Automated Manufacturing Systems

- Manufacturing is the process of producing a product that meets a purpose

- Automated manufacturing occurs when computers are controlling the process and
computerised controls are built into the manufacturing equipment
- Data is gathered through sensors and after processing, the controller sends a signal to
the actuator, a device that performs mechanical action.
- AMS focus on the COLLECTING process
➔ Sensors: devices that sense and measure environmental variables
➔ Actuators: devices that activate and control other devices, commanded by the controller
➔ Controllers: processors that receive input from sensors and send instructions to the
actuators. Also referred to as controlling computers.

Characteristics
Involvement in production – Tasks include managing information as well as the production
processes itself. AMS support production process by:
➔ Tracking inventory - recording/checking stock levels to ensure that a sufficient supply of
materials is always available
➔ Record keeping - about employees (hours worked), production (products completed),
and accounts (wages, purchase and sale orders).
➔ Scheduling production - to match customer orders, maintenance and holidays
➔ Carrying out production - controlling machinery, monitoring work in progress.
Direct Users
➔ Managers, designers, planners and similar professionals - place their documents in a
central information system to make them available to the accounts and production
departments as soon as possible
➔ Supervisors - oversee production operations and recognise that common sense work
practices are still required by most automated production systems
➔ Maintenance engineers/technicians - responsible for repairing and ensuring the
operating efficiency of the production machinery. They document faults via the AMS
Using Data from Environment – Manufacturing processes are very repetitive and are more well
suited to automated control by computers. E.g.
● They collect data from the environment through a wide range of sensors, process this
data into information and use this information to complete a task (which is laborious).
○ Use microprocessors – converts analog to digital and processes information
(“what do I do with this? Oh I will activate actuator”) then digital to analog once it
reaches actuators
 Block diagrams: A tool for describing the interactions between
information technology items (hardware and software) within
these systems)
➔ Shown inside a rectangle, and the edge of the rectangle
is the system boundary.
➔ Inputs and outputs external to the system are shown as
circles
➔ Circles with a line down the middle is used to represent
output from one system that is an input to another
- Used to describe/illustrate AMS
- A simple pictorial representation of a system/sub-
system, using symbols to illustrate relationships
between components.
Refinement
● Process of breaking the system into smaller parts,
called sub-systems, in order to further understand the
components, processes and relationships of each part
within the system
They help with and identify...
❏ The elements within the scope of each task
that needs to be performed
❏ Inputs and outputs for components of the
subsystem
❏ Relationships between the subsystem and
components
❏ Redundancies in subsystems, that is,
unnecessary tasks or processes
❏ And establish critical paths through the subsystems so that they may be given greater
attention

Examples of AMS
Area of AMS Tasks and examples Reason for automation

Assembly line • Robots in the car industry • Fast production

production • Filling bottles, tubles and so forth • Sensors can monitor for positioning,
 • Producing large and small goods quality etc
• Can be fully automated, but most have managers, • Consistent standards in repetitive tasks
supervisors, operators, technicians, quality control and • Safety issues are avoided
maintenance workers

Materials and • Monitoring levels of resources required, available, and • Complexity of tasks
production order in as appropriate,in a time-effective manner • Data available
scheduling • Production is dependent on availability of resources
including materials, equipment, staff, market pressures

Automated • Accept a wide variety of stock orders, record levels of • Highly efficient storage
warehouses stock, location of items, movements, and so forth • Minimise storage space, retrieval times,
• Barcodes used to track items out-of-stock issues and risk of theft

CAD/CAM • Graphic designers use software to create a model • Precision, complexity of detail required.
(CAD) that can be tested and modified, production data • Allows design data to be accessed by
generated the production process quickly and
• Electronic circuits, cars and so on will all be created accurately
using CAD/CAM systems • Faster production
• CAM uses CAD data to control equipment in • Better and more consistent quality
manufacturing process, and generate financial/ products
scheduling data • Safety of workers

Rapid • Simulation and modelling of initial designs • Cost and time effective
prototyping • Testing and costing
• Data can be stored for later use

