| A supervisory fuzzy logic control system for controlling infrared roasting of three-grain hot breakfast cereal was designed and tested. The design incorporated commercial fuzzy preprocessor software, which facilitated encapsulation of the underlying human-based reasoning used to govern the process. The controller was tested in a simulator using heated air, rather than grain, as the medium. This permitted rapid commissioning of the system in the manufacturing facility where it is now employed. In situ testing confirmed that the controller provided final product characteristics that were at least equal to those obtained with human (manual) control procedures.; It was determined that the maximum safe (product) temperature for roasting the cereal with the IR roaster at the test facility was lower than the 90{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C optimum suggested in previous work. Attempts to achieve 90{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C caused serious overheating.; The controller was subjected to appreciable load disturbances which it was able to accomodate.; The system significantly reduced the dependency on constant human supervision of this process, and therefore eliminated the most drudgery-like aspects of roaster control. |
