Controls and Automation
Control Engineering
Control engineering or Control systems engineering is the engineering disciplines that applies control theory to design systems with predictable behaviours. The practice uses sensors to measure the output performance of the device being controlled (often a vehicle) and those measurements can be used to give feedback to the input actuators that can make corrections toward desired performance. When a device is designed to perform without the need of human inputs for correction it is called automatic control (such as cruise control for regulating a car’s speed). Multi-disciplinary in nature, control systems engineering activates focus on implementation of control systems mainly derived by mathematical modelling of systems of a diverse range.
Modern day control engineering (also called control systems engineering) is a relative new field of study that gained significant attention during the 20th century with the advancement in technology. It can be broadly defined as practical application of control theory. Control engineering has an essential role in a wider range of control systems, from simple household washing machines to high-performance F-16 fighter aircraft.
Control engineering is the engineering discipline that focuses on the modelling of a diverse range of dynamic systems (e.g. mechanical systems) and the design of controllers that will cause these systems to behave in the desired manner. Although such controllers need not be electrical many are and hence control engineering is often viewed as a subfield of electrical engineering. However, the falling price of microprocessors is making the actual implementation of a control system essentially trivial.
As a result, focus is shifting back to the mechanical engineering discipline, as intimate knowledge of the physical system being controlled is often desired.
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services.
Automation has had a notable impact in a wide range of industries beyond manufacturing (where it began). Once-ubiquitous telephone operators have been replaced largely by automated telephone switchboards and answering machines. Medical processes such as primary screening in electrocardiography or radiography and laboratory analysis of human genes, sera, cells and tissues are carried out at much greater speed and accuracy by automated systems. Automated teller machines have reduced the need for bank visits to obtain cash and carry out transactions. In general, automation has been responsible for the shift in the world economy from industrial jobs in the 20th and 21st centuries.
In manufacturing, the purpose of automation has shifted to issues broader than productivity and costs.
Automation is now often applied primarily to increase quality in the manufacturing process, where automation can increase quality substantially. For example, the automobile and truck pistons used to be installed into engines manually. This is rapidly being transitioned to automated machine installation, because the error rate for manual instalment was around 1-1.5%, but has been reduced to 0.00001%.
Another major shift in automation is the increased demand for flexibility and convertibility in manufacturing processes. Manufacturers are increasingly demanding the ability to easily switch from manufacturing Product A to manufacturing Product B without having to completely rebuild the production lines.
Automation Tools
Engineers now can have numerical control over automated devices. The result has been a rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities. Computer-aided technologies (or CAx) now serve the basis for mathematical and organisational tools used to create complex systems. Notable examples of CAx include Computer aided design (CAD software) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM software). The improved design, analysis and manufacture of products enabled by CAx has been beneficial for industry.
Different types of automation tools exist:
ANN – Artificial neutral network
DCS – Distributed Control System
HMI – human Machine Interface
SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
PLC – Programmable Logic Controller
PAC – Programmable automation controller
Instrumentation
Motion control
Robotics