INTRODUCTION TO

AUTOMATION
By ARMS
WHAT IS AUTOMATION.
 The word ‘Automation’ is derived from Greek words “Auto”(self) and
“Matos” (moving). Automation therefore is the mechanism for systems
that “move by itself”. However, apart from this original sense of the word,
automated systems also achieve significantly superior performance than
what is possible with manual systems, in terms of power, precision and
speed of operation.
 Automation is a set of technologies that results in operation of
machines and systems without significant human intervention
and achieves performance superior to manual operation.
 Following image shows the industrial automation.
NEED OF AUTOMATION
 Reduce Worker Fatigue and Effort or Labor
Intensive Operation.
 Prevent Products or Materials from Being
Damaged or Destroyed.
 Prevent Non-conforming Product from Shipping.

 Increase Efficiency.

 Collect Better Data.

 Devise the Right Process Improvements.

 Save Money.
EVOLUTION OF AUTOMATION
 Manual control.
 Pneumatic control.

 Hard wired Control(Relay control).

 Electronic controls using Logic Gate.

 PLC Control.

Greece (BC) – Float regulator mechanism

Holland (16th Century)– Temperature regulator

Watt’s Flyball Governor

(18th century)
MANUAL CONTROL.
 All the actions related to process control are taken by the
operators.
Drawbacks
o The production, safety, energy consumption and usage of raw
material are all subject to the correctness and accuracy of human
action.
 Likely human errors and consequently its effect on quality of
final product.
PNEUMATIC CONTROLS
 Industrial automation, with its machine and
process control, had its origin in the 1920s with
the advent of "Pneumatic Controllers".
 Actions were controlled by a simple manipulation
of pneumatic valves, which in turn were
controlled by relays and switches.
Drawbacks
 Bulky and Complex System.

 Involves lot of rework to implement control logic.

 Longer project time

HARDWIRE LOGIC (RELAY CONTROL)
 Before the days of the PLC the only way to control machinery was through the use of
relays. Relays work by utilizing a coil that, when energized, creates a magnetic force
to effectively pull a switch to the ON or OFF position. When the relay is de-
energized, the switch releases and returns the device to its standard ON or OFF
position.
 The contactor and Relays together with hardware timers and counters were used in
achieving the desired level of automation.

Drawbacks
 Bulky panels.
 Complex wiring.
 Longer project time.
 Difficult maintenance and troubleshooting.
ELECTRONIC CONTROL USING LOGIC GATES
 In 1960s with the advent of electronics, the logic gates started
replacing the relays and auxiliary contactors in the control
circuits.
 The hardware timers & counters were replaced by electronic
timers.
Advantages
o Reduced space requirements
o Energy saving
o Less maintenance & greater reliability.
Drawbacks
o Changes in control logic not possible.
o More project time. OR Gate
PLC CONTROL
 Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) first hit the scene in the late 1960s. The
primary reason for designing such a device was eliminating the large cost involved in
replacing the complicated relay based machine control systems for major U.S. car
manufactures.
 Since then, a slow steady growth has allowed the manufacturing and process control
industries to take advantage of PLC applications-oriented software—programmable
language that looks and feels like relay-ladder-logic where any maintenance
technician.
 The PLC receives information from connected sensors or input devices, processes the
data, and triggers outputs based on pre-programmed parameters.
Depending on the inputs and outputs, a PLC can monitor and record run-time data
such as machine productivity or operating temperature, automatically start and stop
processes, generate alarms if a machine malfunctions, and more
INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION ELEMENTS

Field Instruments
Control Hardware
Control Software
FIELD INSTRUMENTS
Sensors with transmitters are the field devices placed in the field who
actually sense the parameter and send the analog signal to the control
hardware.
 The analog signals used are Ohm (RTD), mV (Thermocouple), 4-20 mA,
+/-10 V, etc

Widely used sensors

 RTD : Output in Ohms (Temperature)
 Thermocouples : Output in mV (Temperature)
 Pressure Transmitters : 4-20mA, 0-10 V
 Flow Transmitter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V
 Level Transmitter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V
 Conductivity meter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V
 Density meter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V
 pH transmitter : 4-20mA, 0-10 V
And Many more
FIELD INSTRUMENTS

Switches- In electrical engineering, a switch is

an electrical component that can "make" or
"break" an electrical circuit, interrupting
the current or diverting it from one conductor to
another.
Widely used switches
o Push buttons.

o Limit switches.

o Emergency switches.

o Selector switches.

o Toggle switches.
FIELD INSTRUMENTS

Pneumatic valves- Pneumatic valves are one of

an array of components responsible for
controlling the pressure, rate, and amount
of air as it moves through a pneumatic system.

Widely used pneumatic valves

o One direction valves.

o Two direction valves.

o Three direction valves.

o Four direction valves.

FIELD INSTRUMENTS

Hydraulic valves- Pneumatic valves are one of

an array of components responsible for
controlling the pressure, rate, and amount
of water as it moves through a pneumatic system.

Widely used hydraulic valves

o One direction valves.

o Two direction valves.

o Three direction valves.

o Four direction valves.

 CONTROL HARDWARE
 Standalone PID Controllers- These are the independent small hardware units

which caters requirement of closed loop controls in the process.

o Programmable logic controllers (PLC)- Now a days PLCs are the most widely used control

hardware in control applications. The applications ranges from standalone system for CNC

machines to Hot swappable Redundant System for Critical Process Control

o Distributed Control System(DCS)- A distributed control system (DCS) is a

computerized control system for a process or plant usually with a large number of control

loops, in which autonomous controllers are distributed throughout the system, but there is

central operator supervisory control.

CONTROL SOFTWARE
 Every control hardware has its own control
software.
 Every brand of PLC has its own system control
software.
 From this control software a programmer can
program the controller as he wants.
BENEFITS OF AUTOMATION
 Automation reduces costs.
 Automation improves quality.

 Automation improves efficiency.

 Automation increases human safety.

 Automation makes manufacturing better.

 Reduction in production time .

 Less employee costs.

 Higher volume production.

 Less human error.

LEVEL OF AUTOMATION