What is automation? Write its merits and demerits.

Automation or industrial automation is the use of control systems such as computers

to control industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human
intervention. The word Automation gives the meaning self dictating or a mechanism
that move by itself that derived from the Greek
words Auto and Matos whereauto means self while Matos means moving.Automati
on takes a step beyond mechanization. Mechanization is the manual operation of a
task by human operators using machinery.On the other hand, automation replaces
the human involvement with the use of logical programming commands using
computer based control systems.
Merits:
1. To increase productivity: Automation of factory or manufacturing or process
plant improves production rate through a better control of production.
2. Improved speed of operation: It helps to produce mass production by
drastically reducing assembly time per product with a greater production
quality.
3. To provide optimum cost of operation: Integration of various processes in
industry with automated machineries, minimizes cycle times and effort and
hence the need of human labor gets reduced. Thus the investment on
employees has been saved with automation.
4. To improve product quality: Since the automation reduces the human
involvement, the possibility of human errors also gets eliminated.
5. Improved Accuracy: Uniformity and product quality with a greater conformity
can be maintained with automation.
6. To reduce routine checks: Automation completely reduces the need for
manual checking of various process parameters. By taking advantage of
automation technologies, industrial processes automatically adjusts process
variables to set or desired values using closed loop control techniques.
7. To raise the level of safety: Industrial automation increases the level of
safety to personnel by substituting them with automated machines in
hazardous working conditions. Traditionally, industrial robots and robotic
devices are implemented in such risky and hazardous places.
8. Provides flexibility of operation: Manufacturers can easily switch from
production of product A to production of product B.

Demerits:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Higher initial Costs

Economic Limits
Difficult to program
Complex to understand
Requires highly skilled personnel for maintenance

Components of automation

Input from field: switches, sensor signals of proximity sensor, pressure sensor,
speed sensor,temperature sensor
Output to field : control of on & off of motors, speed control of motors, industrial
lighting control, alrams, tanks filling control, pressure control in boilers, production
control, change of product parameters, industrial heating control, traction control
of vehicles
Controller: it takes the control decision depending upon the input signals and
program fed in its memory,plc,dcs,pid
Supervisory control: it is the highest level of control ,it allows overriding of control
parameters in the controller, providing various accesses,scada,hmi

Plc,types, aPPLICAtuions,catalog number cable name,selection criteria,digital and

analog io
A programming logic controller is an industrial computer control system that
continuously monitors the state of input devices and makes decision based upon a
custom program to control the state of output devices