
ANN, delay lead and lag-free connections are also allowed. The ANN can learn to solve a
problem, the learning techniques can be categorised as -
1. Supervised learning - In supervised learning algorithms, the classes/models of
patterns are predetermined. These classes can be developed as a finite set,
previously worked upon at by a human. In practice, a certain portions of data will
be labelled with these classifications. The Artificial Neural Networks task is to
 search for patterns and therefore construct corresponding mathematical models.
These models then are tested on the basis of their predictive capacity in relation
to measures of variance in the data itself. A number of the methods referenced in
the given content (naive Bayes, decision tree induction, etc) are some instances of
supervised learning techniques.
2. Unsupervised learning - Unsupervised neural networks are not provided with
predefined classifications. The prime task of unsupervised learning is to develop
classification labels automatically. Unsupervised learning algorithms seek out
similarities between collection of data in order to determine whether they can be
characterized as associating to a particular group. These groups are called as
clusters, and there are a whole family of clustering machine learning algorithms
and techniques.
3. Reinforcement learning - In Reinforcement learning, external reinforcement
signals are processed in the critic signal generator and the obtained critic signals
are sent to the ANN for adjustments of weights accordingly.

Two main methods that are used in applications of neural networks are - neocognitron
and back propagation.
Neocognitron is defined as a hierarchical network composed of multiple layers and its
organized like the visual cortex. Neocognitron comes under the category of methods of
pattern recognition. It can recognize shapes and sizes of items even if they have noise
and distortion, the amount of which depends.
Back propagation is the best-known supervised learning method for Neural Network
composed with three or more layers. In the procedure called back-propagation, the
network at first uses the input data set to produce the output, and then it compares this
with the desired output, if there is no difference, no error is generated and no learning
takes place else the weights are changed to reduce the error term. One of the most
crucial steps in the development of a neural network is the selection of the training data
set and the testing data set which must be developed carefully to comprise instances of
many different operational scenarios. Approximately a greater number of examples of
different scenarios should be included in the training data set as compared to that in the
testing data set. In the given section, various applications of artificial neural network to
a widespread variety of design, manufacturing planning and control problems are
enlisted.
Neural network using neocognitron are able to recognize handwritten numerals of
various types of penmanship correctly, even if they are considerably distorted in shape,
ie. noisy data. Although the network output inference shows results for the recognition
of alphabet, the neocognitron network can be trained to recognize other set of patterns
such as geometrical shapes, Arabic numerals, or others. A visual system pattern can be
used to see through and recognize correctly by the multiple-layered hierarchical network
using self-organization. Handwritten digits are difficult to be recognized using a
machine and using pattern recognition. This is an application of neural networks of
some interest to recognize ZIP codes in addresses written by hand in mail. By presenting
an exhilarating, complementary alternative to symbolic processing paradigms, artificial
neural networks and its widespread properties have attracted the interest of many
researchers in the area of machine perception. The artificial neural network provide
results quickly using unsupervised training. There are different neural network models
for different fields. The method called neocognitron, as mentioned earlier is used to
recognize handwritten alphanumeric characters. Neocognitron artificial neural network
can gain the ability to recognize patterns by learning, and therefore can be trained to
recognize different set of patterns, and therefore is said to have a large power of
generalization. Besides, presentation of only a small number of typical examples of
deformed/noisy patterns is enough for the learning.

Neural network provides a number of methods for incorporating and processing

qualitative knowledge and have an additional advantage of developing machine learning
in an explicit manner,in its totality it aims to imitate human intelligence. Artificial
neural networks have been applied to a wide variety of problems, which range from
traveling salesman optimization problem to computer vision problems. Neural network
is best at solving classification problems, which include pattern matching, clustering
and others and it also has the added a noticeable advantage of performing successfully
where other methods often fail to recognize and match the complicated, noisy, vague, or
incomplete patterns.

Due to rapid development of artificial neural networks and tools, artificial intelligence
has generated great amount of interest in developing manufacturing related solutions.