Mail sorting • OCR and bar codes identify destinations • Repetitive tasks
• Needs to be flexible to cope with varying demand, non- • Large and heavy loads to be moved
standard packages and addresses rapidly, to specific destinations

Reasons for automation

● Repetitive tasks - humans are not required to do boring jobs, machines can perform
them more consistently over longer periods of time
● Faster decision-making - management has access to organised information, leading to
faster production and financial savings
● Safety - machines can work in environments where humans cannot, do not suffer from
RSI (repetitive strain injury)
● Cost reduction - less time/labour means design, producing and marketing costs are less
● Customisation - Different parts of the machine can be customised to meet client needs
and customer demands (like bright colours on a product). Controllers can respond to this
change quickly and actuators can be switched in like spray paint.
● Quality control - end-products is of consistently high standard
● Precision and acceptable tolerance range - much more accurate than humans, who tend
to vary in their judgements
● Gains through simulating and modelling, such as:
○ Automated structural calculations
 ○ Automated ordering of components

Collecting
● Collect data and information from participants and databases (CAD) and directly link this
to the rest of the system through computer-aided manufacture (CAM)
● Data may also need to be collected from participants who are monitoring/supervising the
whole process and factory.
CAD - Computer Aided Design software should be able to:
● Collect data from designer via interactive terminal (provides designers with precise
positioning and drawing tools to create 3D drawings)
● Manipulate (edit, scale, rotate) images and files, gives ability to be viewed on screen
● Collect data from databases that store;
○ Previous designs
○ Product specifications (size, shape, functionality)
○ Materials required (components, raw materials)
○ Data from libraries (industry standards)
● Allows Collaboration as separate parts of a design can be created by designers working
on different computers
● Assigning materials to each part selected from a design library (e.g. different metals,
ceramics or plastics), the CAD system is able to model the physical characteristics and
properties of the object
● By changing the materials and/or design, an engineer or designer can perform ‘what if’
simulations
CAM - Computer Aided Manufacturing software is able to collect data from databases for the
purposes of:
● Takes CAD created design and turns it into the complex instructions and data needed to
manufacture the item using computer-controlled machinery.
● Computerised Numerical Control (CNC) / Robotics, carrying out production.
● Factory management (business functions, materials required, resources scheduling)
Does the following things (examples):
- Making circuit boards
- Cutting fabric for clothing
- Machining parts using lathes
Rapid Prototyping
- Using involves using 3D printing – also known as additive printing
- Prototypes can also be developed using casting methods, laser cutting and wax forming
- An item is designed using a CAD package which allows for quick design changes
- 3D printing allows a sample or model of an item to be produced quickly and accurately –
sometimes the model can be in a different size or material
Benefits
- Create a prototype can aid visualisation – what will the product really look like
- Seeing design and development of new products ahead of mass production
- Designers know how product can perform and changes/improvements can be
implemented earlier
 - Allows changes or improvements to be implemented earlier in the process
- Can be cost effective, extremely precise – Computer Aided Design helps to reduce the
amount of material wastage
- Reduces the risk of costly errors during the manufacturing stage of mass production
- Improves communication between designer and client (transparency about product,
actual physical model > concept drawing) more tangible feedback
- Iterative process – design is modelled, feedback received, the design is updated,
modelled again until it is correct and ready to go into production
- This means it allows customer requirements to be incorporated into the designs cost-
effectively

Scientific Operation for Input Devices (depending on data)

- Used extensively to collect (physical) data from the environment/humans. They convert
input into electrical signals that can be used by the controller.
- Most of the scientific components supporting the use of sensors involve electric voltage
being generated by a change in the physical state of the detector

Temperature – of solid, liquid or gas ● Resistance thermometer – resistance of electrical

conductor changes with temperature, which
affects the current flowing through it
● Thermocouple – two junctions of two different
metals (couples) will produce a voltage that is
related to the difference in their temperatures
● Thermistor – A semiconductor device whose
resistance changes rapidly with temperature

