Glass Annealing Process Simulation using Expert Systems: A Glass Industry Application of AI

This paper discusses how an Artificial Intelligence System was used for simulation of a glass annealing process. The system consists of two parts: a planner which uses rules-of-thumb (in the form of an Expert System) to determine control settings for the glass processing, and a simulator which uses control settings to derive a glass temperature curve. The two sub-systems work together to produce the necessary lehr control settings to anneal the glass product. A short review of expert system technology will be given followed by a discussion of the project and lessons learned.