TOWARDS AUTOMATIC SELECTION OF CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES FOR ICP-AES

Automatic selection of a calibration techniques is an important aspect for an instrument that will be expected to analyze novel samples comp letely without human intervention. The development of a system for cal ibration methodology selection for ICP-AES is presented. The most comm on calibration techniques are discussed, their performances are compar ed and a series of rules for their application to samples have been ge nerated. The selection of calibration technique was made for the 12 el ements in a ''test universe''. Several criteria are used in the select ion: The approximate analyte and matrix concentrations and the values of several economic constraints imposed by the user. These constraints include: The time/cost of an analysis; the sample volume required for the analysis and the desired level of accuracy. A procedure for weigh ting each factor's relative importance is given and the inclusion of a dditional constraints is discussed. After eliminating all calibration techniques whose performance is inadequate, the remaining ones are ran ked by how well they meet the user's constraints. The performance of t he computer in selecting methodologies is evaluated by comparing its c hoices against those made by human analysts.