Pressure – measures the force exerted on a surface per ● Piezoelectric Sensors – which generates a
unit area, by solid/liquid/gas voltage in relation to applied pressure

Motion – of a solid can be used for security purposes or ● Proximity Sensor – emits electromagnetic field
on a conveyor belt, or a measure of its speed may be and picks up on items in its proximity. Looks for
needed changes in field. No need for physical contact
● Also: Detection of motion can use the interruption
of ultrasound or infra-red signals, which is picked
up by a sensor (light sensor)

Flow – measures the movement of liquids and gasses ● Flow sensors – measures the amount, volume or
mass of a liquid, gas, or steam flowing through or
around the flow meter sensors.
● Also: change in frequency (Doppler effect) of an
ultrasonic beam can detect and measure the
speed of flow
Light – light sensors convert light energy directly into ● Photodiode – semi-conducting device that
electrical energy. produces a voltage in proportion to the amount of
light falling on its surface
● Photodetectors - have two-dimensional grids
which feed into charge-coupled devices (CCD),
which pass on a digital electrical signal so that an
image can be built, such as on a camera or
photocopier

Integration of Sensors in Machinery to Automate Processing

Robotic Arms - Depending on task that the arms are required to perform; they may have the
following features:
● Rotation or tilt sensors – to measure how far the arm or target has turn or is leaning
● Light sensors – to detect whether an item is present
Conveyor belts - used with:
● Light sensors – can scan barcodes attached to items on the conveyor belt
● Ultrasonic or infra-red sensors (motion sensors):
○ Detect imperfections on surfaces of objects passing
○ Detect movement and/or presence of an object
○ Count how many objects pass by
● Pressure sensor – senses product by feeling its pressure on the belt. Notifies actuator
and controller that there is an object to be transported.
Barcode readers
- Input devices that allow computers to identify items using black line
labels
- Database supplies data about the item as required (through barcode
readers)
- Does inventory tracking and production
- Uses photoelectric cells to detect presence of light or dark lines

RFID – Radio frequency identifiers tags

- Can be passive (ID in cats and dogs) or active (using a power
source) and used as a transponder.
- RFID tag is attached/incorporated into a product so that the radio
waves emitted by the tag can be used to identify them by their
unique frequency as they pass a receiver
- Good at inventory tracking and management within manufacturing
business
- A device for receiving a radio signal and automatically transmitting a
different signal.
● International courier companies can track and report on the progress
of packages all over the world
● Marathon runners can be identified as they pass checkpoints.

Analog to Digital convertors

- Analog data collected by sensors is digitised (converted to digital data) so that the
computers within the system can use
- Data collected by sensors is in analog form (temperature and light) and the voltage
signal that it generates will also be in analog form
- Computers need to work with digital data, meaning conversion is required, using ADC

Damping
- Process that modifies the signal to the output device (actuator) based on the input
signal (sensor). Aka feedback
- In most control systems, input signals come from sensors and are used to control the
operation of output devices (actuators) – damping is the process of taking out or
smoothing or modifying the extremes of sensor data
- Important aspect is rate at which system response to controller, especially in situations
where precision is vital
- Degree of damping determines how quickly output from a system can respond to input
signal and reach new stable level
● E.g. in controlling the temperature, thermistors send a signal (the temperature) to
the controller, which turn the heaters on and off
● If the temperature continues to rise (or fall) even though the heaters have been
activated in some way, the system needs to be damped
 - This happens by switching the heaters off before the temperature reaches
new required level
Typing of Damping Meaning Best Situations

Underdamping • A quick response to change but leading to rapid fluctuations Where a very rapid response is
• Taking some time to settle down to a new stable output level needed to any change in the
input, no matter how small

Overdamping • A slow response to change without fluctuations The control system must be able
• Taking some times to reach the new stable output level to ignore minor changes in the
input data

Critical Damping • A quick response to change with few fluctuations The preferred control method in
• Quickly reaches the new stable output level most systems

Example (Air Conditioning System)

