Manufacturing process modeling and optimization based on Multi-Layer Perceptron network

It has been shown that a manufacturing process can be modeled (learned) using Multi-Layer Performance (MLP) neural network and then optimized directly using the learned network. This paper extends the previous work by examining several different MLP training algorithms for manufacturing process modeling and three methods for process optimization. The transformation method is used to convert a constrained objective function into an unconstrained one, which is then used as the error function in the process optimization stage. The simulation results indicate that: (i) the conjugate gradient algorithms with backtracking line search outperform the standard BP algorithm in convergence speed; (ii) the neural network approaches could yield more accurate process models than the regression method; (iii) the BP with simulated annealing method is the most reliable optimization method to generate the best optimal solution, and (iv) process optimization directly performed on the neural network is possible but cannot be easily automated totally, especially when the process concerned is a mixed integer problem.