Applications and different directions of development

The advancement of computer-aided manufacturing systems has evolved to the process

of computer integrated manufacturing. It has been proposed that the next process will
be that of intelligent manufacturing systems. As the technology is evolving,
manufacturing systems are demanding more and more flexibility in the design of
products, process planning, process scheduling, control measures, and the assurance of
quality.
Some of the important fields of Manufacturing and how they are influenced by the
applications of artificial neural networks in them -

1. Design
Design for manufacturability of the product (also referred to as design for
manufacturing or DFM) is the basic engineering art of designing and developing
products in such a way that they are easy to manufacture and use when produced. The
standard DFM guidelines aid to precisely define the product related tolerances, rules
and common manufacturing checks related to DFM.
Venugopal and Narendran [1] developed a model of the design retrieval system as a
human associative memory and used what they referred to as Hopfield network to
model a design retrieval system. The network system was verified with input test cases
on rotational and non-rotational parts. The results can be inferred such as to show that
neural network methodology is a viable tool for the development of practical design
retrieval systems.
Kumara [2] put forth an associative memory based modeling algorithm for the
conceptual design. The motivation for their research can be pioneered from the
following given discussion:
It is possible that the designer may be aware of the structures that satisfy a particular
set of functions. In his memory the designer may have stored the representations of a
number of physical devices (design solutions). Given a (a set of) functional
requirement(s) the designer will be able to identify a structure or a set of structures that
will satisfy the required function(s) and hence by associating these structures with
physical devices stored in his memory, he can selectively retrieve those designs. It must
be noted that the physical devices could be from different domains. After having
retrieved the designs, the designer mutates them to come up with new and creative
design solutions. The author used a back-propagation network for modeling the
associative memory. A design model based on associative memory is also proposed to
capture the conceptual design process.

2. Process Planning
Hwang and Henderson [3] made use of a perceptron network in feature recognition,
which is considered to be the first step in the field of automated process planning (i.e.,
to interpret the input design data from a CAD model). The central goal of feature
recognition is to convert a low-level data representation such as face, edge, vertex to a
nearly semantically higher feature-based model. By feature, we mean any descriptor
that can describe the aspect uniquely. The training of the network is accomplished by at
first manually presenting examples of descriptors that are considered to be important in
an engineering analysis (for instance, manufacturing-related designs for process
planning field). The results exhibit that the neural network approach takes lesser time in
feature recognition as compared to the other traditional approaches.
Process planning is considered to be knowledge-intensive in nature. Artificial neural
networks, being quite a useful knowledge acquisition tool through the means of training,
can be expected to play a vital role in process planning field. However, due to the
interdependencies amongst the different steps in a plan, process planning is a
challenging task. It is yet to be reason out how neural networks can reason about the
causal or implicit relationships amongst the input and encountered entities in a process
plan. Compared with symbolic systems (e.g., knowledge-based expert systems), neural
networks are less effective in representing structured, contextual knowledge.

3. Scheduling
Vaithyanathan and Ignizio [4] studied the use and importance of neural networks for
solving a number of large-scale scheduling problems. Their work was focused on
resource or input constrained scheduling algorithms where the resource is dynamic in
nature. These problems, with parallel real world situations, comprise the determination
of a schedule subject which is not only to limited resources but also to sudden
alterations in the resources. At first, they decomposed the problem, (considering the
resources to be static initially) to be solved into a sequence of multidimensional
knapsack models and then established an equivalent neural network model for each
particular representation. After that, an approach was developed which served to solve
the original problem. By extending to the work of Hopfield and Tank, their solution
avoided neural network instabilities to a great extent.
The applications of neural networks in the field of scheduling have been studied by
many researchers. In certain cases, the neural network approach shows significant
advantages.

4. Process modeling and control

In the industry of process design, it is usual that human operations carry out the
product control rather than mathematically based advanced algorithms. Gingrich [5]
mentioned a procedure that uses artificial neural networks for recording the knowledge
of human process operators. The obtained results present that it is possible to learn the
thought actions of a human operator using neural networks, at least for simpler systems.
The artificial neural network technique is preferred over the heuristic approaches for
several reasons which include:
(1) no need for the model to formulate the knowledge as rules, and
(2) the training of a neural network is certainly easier than the process of designing,
building, and maintaining an expert system.
The modeling and control of a procedure are manufacturing domains where the
artificial neural networks can play a very vital role. Chryssolouris and Guillot 1831,
complexed process modeling and Artificial Intelligence techniques for the determination
of the the process parameters operational range. Levin et al. discussed the use of neural
network architecture for adaptive system modeling and control. The procedure models
were determined by artificial neural network learning algorithms. Jalel et al. 1841
applied neural networks in emulating a skilled process driver describing the application
of a neural network in the sphere of manufacturing process control. Patrick 1871
mentioned the application of artificial neural network to brownstock washer operations
at a pulp and paper mill. Karsai et al. reported the artificial neural network designs for
the modeling and control of welding processes. Guha put forth some adaptive control
strategies which can be designed via neural networks and therefore can be used for
designing controllers for continuous process control problems. Madey et al. 1901
presented neural networks to simulate a continuous improvement system.

