ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS OF NEURAL NETWORKS

This paper describes several prototypical applications of neural network technology to engineering problems. The applications were developed by the authors as part of a graduate-level course taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by the first author (now at Carnegie Mellon University). The applications are: an adaptive controller for building thermal mass storage; an adaptive controller for a combine harvester; an interpretation system for non-destructive evaluation of masonry walls; a machining feature recognition system for use in process planning; an image classification system for classifying land coverage from satellite or high-altitude images; and a system for designing the pumping strategy for contaminated groundwater remediation. These applications are representative of many of the engineering problems for which neural networks are applicable: adaptive control, feature recognition, and design.