CSE-402

TOPIC:-Artificial Neural Networks

Name:- Devvrat Dixit RB1801B28 10800679 MR.ANUP NANDY

reliability , ease of maintenance, ease of initial development, ease of deployment and modification can be shown to exist . As neural network applications are still in the early stages of development many practical prob1ems are likely to be pioneering applications and it will not be possible to rely on established precedents as a guide. There will therefore be some element of risk in the choice of a neural network should the application fail . The consequences Of electing to use neural networks for new applications should neural networks scheme fail to provide the required degree of performance would involve costs such as the loss of time and development costs . The underlying reason for using a artificial neural network in preference to other likely methods of solution is that there is an expectation that it will be able to provide a rapid solution to a non trivial problem. Depending on the type of problem being considered t here are often satisfactory alternative proven methods capable of providing a fast assessment of the situation. II.METHODOLOGY USED(PREVIOUS WORK) Artificial Neural Networks now have a relatively long history and a correspondingly large amount of literature exists on their properties and development. It would be unrealistic to attempt to provide an extensive coverage of the literature . The study is accordingly restricted to some of the most significant historical markers in the development of ANN'S and these are given

ABSTRACT
In this term paper I gave brief introduction of artificial neural network , the previous work on the topic by different people, attributes of the neural network that why they are used.The basic components of the artificial neural networks, some of the flow charts & application of artificial neural network.

I.

INTRODUCTION

An artificial neural network is a system based on the operation of biological neural networks, in other words, is an emulation of biological neural system. It is a mathematical model or computational model that is inspired by the structure and/or functional aspects of biological neural networks. It consists of an interconnected group of artificial neurons and processes information using a connectionist approach to computation. The development of artificial neural networks has been marked by periods of considerable optimism and others of disillusionment . A realistic assessment of the potential of artificial neural networks is attempted and some of the unrealistic expectations which has grown around a new and developing subject are dispelled . The question whether to use artificial neural networks to solve a particular problem is a matter of judgement on the part of the designer responsible for the project. The neural network would be a suitable candidate for use if significant advantages in important are as such as cost , speed of operation ,

below. The references and events outlined in Perceptron . This was an important t his section cover only what are believed to development and the underlying concept is be major developments and turning points in still in wide use today. ANN research . E.Bernard Widrow and Marcian Hoff A. Mccullock and Pitts There searchers Bernard Widrow and The first significant paper on artificial neural Marcian Hoff were responsible for the networks is generally considered to be that of development of first the ADALINE and then McCullock and Pitts in 1943 . This paper the MADALINE networks. The name outlined some concepts concerning how ADALINE comes from 'ADAptive LINEar biological neurons could be expected to complier' and the name MADALINE comes operate The neuron models proposed were from 'Multiple ADALINE' respectively. modelled by simple arrangements of Much was made of the potential scope Of the hardware which attempted to mimic the technique but this was succeeded by a period performance of the single neural cell . of disillusionment. B.Hebbs The book 'The Organisation of Behaviour' written by Hebb i n 1949 formed t h e basis of 'Hebbian Learning' which forms an important part of ANN theory today. The basic concept under lying 'Hebbian Learning' is the principle that every time a neural circuit is used, the pathway is strengthened . 1.Availability of digital computers About this time of neural network development the digital computer became more widely available and its availability proved to be of great practical value in the further investigation of ANN performance. C.John Von N e u In 1958 Neumann wrote a book 'The Computer and the Brain' in which he proposes modelling the brain performance by items of hardware available at that time . D.Frank Rosenblatt Rosenblatt constructed neuron models i n hardware during 1957. These models ultimately resulted in the concept of the F.Marvin Minsky and Seymour Pappert In 1969 Marvin Minsky and Seymour Pappert published an influential book 'Perceptrons' which showed that the perceptron as developed by Rosenblatt had serious limitations. This very thorough work was well researched and showed that the Perceptron in the form it had at the time suffered from Severe limitations. The essence of the book Perceptrons was the assumption that the inability of the perceptron to be able to handle the 'exclusive or' function was a common feature shared by all neural networks. AS a result of this assumption interest in neural networks was greatly reduced. The overall effect of the book was to reduce the amount of research work on neural networks for the next 10 years. The book served to dampen the unrealistically high expectations previously held for ANN'S. Despite the reduction in ANN research , a number of peoples till persisted in ANN research work.

