Landry, J.A.; E. Norris. 2002. Expert System for the Control of Potato Storage Environments. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 17(6) : 839-844.
Abstract
Research has proven that computer–controlled vegetable storage can achieve better storage conditions than traditional control systems. To take full advantage of this computerization of the control process, new and better control strategies must be developed. The development of expert systems, a branch of artificial intelligence, has been made possible by recent advances. The application of new control methods using expert systems has been extensively demonstrated for greenhouse environments. However, the application of expert systems for the control of industrial vegetable storage is still to be investigated. In this project, the application of an expert system for the on–line control of industrial potato storage was explored. The development and modification of a control software to incorporate a rule–based expert system to replace conventional algorithm–based control routines was performed. This integration resulted in the development of highly efficient control software, which can easily be maintained and improved as new knowledge emerges. This expert system provides for the representation of heuristic knowledge in the form of rules, which was not possible with conventional, algorithm–based control software.