5. Monitoring and Diagnosis

Kamarthi et al. [6], through the synergy of vibration and force sensing researched on a
new method for online measurement of flank wear. The method utilized a Kohonens
self organizing descriptor map for correlating force and vibration input signals with the
observed tool wear levels. In the particular experiment mentioned, it was observed that
the trained descriptor map gained knowledge to detect the tool wear levels with a
precision close to .95. The obtained results present that methods based on sensor data
fusion using artificial neural networks have the strength to offer low cost and robust
methods for relating tool wear levels with the input data from emission sensors for
force, vibration, and acoustic for a wide range of process conditions.
Hou and Lin developed a monitoring system for identifying both periodic and aperiodic
process signals using artificial neural networks. At first, digital signal processing
methodologies are used to translate collected manufacturing signals into the
corresponding frequency domain. After that, an artificial neural network based model is
used to identify the signals by examining their characteristic frequencies. Two instances
(periodic signals and aperiodic signals) were used to demonstrate the monitoring
systems feasibility and its recognition ability. The results thus obtained are quite
promising and show that the neural network based system have a good potential in
running manufacturing processes.
Research efforts have been dedicated to the application and development of neural
networks in monitoring and diagnosis.
6. Quality Assurance
Quality is considered to be most important factor in setting market share value. Two
different approaches to quality assurance that can be mentioned are - reactive quality
assurance and proactive quality assurance.
Reactive tools comprise sampling plans, lot acceptance determination, scrap or rework
analysis, and so forth. On the other hand, Proactive strategy requires an emphasis on
physical cause-effect knowledge, risk analysis, experience, and judgment to justify
action. Artificial neural networks have been utilized for both reactive and proactive
quality assurances.
Smith [7] presented the advantages of back-propagation artificial neural networks in
quality control sphere in an injection molding corporation (Orscheln Industries,
Moberly, Missouri). Injection molding is defined as a procedure with certain variations
in raw materials used, conditions of machinery and the required ambient conditions. It
also has a temporal aspect where design conditions change during the execution
operation, affecting the outcome. Artificial neural networks are also applicable when the
input data considered does not follow a known pattern, and, hence, at times prove to be
better than human modeling and therefore are well suited for the injection molding
quality control. The results exhibit that the artificial neural network approach is
comparable to other quality control methods, including control charts and statistical
methods. A certain advantage of the neural network approach is the convenience of
learning mechanism meant to establish the relation links directly, rather than through
human rigorous analysis and assumptions. The current research of neural networks int
the field of quality assurance has actually been implemented in the practice of
manufacturing. Certain existing examples can be mentioned - 1) CTS Electronics of
Texas has used a ANN system to detect defective loudspeaker assembly lines. 2) Ford
Motor Company uses ANN to check car paint finishes . 3) Motorola Incorporated used
machine vision based on ANN techniques for the quality inspection of their chips.