Fig1:

G.John Hopfield After 10 years in the doldrums John Hopfield produced a paper in 1982 which showed that the ANN had potential for successful operation and showed how this could be developed. This paper was timely as it marked a second beginning for t h e ANN. While Hopfield is the name frequently associated with the resurgence in interest in ANN it probably represented the culmination of many peoples work in the field. From this time onwards the field of neural computing began t o expand and now there is world wide enthusiasm as well as a growing number of important practical applications .

The resurgence of interest in artificial neural networks over the last few years is due to a number of f actors .One of the continuing and significant driving forces in neural network research has been the desire of many diverse groups which include neuro physicians, engineers , psychiatrists , psychologists and biologists to gain an understanding of the workings and behaviour of the brain . Some of the valuable features of artificial neural networks which distinguish this method of computation from other algorithm based methods of computation are now considered. A.The generalisation capabilty of neural networks

III.WHY USE NEURAL NETWORKS (ATTRIBUTES)

One of the most important if not the most important at tribute of neural networks is the ability to generalise . By this is meant the ability of a neural network to succesfully interpret data which it has not previously encountered and to provide a sensible result. It is this property which sets the neural network in a different category to a system such as a look up table where it is necessary to store all of the information likely to be required for reference on future OCCaSSlOns

computer would enable operations to be performed in parallel rather than having to wait for one operation to be completed before another operation can commence. Computers based on these principles are being developed but at the present time neither the computers or suitable programs are widely available. An alternative method of increasing the speed of calculations is to utilise a neural network which works in a simulated parallel manner and is not limited by the serial requirements of the normal program. There is a slight paradox at the present time in that the parallel functioning neural network is implemented by means of the normal serial computer. The neural network which is an intrinsically parallel functioning device is forced by the limitations of current computers in to what is a serial functioning mode of operation . This situation will in all probability be rectified when parallel operating computers and appropriate programs become more generally available .

Naturally there are limits to the generalising ability of any network and it is essential for the network t o have been trained on information which is closely related to that on which the network is expected to generalise. In the sense of generalisation it is helpful to consider the network as an interpolater within a multidimensional space. It is very different to the normal process of interpolation which is carried out by means of an algorithm where as here the information has been learnt by the trained C.Distributed memory network. 'The extrapolation ability of a net-work beyond the boundaries of the training information provided is non existant . The network has no way of having this information.

One of the advantages claimed for a neural network is the fact that the memory is distributed over a large number of components within the network. This has been likened to the performance of the biological brain where a degree of damage B.Parallelism in approach may be sustained without an immediate reduction in ability. The loss of neurons Convential programable computers which within the brain during the natural process of operate in a serial manner as proposed by von aging does not result in an immediately Neumann appear to have reached a obvious loss in the organisms performance. performance plateau based on the limits set by t h e switching speed of t h e present The robust nature of the neural network is component elements. One way of obtained as the result of many parallel paths overcoming the barrier imposed by being available for use. In the case of the component speed limitations is t o develop a artificial neural network in the interests of different form of computer which is able to training efficiency there is an imperitive to operate in a non serial manner. Such a reduce the number of neurons existing in any

network. The reduction in neuron numbers mature understanding of the operation of while it improves the training performance neural network theory is developed. results in a reduction in the robustness of the Conventional computers do not have the network to damage. ability to learn and consequently do not have D.Neural networks exhibit intelligent the ability to generalise to accomodate behaviour previously unseen data. The trained artificial neural networks are sometimes said to exhibit intelligent behavior. Statements of this type raise the question as to what is meant by intelligent behaviour in these circumstances? In the case of a living organisium it could perhaps be said to be behaviour which improves the organisms chances of survival by finding food, finding a mate or possibly eluding the evil designs of a predator . F.General attributes of neural networks In the real life situation there are many areas where expertise is required in order to accomplish the desired result . Many of these areas of interest involve assessment of almost continuous operations such as , the supervision of a power system operating condition , or the testing for explosives of baggage belonging to embarking air travellers .Work of this kind when done by human beings is highly repetitive and consequently boring factors which lead to operator in attention with an in advertent lowering of surveillance standards .I n addition the cost of keeping a sufficiently large crew of trained staff' on hand to continuously monitor processes such as this is extremely expensive. The neural network has the potential in some situations to provide an alternative method which is tireless, continuous, reliable and inexpensive replacement of personal for routine work of this kind.