- Input signals from thermistor (sensors) can be used to switch an air con on/off
➔ No damping
1. Desired temperature is set, the aircon is turned on to 100% power and the
desired temperature is reached quickly.
2. Once the desired temperature is reached, the aircon switches off.
3. Temperature changes quickly once the aircon is off and is programmed to turn
back again once the temperature changes by a certain amount
4. This means the air conditioner is either on at 100% power or off completely
(fluctuations in temperature)
➔ With damping
- The system can be programmed to respond to input signal differently
1. IF the temperature is within 10º of desired room temperature, the aircon
could be programmed to run at 100%
2. WHEN the temperature gets to within 5º of the desired temperature, the
aircon could change to run at 50%
3. WHEN the temperature gets to within 2ºthe aircon will run at 20%
● This keeps room within desired temperature range, without large
fluctuations (aircon switching between 100% and completely off)
Underdamping
● Quick response to change, which leads to rapid fluctuations
● Takes some time to settle down to new stable output level
- EXAMPLE: if the signal for an automated robot arm carries a load from A to B, is
underdamped...
1. The command to stop will be received TOO LATE
2. The target will be OVERSHOT (return movement too quick!)
3. This UNDERSHOOTS the target position
4. Produces a series of oscillations each shorter than the last, until the exact
position is reached.
● Does not matter in non-critical situations
 - EXAMPLE: sensors detect the heat in an oven so that the heating element switches off
as soon as the desired temperature is reached, but the residual heat in the element still
continues to heat the oven for some time, causing temperature to rise slightly above
desired temperature for that period
● Underdamping is used in systems where a very rapid response is needed to any change
in the input data (no matter how small)
Overdamping
● Slow response to change (but no fluctuation) and may take a long time to reach stability
● Sensor data is modified too much, to actuator takes longer than necessary to reach
desired target point
- EXAMPLE: robot arm carrying load from A to B slows down as it reaches the target
point, then slowly creeps forward until destination is reached
● Often used in situations where the control system must be able to ignore minor changes
in the input data.
Critical Damping
● System has quick response to change and returns to stabilit rapidly
● Optimal level of damping!
● May take trial and error to establish what the critical damping level is
● Used in CRITICAL situations!
- EXAMPLE: automated surgical procedure; robotic arm to control a surgical knife
- EXAMPLE: car shock absorbers; dampens impact of bumps in the road
- EXAMPLE: car cruise control; response to changes in the gradient that the car is
travelling on to help maintain the correct speed

Other Information Processes

Processing – Trend towards mass production (using AMS) although level of automation varies
in different organisations (e.g. car manufacture). It is still important to meet needs of individuals
(e.g. colour of cars to be reviewed annually). AMS are widely used because of
● Higher efficiency in performing repetitive tasks
● Greater speed in responding to changing input
● Increased level of safety if humans are removed from machinery
● Greater precision possible in repetitive tasks
● Better control of production costs and quality resulting from the above factors

System Features Types of Tasks performed Scheduling of tasks

Continuous • One task per machine unit • Mass production of identical items • Fast production
• Variations applied later • Car assembly rate all day,
• Low skill participants • Mail sorting everyday, plus
• Low level participation and maintenance
technology

Batch • Can be quickly reprogrammed to • Large production of items for limited duration • Moderate to fast
handle different loads of products • Switching from making Sedans to Fords in a production rate
• Moderately skilled participants car manufacture. • Large production
 • Moderate level of technology • Canning (different) food products runs, for limited
periods of time at a
time.

Discrete • High level of control by humans • One single (unique) item is produced per run • Slow but produces
• Highly skilled participants • CAD/CAM, CNC usage high-quality / unique
• High level of technology • Automated car wash performs a series of item after each run
operations on one car at a time
• Manufacturing component parts in the
custom-made vehicle industry, all parts need
to be individually made.