7. Robotics
Kinematics refers to the study of robot joint motions ignoring the considerations
regarding the causes of motion. Two distinct sub-problems are identified to be involved,
called, forward kinematics and inverse kinematics. The forward kinematics problem
comprises a mapping which is nonlinear matrix from the joint space (a descriptor in
terms of joint positions and positions) of the robot to its Cartesian space ( the cartesian
coordinates of the robot effector). The forward kinematic algorithm should compute the
Cartesian location of the end-effector given the joint space description. On the contrary
hand, the science of inverse kinematic solution should compute the joint space
coordinates. The location of end-effector in Cartesian coordinates is obtained as result.
When the angular movement of each joint is given and the length of each arm is also
given, then it is possible to find the Cartesian coordinates of the effector, with the help of
several nonlinear trigonometric and matrix multiplications are needed. The problem
involving inverse kinematics can lead to the yield of multiple solutions if the robot has
multiple degrees of freedom. More computations are required than that in the forward
kinematic problem and is said to be the most difficult problem in robotics.
Nguyen et al. [8] have identified various neural network configurations for solving the
forward kinematic problem for robots with two degrees of freedom. Each of the
networks used for evaluation has two input nodes and two output nodes. The network
architectures studied have been for the network trained with the error back-propagation
(BP), the network trained with the backpropagation algorithm but with output splitting
(BPOS), the functional link network (FL), and a counter-propagation network (CP) for
trajectory mapping. The networks were trained using a set of data (64 input/output
pairs) obtained from measurements taken in the robot work area. The training of all
four network architectures resulted in quick learning convergence to the desired
trajectory. The very basic Back-propagation network has two hidden layers gives a
solution that is reasonably accurate. The BPOS network, involving considerably lesser
connections as compared to the the BP network, yields comparatively higher accuracy.
The best solution of the trajectory learning task was achieved with what is known as the
FL network. The CP network resulted in a relatively fast approximation of the trajectory,
but the end effector position error was rather large and uneven. Therefore, the CP
network in this application can be recommended only if a short development time is
required for low-precision trajectory tracking.
Pa0 and Sobajic [9], and Sobajic et al. presented the use of neuro controllers in robot
arm movement with two degrees of freedom and with a desired final effector position.
The results that were achieved demonstrated the unusual efficiency of neuro controllers
for use in robot kinematics control systems. Albus studied his Cerebellar Model
Articulation Controller (CMAC) for application in general robotic control. The
fundamental idea of the CMAC approach is to learn an approximation of the system
characteristics and therefore to use it to generate the appropriate control signal.

8. Group Technology
Two engineering problems associated with implementing GT are part classification and
part family formation. Kaparthi and Suresh [10] presented an artificial neural network
system for classification that is shape-based and meant for the coding of rotational
parts. A back-propagation neural network was then trained with the input/output pairs
in order to generate part geometry-related digits of the Optiz code from the bitmaps of
part drawings. The core study represents that the network can be used to generate codes
accurately and it is observed to be a useful tool for the automatic generation of
shape-based classes and codes. The use of neural networks for part family formation
was studied by a couple of researchers. In the above mentioned approach, a three-layer
feedforward neural network was trained with the backpropagation algorithm. Each
input unit of the network represents a part feature, and each output unit represents a
part family. An operator plays the role of a teacher to the network by presenting each
part in terms of part features, and by telling which family it belongs to. The trained
network stores implicit discrimination rules through a set of connection weights, and
exhibits consistent classification practice. The research demonstrates that the neural
network approach is capable of dealing with large part family formation problems
efficiently.

Moon, Y.B. and Chi[11] have presented the use of the ability of neural network models to
generalize real-life models to solve the part family formation problem. The approach
garnered by the authors, combines the useful capabilities of the neural networks with
the flexibility of the similarity coefficient method. This can be accomplished by
development of artificial systems or networks which can adapt according to the
environment that they are provided. Adamowicz and Albano [12] studied the subclass of
cutting stock problems. In the algorithm that they presented, rectangular strips are
generated by the patterns having one common dimension; and therefore a subset of
these strips is picked out to lay out on the part of the stock data sheet which is currently
under examination. In another similar study, Albano offered an interactive algorithm to
improvise the two-dimensional layout in which decision maker interventions are
included. Albano and Orsini[4] allocate grouping of patterns onto rectangular strips in
order to obtain guillotine type of cutting plans. Bengtsson[8] roughly distributes the
patterns into a sufficient number of identical sheets, then improves this initial allocation
by repetitive backtracking.

To form a manufacturing cell, a neural network was made to operate on the classical
machine/components matrix Patterns representing respectively the machine
characteristics and the component characteristics are used as input to the network. This
approach was tested on two such matrices, one consisting of 10 jobs and 15 machines,
and the other 14 machines and 24 parts. The author concluded that the results produced
by the neural network approach compare well with the classical clustering techniques.

Conclusions
The idea of building manufacturing systems that can function automatically has
attracted a lot of attention and created continuous research activities. In the current
scenario, artificial neural networks have emerged as a revolutionary AI approach and
has generated enormous interests in the manufacturing arena. This study comprises the
basic concepts of neural networks and therefore the reviews regarding the current
application of neural networks in manufacturing are put forth. The problems with
neural networks are also identified and some possible solutions are suggested. Artificial
neural networks, which are considered as massively parallel interconnected networks,
have displayed to have extensive applications in various systems that can be used in
manufacturing management.
Artificial neural network methods are still very new and are developing quickly. We are
witnessing fast expansion of neural network-based intelligent machines. Neural
networks are an enhancing rather than replacing technology.

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