Material processing optimization

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for optimizing material processing. In one aspect, a method includes collecting, from a set of sensors, a set of current manufacturing conditions. Based on the set of current manufacturing conditions collected from the sensors, a set of current qualities of a material currently being processed by manufacturing equipment is determined. A baseline production measure for processing the material according to the set of current qualities is obtained. A candidate set of manufacturing conditions that provide an improved production measure relative to the baseline production measure is determined. A set of candidate qualities for the material produced under the candidate set of manufacturing conditions is determined. A visualization that presents both of the set of candidate qualities of the material and the set of current qualities of the material currently being processed is generated.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for manufacturing equipment, the method comprising:
 obtaining a set of current qualities for materials currently being processed under a set of current manufacturing conditions at a plurality of points along a processing pipeline by the manufacturing equipment;   generating, for presentation in a user interface, a visualization for the plurality of points of the processing pipeline for the materials currently being processed by the manufacturing equipment, wherein:
 the visualization presenting for each point of the plurality of points along the processing pipeline: (1) a quality template representing one or more quality measure values for a plurality of material qualities at the point along the processing pipeline and (2) a first overlay presented over the quality template comprising the set of current qualities for the materials currently processed by the manufacturing equipment; and 
 the user interface comprising at least one control element for adjusting in real-time at least one quality of the materials at one or more points along the processing pipeline; and 
   dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface in response to a requested adjustment of at least one quality of materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline from a user and through the at least one control.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface in response to a requested adjustment of at least one quality of materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline from a user and through the at least one control comprises:
 receiving, from the user and through the at least one control presented in the user interface, the requested adjustment of at least one quality of the materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline;   determining a set of candidate manufacturing conditions to yield the requested adjustment of the at least one quality of the materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline;   determining, a set of candidate qualities for the materials produced using the set of candidate manufacturing conditions; and   updating the visualization for presentation in the user interface.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein dynamically updating the visualization comprises, for each point of the plurality of points of the processing pipeline for the materials,
 generating a second overlay for presentation with the first overlay over the quality template comprising a set of candidate qualities for the materials based on the requested adjustment; and   indicating at least one adjustment of material quality between the set of current qualities and the corresponding set of candidate qualities for the materials.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface comprises presenting the first overlay and the second overlay together in a history chart comparing measured values of the set of current qualities for the materials over time to candidate values of the set of candidate qualities for the materials over time. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface comprises
 updating the first overlay and the second overlay in response to a user interaction with the control to display the current qualities of materials being produced at a time corresponding to a position of the control and the candidate qualities of materials produced at the time corresponding to the position of the control.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 generating, in response to the candidate set of qualities of materials, an adjustment to at least one physical setting of the manufacturing equipment to achieve the candidate set of qualities of materials.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the adjustment to at least one physical setting comprises a change to a speed of a refiner, a physical position of a valve, or another physical setting of another piece of manufacturing equipment to change manufacturing conditions of the manufacturing equipment. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, presenting in the visualization tracked changes in the qualities of materials caused by changing manufacturing conditions over time. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the quality template comprises different zones including, for each target quality, at least a meets target quality zone and a does not meet target quality zone. 
     
     
         10 . A system, comprising:
 a data storage device storing executable instructions; and   one or more data processing apparatus configured to interact with the data storage device and execute the instructions, wherein execution of the instructions cause the one or more data processing apparatus to perform operations including:
 obtaining a set of current qualities for materials currently being processed under a set of current manufacturing conditions at a plurality of points along a processing pipeline by manufacturing equipment; 
 generating, for presentation in a user interface, a visualization for the plurality of points of the processing pipeline for the materials currently being processed by the manufacturing equipment, wherein:
 the visualization presenting for each point of the plurality of points along the processing pipeline: (1) a quality template representing one or more quality measure values for a plurality of material qualities at the point along the processing pipeline and (2) a first overlay presented over the quality template comprising the set of current qualities for the materials currently processed by the manufacturing equipment; and 
 the user interface comprising at least one control element for adjusting in real-time at least one quality of the materials at one or more points along the processing pipeline; and 
 
 dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface in response to a requested adjustment of at least one quality of materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline from a user and through the at least one control. 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface in response to a requested adjustment of at least one quality of materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline from a user and through the at least one control comprises:
 receiving, from the user and through the at least one control presented in the user interface, the requested adjustment of at least one quality of the materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline;   determining a set of candidate manufacturing conditions to yield the requested adjustment of the at least one quality of the materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline;   determining, a set of candidate qualities for the materials produced using the set of candidate manufacturing conditions; and   updating the visualization for presentation in the user interface.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein dynamically updating the visualization comprises, for each point of the plurality of points of the processing pipeline for the materials,
 generating a second overlay for presentation with the first overlay over the quality template comprising a set of candidate qualities for the materials based on the requested adjustment; and   indicating at least one adjustment of material quality between the set of current qualities and the corresponding set of candidate qualities for the materials.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface comprises presenting the first overlay and the second overlay together in a history chart comparing measured values of the set of current qualities for the materials over time to candidate values of the set of candidate qualities for the materials over time. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface comprises
 updating the first overlay and the second overlay in response to a user interaction with the control to display the current qualities of materials being produced at a time corresponding to a position of the control and the candidate qualities of materials produced at the time corresponding to the position of the control.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 generating, in response to the candidate set of qualities of materials, an adjustment to at least one physical setting of the manufacturing equipment to achieve the candidate set of qualities of materials.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the adjustment to at least one physical setting comprises a change to a speed of a refiner, a physical position of a valve, or another physical setting of another piece of manufacturing equipment to change manufacturing conditions of the manufacturing equipment. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10 , further comprising, presenting in the visualization tracked changes in the qualities of materials caused by changing manufacturing conditions over time. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the quality template comprises different zones including, for each target quality, at least a meets target quality zone and a does not meet target quality zone. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining a set of current qualities for materials currently being processed under a set of current manufacturing conditions at a plurality of points along a processing pipeline by manufacturing equipment;   generating, for presentation in a user interface, a visualization for the plurality of points of the processing pipeline for the materials currently being processed by the manufacturing equipment, wherein:
 the visualization presenting for each point of the plurality of points along the processing pipeline: (1) a quality template representing one or more quality measure values for a plurality of material qualities at the point along the processing pipeline and (2) a first overlay presented over the quality template comprising the set of current qualities for the materials currently processed by the manufacturing equipment; and 
 the user interface comprising at least one control element for adjusting in real-time at least one quality of the materials at one or more points along the processing pipeline; and 
   dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface in response to a requested adjustment of at least one quality of materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline from a user and through the at least one control.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein dynamically updating the visualization presented in the user interface in response to a requested adjustment of at least one quality of materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline from a user and through the at least one control comprises:
 receiving, from the user and through the at least one control presented in the user interface, the requested adjustment of at least one quality of the materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline;   determining a set of candidate manufacturing conditions to yield the requested adjustment of the at least one quality of the materials at the one or more points along the processing pipeline;   determining, a set of candidate qualities for the materials produced using the set of candidate manufacturing conditions; and   updating the visualization for presentation in the user interface.