ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the rapid developments in computer technology and computational intelligence that are used to transform the developed concepts and available technology into a new generation of intelligent automation systems. Flotation processes are subjected to a wide variety of process disturbances, some of which are caused by the change in mineral characteristics and others to variation in operating procedures. The application of hybrid systems that incorporate neural networks fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms is central to the solution of complex process control problems such as flotation and mill control. The relation between froth appearance and flotation grade and recovery was clearly demonstrated in the analysis of batch and industrial flotation data. The advantage of using topological maps instead of other types of classifiers, is that they can be used to track the performance of flotation processes on a continuous basis, as opposed to the identification of discrete classes by using supervised neural nets or other types of classifiers.
