Abstract
A fish drying process control system is proposed in the present paper. The proposed system utilizes prediction of suitable drying conditions for the given material fish before drying together with the proper change in weight of material fish with time under that condition. This function of the system has its basis in the performance of a skilled worker in this field. In order to implement a human expertise of this sort, experimental analysis were made so as to find the characteristics which governs the drying process. The proposed system consists of two procedures for producing products of good quality, which are set following human expert's way as mentioned above: 1) The procedure before drying. 2) The one which is executed during drying. The procedure (1) is for setting drying conditions and the prediction of required drying time. In this procedure, the probable change in weight with time is inferred by using fuzzy reasoning. A proper set of drying conditions and the required drying time under that set of conditions are also obtained by using a regression model. The procedure (2) is for more accurate estimation about the progress in drying utilizing the observation during drying. A mathematical model is employed for this purpose. A good agreement between the experimental results and simulation results are obtained, which implies the usefulness of the present control system.
