Emerging Computer Technology For The Minerals Industries

The availability of fast, low-cost computer hardware and advanced software is opening new opportunities for minerals extraction and processing. Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's) are currently used extensively in the minerals industries; this paper looks beyond PLC's and that vintage of “computer control”--it looks toward what the authors see as new in the next five years. Topics covered include expert systems, neural networks, intelligent signal processing, and hierarchical controllers as applied to mining and mineral processing operations.