None of these conditions fit the case of a neural network and some other measure must be adopted. Possibly [Turings] concept of an inquirer being unable to tell in a 'blind' type interogation if the unseen respondant is a person or a machine may be a suitable criterion . At the present time practical neural networks are very specialised and any interogation of this kind would need to be strictly limited to the networks restricted area of expertise. It could be said that the limitation of the inquiry is only a matter of degree because even an interogation of an individual must also be limited to those matters within the individuals range of The artificial neural network may be relied on to undertake suitable designated tasks in a experience. systematic manner a t a speed which could E.Learning not programming not be attained or maintained by human operator . Such advantages naturally involve The neural network is not programmed development costs and very likely some during training but actually learns the in continuous maintenance costs . formation being presented t o it. A t the present time it does not appear to be possible IV.BRIEF REVIEW OF NEURAL to readilly interpret the information stored NETWORK BASIC within the trained neural network system. COMPONENTS(ARCHITECTURE) Understanding of this information may become possible in the future when a more

The range of types of neural networks which have been developed is large and it is desirable to attempt to establish some kind of relationship between the various kinds of networks. There are a number of ways in which neural networks may be categorised based on characteristics such as,

In the trained artificial neural network the intelligence of the network is stored in the values of the connections existing between the neurons. In artificial neural network terminology the values of the connections between the neurons are generally referred to as weights. hidden layers also take part in producing output when training is complete -The method of training adopted, directed or and the network is being interrogated. The non-directed number of hidden layers provided is problem -Whether after training feedback or non dependant. There may be advantages in providing several hidden layers but feedback operation is involved, additional layers may mean a marked -The type of training algorithm employed, increase in the training time taken. In order to consider the operation of artificial V.EXPERIMENTAL TRAINING neural networks it is first necessary to (LEARNING) introduce some of the terms used . This will be done in the following section . In contrast to expert systems which incorporate a knowledge base, neural A.Neurons networks do not have such a collection of The neuron forms the node at which information. They need to be trained for a connections with other neurons in the given problem or situation so that the weights network occur. Like the biological network, will then contain the required information. the neuron in the artificial network is also An example of the iterative procedure central to network operation as much of the necessary during training is given in the activity on the system occurs at the neuron. percepron training flow diagram One of the Althougth the in finitely more successful ways of classifying training procedures into biological neural network neurons are not two categories is whether directed training or arranged in any geometric pattern those in non directed training is employed and these the electronic network are generally arranged methods are now considered. in one or more layers which contain neurons performing a similar function . Depending on t h e type of neural network being considered, connections may or may not exist between neurons within the layer in which they are located . For example in the Back Propagation Network there are no connections between the neurons in the same layer but in the case of the Hopfield Network every neuron is connected t o all neurons in the layer . B.Weights A.Supervised training or directed training When employing directed training it is necessary to include among the set of data presented to the neural network the result or answer corresponding to each particular set of data. The data set is repeatedly presented to the neural network until the network output corresponds closely enough to the result in the data set. Should the difference between the network output and the 'Target Value' exceed the permitted tolerance the network training process is repeated. The

algorithm being used for the network training B.Unsupervised training or non- directed causes further adjustment to occur and the training process is repeated until the tolerance is In t he case of non directed training the target acceptable . value, or answer, is not provided and the In supervised training training data set information in the training data set is contains a collection of information continuously presented until some representing the input pattern vector together convergence criteria is satisfied with the target value or desired output. This set of training data is presented to the In unsupervised training the output pattern network repeatedly until the difference for a given input pattern is not provided. The between the target output and the actual neural network constructs internal models output of the network reaches a certain that capture regularities in input pattern . predetermined value. The perceptron training For any problem it is necessary to provide the flow diagram given in Fig: uses directed or neural network with training data which supervised training and the procedure for covers the extent of the problem. This data obtaining the difference value may be seen in will need t o include sufficient information so the figure . that the problem is unambiguous. The After each evaluation of the training algorithm the difference value between the actual output and the target output contained in the training set is compared with the permitted error value. If the difference is equal to or less than the error value when the process is stopped then the network is considered to be trained . Should the difference be greater than the permitted error value the set of training data is again presented to the training algorithm and the connection weights of the neurons changed until the output satisfies the criterion . training set is repeatedly applied to the neural network until some specified training criteria is met C.Selection of training data The selection of training data is a crucial and difficult task with conflicting requirements which must be satisfied in the best way possible .

