Automation and Control

Technologies
Lecture 2
Engineering 475
Automated Production Systems

Computer Integrated Manufacturing

Enterprise
Level

Factory
Level

Automation
Automation
and
andControl
Control
Technologies
Technologies

Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Support
SupportSystems
Systems
Quality
Quality
Control
Control
Systems
Systems
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Systems
Systems
Material
Material
Handling
Handling
Technologies
Technologies
Groover, Fig. 3.1

Automation and Control

in Manufacturing
Level
5

Enterprise
Level

Corporate Information
System

Flow of data

Plant Level

Cell or
System Level

Machine Level

Device Level

Production System

Manufacturing system
groups of machines

Individual Machines

Sensors, Actuators, other

hardware elements
Groover, Fig. 3.6

Process Industries Versus

Discrete Manufacturing
Typical Unit Operations
in the Process Industries
Chemical Reactions
Deposition
Distillation
Heating
Mixing and Blending
Separation of Ingredients

Typical Unit Operations in

Discrete Manufacturing
Casting
Forging
Extrusion
Machining
Assembly
Plastic Molding
Sheet Metal Stamping

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Groover, Table 4.1

Discrete Manufacturing
Automation and Control Technologies
There are three primary automation and control technologies
used in discrete component manufacturing plants.
G Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs)
G Robotics
G Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
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Control Systems
Definition A control system is a group of components
that maintains a desired result by manipulating the value
of another variable in the system.

Input
Signal

Control
System

Energy
Source

Output
Signal

Block Diagrams
A block diagram consists of a block representing
each component in a control system connected by
lines that represent signal paths.
Temperature

Thermocouple

Armature
Voltage

Electrical
Voltage

Motor Speed

DC Motor

Flow Rate

Stem Position

Valve

Transfer Function
Transfer Function Ratio of the output signal
divided by the input signal.

Input Signal

I(s)

Control
System
Component

Output Signal

O(s)

O(s )
H(s ) =
I(s )
The transfer function is usually written in
terms of the Laplace transform variable, s.

Gain and Phase Shift

The transfer function of a component describes the size and
timing relationship between the output signal and the input
signal.
Output amplitude
Gain =
Input amplitude

Phase shift = output phase angle - input phase angle

Bateson, Fig. 1.4

Block Diagram of a Control System

Input
Sp

Controller
Error Detector
Error
E=Sp-Cm

+
_

V
Gc =
E

Measured value of
controlled variable Cm

Manipulating
Element
V

Process
M

Gm =

M
V

Gp =

C
M

Output
C

Cm
H=
C
Measuring
Transmitter
Bateson, Fig. 1.7

Operations Performed
by a Control System
Measurement: Measure the value of the controlled variable
Decision:

Compute the error and use the error to form a

control action

Manipulation: Use the control action to manipulate some variable

in the process in a way that will tend to reduce the
error

Continuous Versus Discrete

Control
Continuous Control the variables and parameters are
continuous and analog
Discrete Control

variables and parameters are

discrete, mostly binary

G Continuous control is the topic of the Control

Systems course.
G This class will focus primarily on discrete control.
G Many industrial automation systems are based on
discrete input and output signals.

Types of Discrete Control

Event-driven change is executed by the controller
in response to some event that has caused the state
of the system to be changed.

Time-driven change is executed by the controller

either at a specific point in time or after a certain
time lapse has occurred.

Many industrial control systems include a

combination of event-driven and time-driven
elements.

Examples of Event-Driven Control

A robot loads a part into a fixture, and the part is sensed
by a limit switch. Sensing the parts presence is the event
that alters the system state. The event-driven change is
that the automatic machining cycle can now commence.
The diminishing level of plastic molding compound in
the hopper of an injection molding machine triggers a
low-level switch, which in turn triggers a valve to open
that starts the flow of new plastic into the hopper. When
the level of the plastic reaches the high-level switch, this
triggers the valve to close, thus stopping the flow of
pellets into the hopper.

Examples of Time-Driven Control

Heat treating operations must be carried out for a certain
length of time. An automated heat treating cycle consists of
automatic loading of parts into the furnace (perhaps by a
robot) and then unloading after the parts have been heated
for the specified length of time.
In the operation of a washing machine, once the laundry tub
has been filled to the preset level, the agitation cycle
continues for a length of time set on the controls. When this
time is up, the timer stops the agitation and initiates draining
of the tub.