Learning systems for automatic control

Recent developments in learning systems for automatic control are discussed from the point of view of pattern recognition. The following mathematical areas are given special attention: 1) decision theory, which produces control policies from gradually adjusted estimates of pattern probabilities, 2) trainable threshold logic, which produces control policies from networks of adjustable threshold devices, 3) stochastic approximation, which produces asymptotically optimum controllers, and 4) Markov chain theory, which provides an approach to modelling the dynamics of learning controllers. Projected applications in the following areas are discussed: process control, automated design of controllers, reliability control, numerical computation, and communication systems. A selected bibliography is included.