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LECTURE 1: Introduction to Automation, Systems Overview

Course Objectives
In this course, we shall learn about the different aspects of factory automation and its components.
At the lowest level, we study sensors and actuators that control the physical process, and how they
work with simple electrical or mechanical stimulus. We study how systems containing a large
number of sensors and actuators that follow pre-defined logic can be controlled automatically
using Logic Controllers. Finally, in more complex systems, the logic that governs actions of the
actuators is based not only on inputs from sensors, but also from other sources such as data stored
by humans etc. Such automation requires connection between hardware (sensors, actuators) and
computer(s) linked together on networks. We will learn how high level programming languages
(e.g. C++ or Java) can be used to design automation control in such complex systems. The most
significant element of automation in modern industry is the growing use of computers and
electronic controls. In keeping with this, the course shall concentrate on computers and computer
applications.

History of Automation:

The concept of automated factories is not old historically. The first organized automation is
believed to have sprung out of the industrial revolution in England in the latter half of the 18th
century. Some of the landmark events in these 200 years of rapid industrialization include:
• Outburst of mechanization due to the Industrial revolution, 1770.
• Henry Ford and the development of hard automation and transfer lines, 1900.
• Machine tools with automatic controls; e.g. copying machines with a stylus to traverse the
master copy in order to generate an electrical signal for the servomotor drive.
• Numerically Controlled (NC) machine tools, 1952 (US Air Force, MIT).
• Rapid development of microchip computers, late 1960's.
• CNC (computer numerical controlled) machine tools.
• Industrial Robots (1970's).
• Computer networks (1970's).
• Fully automated, Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) for high flexibility, 1990's.

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Why Automate?

• Improved quality: Interchangeability, increased life

• Precise control with Shorter response time

• Shorter processing time: low lead-time, lower work-in-progress time, lower inventory

• Safer work-place: hazardous substance handling, chemicals handling, heavy/unwieldy materials

handling

Less waste: repeatability

PLC Microprocessor Computers

Communication network

Network Interface

Analog controls
A/D D/A
converter converter Digital Signals
Analog Signals

Sensors and Actuators

Physical Process

Figure 1.1. Basic Structure of Automatic Control System

Open Loop Vs Closed Loop Systems

Control structures can basically be looked upon as open loop or closed-loop (feedback) systems.
In open loop systems, the actuator is given a command to take an action for a fixed amount of
time, or of fixed magnitude. No sensors are used; the user must know, for example, by calibration
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of the actuator behavior, how much work (or magnitude of effect) will be done by the actuator for
that value of the signal. Such systems are cheaper, and usually lighter (since there is no sensor to
be mounted on the operated device). Closed loop systems typically use a sensor to measure the
actual effect being caused by the actuator. If the device is far from the target, the actuator is given
a signal to keep working; when the device reaches the target, the sensor signals the actuator to
stop its action (thus the signal from the sensor is called a feedback). Usually, feedback systems
also accelerate the device when the target is far away, and decelerate the device when it is near the
target to account for inertia.

Signal Actuator Device

Figure 1.2. Open Loop Control

Signal - Actuator Device

feedback
Sensor

Figure 1.3. Closed Loop (feedback) Control

Examples of Automation:

1a. Kowloon Motor Bus

To request the bus to stop, you press a button. A bell rings (once), and a Light bulb near the
driver’s seat turns on.

- identify the sensor(s) and actuator(s) in this system.

- do you think this is an analog signal or digital?
- do you think this is a closed loop or open loop control?

1b. Kowloon Motor Bus

To request a stop, you press on the black/yellow strip. Bell rings, and light bulb turn on.

- what type of sensor do you think is being used in this system?

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2a. Automatic doors
When you walk in front of the door of some buildings, the door automatically opens. After a fixed
amount of time, it shuts.

- Identify the sensor, and the actuators in this case.

- Give examples of two types of sensors that such a system may be using.
- Give examples of two types of actuators that such systems may be using.

2b. Automatic doors

Sometimes the door starts to close as you are walking through it. In such cases, a sensor
automatically detects your presence and re-opens the door.

- Lift doors often use this type of system; what type of sensor is used?
- Lift doors additionally use a system where the closing door re-opens if it hits the person
standing in the doorway. What sensor is used for this?
- Let sensor-1 be “person-in-door”, sensor-2 be “door-hit-person” and actuator control be
“open-the-door”. What is the logical statement for the control of the actuator?

3. HMV (or other CD selling shop)

If a person walks out of the CD shop, carrying a CD for which they did not pay, an alarm rings
out, and a light bulb flashes.

- What are the sensors and actuators in this case?

4. Fridge
The fridge in your home cools the food you keep inside it. You can set the intensity of the cooling
by setting a slider or dial.

- What are the sensor and actuator in this case?

- Give an example of how such a control system can be made using analog devices.
- Give an example of how such a control system can be made using digital devices.

5. Automatic rice cooker

I have a very nice rice cooker. I can put the rice and water in it in the morning, and set it to start
cooking at, say 6pm in the evening. It turns on automatically, and when the rice is cooked, it
switches to “keep warm” mode.

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- How does it control when to turn on?

- What type of sensor(s) and actuators do you think are inside this machine?
- How would you sense when the rice is cooked?
- How can the rice be kept warm for up to 12 hours?
- Such cookers can also be set to cook different food types (rice, congee, fish…). How is
the logic for so many functions controlled?

5. Park and Shop

When you buy something from Park and Shop, the sales clerk ‘swipes’ it across a glass sheet on
top of the counter. The price (and name) of the item are automatically printed on the receipt. The
receipt also calculates the total price of all items you have bought.

- Identify the sensors and actuators in this example.

- Is this an example of digital or analog control?
- How does the system know what item was swiped?
- How does the system know the price and name of the item?
- If the system “knows” which item is being purchased, can this information be used by
the inventory manager of Park and Shop to improve customer service? How?

All of the above are examples of automation that we encounter every day of our lives. The same
technology is used in the control of automatic machines in all types of factories and companies. In
this course, we will learn, to some extent, how such control systems work.

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