Innovative Production Machines and Systems Conference

This paper proposes a novel algorithm for the extraction of rule sets. The extraction technique utilised is inspired by the immune system and its pattern recognition capabilities.  The concept of an immune network is used which enables the algorithm to generate rule sets in an incremental manner.  Such an immune network also enables the algorithm to learn from training examples that  have not had classes specified.  The algorithm developed is tested against several different example data sets and shows itself to be at least comparable to existing algorithms.

Machine learning is concerned with enabling computer programs automatically to improve their performance at some tasks through experience. Manufacturing is an area where the application of machine learning can be very fruitful. However, little has been published about the use of machine learning techniques in the manufacturing domain. This paper evaluates several machine learning techniques and examines applications in which they have been successfully deployed. Special attention is given to inductive learning which is among the most mature of the machine learning approaches currently available. The paper concludes with a summary of some of the key research issues in machine learning.