Estimation of unbalanced loads in washing machines using fuzzy neural networks

The performance of the washing machines is limited by the grouping of the clothes in spinning cycle, generally called as the unbalanced load (UL). The UL may cause vibrations, noise, and possible damage to the machine; therefore, accurate estimation of ULs, including their magnitudes and locations in washing drum, is required. In this paper, we propose an approach to evaluate the position and mass of the UL in a horizontal loading washing machine. The approach uses fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks to obtain fast and accurate estimate of the UL. An experimental system has been developed and the algorithms are implemented on a real-time system to show the effectiveness of the approach. Successful experiments involving a distribution algorithm suggests that UL estimation and elimination in real time is possible.