Fig:2 The first requirement is that there is sufficient training data presented to the network so that an unambiguous output is able t o be obtained. This requires the careful selection of parameters for the particular problem. In some cases the availability of sufficient suitable data may be limited and this can pose a difficult task in itself . this respect as some data may seem to be contributing little to the solution but when eliminated the network performance is significantly degraded. D.Termination of training The decision when to stop neural. network training is a difficult one. If the problem is a relatively simple one it is easy to say when the answers provided during training and testing fall within certain predetermined error limits .

The elimination of any data which does not c ontribute to the performance of the trained network is also required . This may be done automatically by eliminating any parameters which are not participating in the training However significant practical problems are process. Caution must also be exercised in rarely as clear cut as this. I f an RMS error

criterion is used this does not eliminate relatively large errors occurring with individual training sets even when acceptably small RMS errors are obtained. In some cases this may not matter but in many instances the occasional grossly in correct answer may be unacceptable. Also if nice answers are provided always the problem may be a simple one and perhaps simpler more conventional alternative methods are available in preference to a neural network.

(CIM). It has been proposed that the next phase will be that of intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS). As a trend, manufacturing systems are demanding more and more flexibility in product design, process planning, scheduling, process control, and quality assurance. This may be achieved by building intelligent systems that can adapt to changes in their environment.

The application area of neural networks in manufacturing is surprisingly broad. It covers E.Feed forward and feedrack nearly all of the fields spreading from the networks(result of training) design phase through process planning, scheduling and process monitoring to quality Feed Forward Networks are networks which assurance. This section provides a after completion of the training process comprehensive survey of neural network provide answers to queries as the result of a applications in manufacturing. single forward pass of the data through the network. However during the network A. Design training phase a feed forward network may be traversed many times before the training Retrieval of old product designs that meet criteria are satisfied and the network is current requirements on geometrical and/or considered properly trained . Once the technical information is a problem that is training process is complete interrogation of often encountered in batch manufacturing the feed forward trained network requires systems. Venugopal and Narendran modeled the design retrieval system as a human only a single pass . associative memory and used a Hopfield The training process for feedback networks is network to develop a design retrieval system. similar to that of feed forward networks but The system was verified with test cases on differs during the interrogation process. Even rotational as well as non-rotational parts. The when training is complete a feedback results show that neural network network will require a series of passes during methodology is a promising tool for the the interrogation in order to provide an development of practical design retrieval answer to a query. systems. The use of neural networks for design data retrieval was also studied by An example of a feed forward neural network Kamarthi et al.. Instead of Hopfield is the Back Propagation network while the networks, a back-propagation network was Hopfield network provides an example of a used. The result is also promising. feedback network. Kumara suggested an associative memory VI.APPLICATIONS based modeling procedure for conceptual design. The motivation for their research The development of computer-aided stems from the following discussion. manufacturing systems has evolved to the phase of computer integrated manufacturing

It is possible that the designer may be aware from a behavioral study of expert mechanical of the structures that satisfy a particular set of designers when they were reading two 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 modelling the associative memory. A design model based on associative memory is also proposed to capture the conceptual Fig:3 Design model based on associative design process (Fig:3). memory The application of neural networks in design also has been studied by quite a few other dimensional mechanical drawings. The researchers. Among them, Coyne and model was simulated using an ART network Postmus explored the application of neural and was exercised and compared with networks to simple spatial reasoning in findings from the behavioral study. The topdown and bottom-up reasonings exhibited by computer-aided design the subjects can be easily represented in the Arai and Iwata suggested a four-layer neural ART network. Their results show that ART network to connect lower level items to networks might be useful for representing the upper level ones on the design specification behavioral system. The evidence step of the conceptual design phase. Kim demonstrated in their paper may provide etal. applied a neural network approach for useful information for the application of engineering drawing with geometrical neural networks as the research community constraints. Dhingra and Rao examined a works toward the development of intelligent new conceptual framework for solving computer-aided systems for engineering design optimization problems based on a design. neural computing paradigm. Another interesting study was conducted by Chovan B. Process Planning and Waldron. The authors proposed a The first attempt to use neural network cognitive model of the transformation from techniques in process planning might be that perceived form to function based on findings of Osakada et al.. The authors applied neural

