ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some uses of expert system techniques in manufacturing and engineering fields. It explores the historical background of the needs of expert systems in manufacturing and engineering is discussed with the nature of multilayered manufacturing processes. An extensive survey on most of the aspects of manufacturing automation, taking into account different levels of automation, reveals the hierarchical or multilayered architecture of expert systems applying various types of information and intelligent components at different levels. Expert systems in intelligent process control include the computer-aided design and online adaptive adjustment of parameters of conventional feedback control algorithms such as PID control and optimum control. The limitation of current expert system technology is that expert systems can only use deductive inference and not inductive inference; therefore, a known starting point must be present in order to make a conclusion.
