Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to optimize productivity.

the basic purpose of insdustrial automation is to reduce the human intervention and to make the manufacturing processes energy efficient.Computerized devices and robots are being used for this purpose.These machines are capable of handling repetitive tasks quickly and efficiently. Industrial automation has numerous advantages. 1) Increased Productivity the first and the most important advantage of industrial automation is to increase productivity while maintaining quality. Computerized devices and robots allows companies to achieve faster cycle times with greater efficiency which ultimately result in Increased Productivity. 2) Significant Savings Robotic workcells and other industrial automation systems are the ultimate in lean manufacturing. They offer a quick return on investment via dramatic increases in productivity and efficiency. Industrial automation not only simplify labor-intensive tasks, thereby reducing workforce costs significantly, it also minimizes the creation of waste materials and products. 3) Improved Quality Computerized devices and robots are capable of providing consistent and repeatable results. When manufacturers utilize industrial automation, they eliminate the quality control issues involved with human error. With industrial automation, processes can be carefully regulated and controlled, so the quality of the end product is not only reliable it is often vastly improved. 4) Better Safety Good prganization spends hundred of thousands to ensure safety at their workplace.this objective can be effectively achieved by automation.Industrial automation effectively improves workplace safety and protects workers from injury. It also protects the company from costly insurance claims. 5) Competitive Edge In order to survive in today's global economy, companies must remain competitive.industrial automation has provided manufacturing companies with the ability to stay in step with and even move ahead of their competitors.Computerized devices and robots give companies the tools to decrease cycle times, improve quality, and save big. 6)flexibility A major advantage of industrial automation is the flexibility and convertibility in the manufacturing process. Manufacturers are increasingly demanding the ability to easily switch from manufacturing a wide range of products without having to completely rebuild the production lines. Till 1970,electromechincal devices like relays,timers and contractors were being used in the automation industry.these electromechanical devices have a limited lifetime and required strict maintenance schedules. Troubleshooting was also quite difficult when so many relays are involved.Just picture a machine control panel that included hundreds or thousands, of individual relays. The size could be mind boggling. How about the complicated initial wiring of so many individual devices! These relays would be individually wired together in a manner that would yield the desired outcome.It was quite difficult or pehaps impossible to implement. Secondly,When production requirements changes,the control system also changes.thousands of individual relays, timers had to be replaced or rewired whenever the automated process needed to change.This becomes very expensive when the change is frequent. How all these problems can be encountred?THE PLC Programable Logic Controller is the solution which has replaced hundred of relays by a single controller with no maintanence cost.

PLC A PLC (i.e. Programmable Logic Controller) is a micro-processors based device that was invented to replace the relay circuits for machine control.It is an industrial computer control system that continuously monitors the state of input devices and makes decisions based upon a custom program to control the state of output devices.

Hardware The PLC mainly consists of a CPU, memory areas, and appropriate circuits to receive input/output data. We can actually consider the PLC to be a box full of hundreds or thousands of separate relays, counters, timers and data storage locations. Do these counters, timers, etc. really exist? No, they don't "physically" exist but rather they are simulated and can be considered software counters, timers, etc. INPUT RELAYS-These are connected to the outside world. They physically exist and receive signals from switches, sensors, etc. COUNTERS-These are simulated counters and they can be programmed to count pulses. Typically these counters can count up, down or both up and down. TIMERS-These also do not physically exist. They come in many varieties and increments. The most common type is an on-delay type. Others include off-delay and both retentive and non-retentive types. OUTPUT RELAYS-(coils)These are connected to the outside world. They physically exist and send on/off signals to solenoids, lights, etc. They can be transistors, relays, or triacs depending upon the model chosen. working of plc The PLC works by looking at its inputs and depending upon their state, turning on/off its outputs. The user enters a program, usually via software, that gives the desired results. A program is written for the PLC which turns on and off outputs based on input conditions and the internal program.The working of PLC can be divided into following three steps: Step 1-CHECK INPUT STATUS-First the PLC takes a look at each input to determine if it is on or off. In other words, is the sensor connected to the first input on? How about the second input? How about the third... It records this data into its memory to be used during the next step. Step 2-EXECUTE PROGRAM-Next the PLC executes your program one instruction at a time. Maybe your program said that if the first input was on then it should turn on the first output. Since it already knows which inputs are on/off from the previous step it will be able to decide whether the first output should be turned on based on the state of the first input. It will store the execution results for use later during the next step. Step 3-UPDATE OUTPUT STATUS-Finally the PLC updates the status of the outputs. It updates the outputs based on which inputs were on during the first step and the results of executing your program during the second step. Based on the example in step 2 it would now turn on the first output because the first input was on and your program said to turn on the first output when this condition is true. After the third step the PLC goes back to step one and repeats the steps continuously. INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION It is the use of machines, control systems and information technologies to optimize productivity in the production of goods and delivery of services. The correct incentive for applying automation is to, Increase productivity. Increase quality. Reduce time. Reduce wastage. Economies of scale. PLC A programmable logic controller (PLC), also referred to as a programmable controller, is the name given to a type of computer commonly used in commercial and industrial control applications. PLCs differ

from office computers in the types of tasks that they perform and the hardware and software they require to perform these tasks. While the specific applications vary widely, all PLCs monitor inputs and other variable values, make decisions based on a stored program, and control outputs to automate a process or machine.