network techniques to an expert system for the process planning of cold forging in order to increase the consultation speed and to provide more reliable results. A three-layer neural network is constructed to relate the shapes of rotationally symmetric products to their forming methods. The shapes of the products are transformed into 16x 16 black and white pixels and are given to the input layer of the neural network. The backpropagation algorithm is employed. After training, the network is able to determine the forming methods for the products which are exactly the same or slightly different from those used as training examples. To exploit the self-learning ability, the authors further applied neural network techniques to the prediction of the most probable number of forming steps by considering the shape complexity and material property, the prediction of the die fracture and surface defect in the formed product, and the generation of rules from the knowledge acquired from an FEM (Finite Element Mod eling) simulation. It is found that the prediction of the most probable number of forming steps can be made successfully and the FEM results are represented better by the neural network than by statistical methods. Hwang and Henderson applied a perceptron network in feature recognition, which is the first step in automated process planning (i.e., to interpret the design data from a CAD model). The goal of feature recognition is to convert a low-level representation such as face, edge, vertex to a semantically higher feature-based model. The network training is accomplished by manually presenting exemplars of features the user considers important in an engineering analysis (for example, manufacturing-related features for process planning). Their results show that the neural network approach took less time in

feature recognition than other traditional approaches. Knapp and Wang, applied neural network techniques for the automatic acquisition of process planning knowledge. In their approach, two cooperating neural networks are utilized. The primary network is a threelayer backpropagation network. The second fixed-weight network utilizes the MAXNET architecture. Parts to be planned are decomposed into machining features such as slots, holes, and planes. Each feature type is associated with a set of characterizing attributes such as dimensions and tolerances. Each feature is represented by a vector whose elements identify the feature type and its attribute values. This vector forms the input pattern to the primary network. The network responds to the presentation of a feature vector by activating certain output nodes, corresponding to the proposal of particular machining operations. The response of the network is trained using example process plans and the back-propagation learning algorithm. The second network is used to force a decision between competing operation alternatives. Its output is then fed back to the input layer of the primary network to provide a context for deciding the next operation in the machining sequence. The part is presented to the neural network feature by feature, the network then generates a sequence of operations for machining each feature of the part independently (global sequencing of operation across all features is not considered). Process planning is knowledge-intensive in nature. Neural networks, being a useful knowledge acquisition tool, are expected to play an important role in process planning. However, process planning is a challenging task due to the interdependencies among the

steps in a plan. It is not clear how neural networks can reason about the causal relationships among the 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 . Therefore, neural networks should be integrated with symbolic systems in order to solve process planning problems C. Quality Assurance Quality is the single most important factor in determining market share. There are two different approaches to quality assurance, namely, reactive quality assurance and proactive quality assurance. Reactive tools include sampling plans, lot acceptance determination, scrap or rework analysis, and so forth. Proactive strategy requires. an emphasis on physical cause-effect knowledge, risk analysis, experience, and judgment to justify action. Neural networks have been used for both reactive and proactive quality assurances. Reactive quality assurance is strongly related to monitoring and diagnostics. Therefore, neural networks can also play an important role in reactive quality assurance, especially where high processing and classification capabilities are required. Barschdorff discussed the application of neural network techniques for the quality control of electric drive motors. Sixteen spectral features of the motors vibration were input to a three-layer neural network. The network was able to recognize production faults, such as unbalance of the rotor, nonconducting winding connections, magnetic field failures, failures on commutators or bearings, loose parts, etc. The classifying ability of the network was compared with the results obtained by different pattern recognition algorithms. It

