Fuzzy sensor data fusion for quality monitoring in concrete mixing plant

One of the most important problems to achieve the required quality in concrete manufacturing is the estimation of moisture in aggregates and in concrete mix. The authors present a data fusion and fuzzy logic on line real-time application devoted to optimize the concrete quality. The application is based on smart treatment of existing information coming from plant sensors and on other operators experience. The results obtained at present time with only a process partial mapping shows that an estimation of the aggregate water content can be obtained with a reproducibility better than one order of magnitude more that given by the best actually used systems, for the same recipe and materials. This approach allows control of the most important parameter, the total water amount, to maintain the best quality of the product