was found that the performance of the neural network was superior. Smith reported the use of back-propagation neural networks in quality control in an injection molding corporation (Orscheln Industries, Moberly, Missouri). Injection molding is a process with many variations in raw materials, machinery conditions and ambient conditions. It also has a temporal aspect where line conditions change during operation, affecting the end product. Neural networks are especially applicable when the data considered do not follow a known distribution or pattern, and, hence, are well suited for the quality control of injection molding. The results show that the neural network approach is comparable to other quality control methods, including control charts and statistical techniques, in goodness of output for quality control. An advantage of the neural network approach is the convenience of learning to establish the relationships directly, rather than through analysis and assumptions. Using a single network to monitor multiple products and/or quality parameters is an additional advantage. Neural network techniques also can be used in proactive quality assurance. Schmerr et al. provided an innovative approach for planning robust design experiments through the use of neural networks. Robust design is a costeffective technique for achieving high quality and reliability. The basis of the approach was to train a neural network on a set of tuples where each tuple corresponds to a Taguchi experiment along with its observed product response. Once trained, the neural network can probe the entire parameter space of design parameter settings, equivalent to performing a full factorial experimental design. With this information, a designer can identify alternative settings and search for

optimal designs. The neural network approach was compared with analytical modelbased approach. It was found that the neural network had remarkable capabilities for generalization when trained on the same sparse array of experiments as used in complementary Taguchi analysis. The research of neural networks for quality assurance has actually be implemented in manufacturing practice. CTS Electronics of Texas has used a neural network system to detect defective loudspeaker assembly lines. Ford Motor Company used neural network techniques to check car paint finishes. Motorola Incorporated used artificial vision based on neural network techniques for the quality inspection of their chips. D.Scheduling Foo and Takefuji developed the Integral Linear Programming Neural Network (ILPNN) and used it to solve jobshop scheduling problems. In a job-shop scheduling problem, the resources are typically machines and the jobs are the basic tasks that need to be accomplished using the machines. Each task may consist of several subtasks related by certain precedence restrictions. This problem can be formulated as a linear programming problem. The cost function to be minimized is defined as a sum of the starting times of all jobs subject to compliance with precedence constraints. The problem is solved using a linear programming network. Vaithyanathan and Ignizio investigated the use of neural networks for solving certain types of large-scale, resource constrained scheduling problems. Their work was focused on dynamic resource constrained scheduling problems. Such problems, so characteristic of real world situations, involve

the determination of a schedule subject not only to limited resources but also to sudden, unforeseen changes. They first decomposed the problem to be solved into a series of multidimensional knapsack models and established an equivalent neural network model for each particular representation. Then, they developed an approach that ultimately served to solve the original problem by extending the work of Hopfield and Tank. Their approach, to a great extent, avoided common neural network difficulties such as instability and local minima. In addition to Hopfield networks, feedforward backpropagation networks can also be used in solving scheduling problems. Yih er al. provided a hybrid method that combines back-propagation neural network, simulation, and semi-Markov optimization to solve the crane scheduling problem. The crane scheduling problem occurs in a circuit board production line where one overhead crane is used to transport jobs through a line of sequential chemical process tanks. Because chemical processes are involved in this production system, any mistiming or misplacing will result in defective jobs. The proposed method consists of three phases: data collection, optimization, and generalization. Training data are purified using an operations research method (semiMarkov optimization). The neural network is used in the building of the decision making model. The resulted system performed better than the human scheduler from whom the models were formulated. Other neural network approaches to scheduling problems reported in the literature include: time table scheduling, real-time scheduling, multiple-job scheduling, assembly scheduling , robot scheduling, a stochastic neural network (Gaussian

machine) for scheduling, and an intelligent VII.CONCLUSION scheduling system (ISS) for flexible manufacturing systems where neural In this I only completed till the applications networks and expert systems are used to of the artificial neural network. But I have I didnt include the problems related to generate good schedule . it.However artificial neural network are The application of neural networks in widely used in manufacturing .thus it quit scheduling has been studied by many useful thing. researchers. In some cases, the neural VIII. REFRENCES network approach holds significant advantages. In others, the usefulness and 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial effectiveness of the neural network approach _neural_network. is debatable. However, at the very least, neural networks present a legitimate 2. http://www.learnartificialneuralnetwo alternative to the more conventional methods rks.com/ for 3. http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~nd/surprise _96/journal/vol4/cs11/report.html 4. http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/neu ral-networks/

Fig:4 Incremental learning and synthesis approach for process modelling and control scheduling. Since the scheduling problem is one of immense importance, it is certain that considerable efforts will continue in applying neural networks in scheduling.