Displaying – actuators are specialised display devices that perform a mechanical action under
the control of the system and in response in input (controller command), E.g. to drive a motor or
open a valve
❏ Solenoid – tightly wound coil of wire around iron plunger (which slides in and out of coil)
- Devices that generate magnetic fields when switch is turned on
- Magnetic field repels or attracts and causes mechanical process to happen
- Used to electrically open doors and latches, open or close valves, move and
operate robotics limbs and mechanisms and even actuate electrical switches just
by energising its coil.
❏ Motor – used with gears and levers to produce wide range of movements
- Produces movement and operate via reactions between electric currents in wires
and magnets position around the wires
- Put electricity in one end, axle rotates at the other en, giving you the power to
drive a machine of some kind
- e.g. turning wheels and lifting objects
❏ Stepping motor – electric motors capable of very small accurate movements, sometimes
to fractions of a millimetre
- Special motors that convert digital/pulsed signals into movements
- For example controlling drone movements
- e.g. hard disk drive
❏ Relay – A solenoid in a low current circuit that turns on the heavy duty switches used in
high current circuits
- Provide interface between low voltage circuitry and high voltage actuators
- Operated by solenoid
- Turning off conveyor belts and electric things (machinery)
❏ Hydraulic pumps – create a stream of high pressure oil, which can transmit pressure and
so produce large forces in machinery such as lifts, differs and robotic arms.
- Pumps push fluid such as oil and gas to end of tube when pressure is applied
- Force at the end where fluid/gas is pushed carries out defined task
- Hydraulic = liquid, pneumatic = gasses
❏ DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) – Signals that control actuators often need to be
analog in nature (for example, electric current, not numbers etc)
 ● Digital output from computing device needs to be converted, using DAC

Encoding and Decoding

● Data must be converted into a form for transmission - this involves encoding and
decoding
● Encoding involves converting data from its original form into another form for
transmission
● Decoding is the reverse – it converts data from the form used for transmission back into
the original form

Analog and Digital

➔ Analog data is represented by using continuous variable
physical quantities (light, voltages, sound, images, video
etc)
◆ Analog Signals are pulses (electric or optical) in the
form of continuous waves.
◆ Analog signal is analog data encoded on an analog
wave
➔ Digital data is represented in the form of digits or numbers
(e.g. numbers, text and other characters). Information
technology works with digital data (discrete individual
numbers)
◆ Digital signals are 0s and 1s.
◆ Digital signals are digital data encoded on analog
wave

Analog Data to Analog Signal

● Wave shape of data is encoded into the signal
● Traditional telephone encodes analog data (sounds and noises) into analog signals
suitable for telephone line
● Microphone and speaker uses analog waves
● If signal is corrupted, there’s no way of restoring original analog data
● Traditional analog radio and analog TV are examples of analog data transmitted as
analog signals.

Digital Data to Analog Signal

● Series of 0s and 1s is encoded into a continuous wave
● A modem encodes (modulates) digital data from computer into analog signals for
telephone line (to be able to travel)
● When analog signal is received by another modem, it decodes (demodulates) analog
signal into digital data (they can’t understand any form except digital form)

Digital Data to Digital Signal

● Produced when digital data is encoded into analog waves
 ➔ A series of 0s and 1s is transmitted by sending it through a channel as a series of on
and off pulses (how data is transmitted within devices and simple LANs)
➔ Altering carrier wave using techniques such as amplitude, frequency and phase
modulation
- Both encoding techniques mentioned previously create different waveforms (symbols)
that represent different numbers (bit patterns)
- Waveforms are changed regularly spaced time intervals to represent each new pattern
of bits. (each waveform = a new set of data)

Analog Data to Digital Signal

● Wave shape of data is encoded into series of 0s and 1s
● Process of generating digits and numbers is digitising
○ E.g. transmitting audio/video data within all types of communication networks are
analog data to digital signal
● Analog data to be transmitted digitally needs an analog to digital converter (ADC). E.g:
○ PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network
○ VolP - Voice over Internet Protocol
○ Cable TV and Digital TV

Transmitting and Receiving

Noise = Unwanted data/interference on a signal, which reduces the quality of the original signal.
It can be either random or periodic. Noise can be caused by:
➔ Weather conditions – electrical storms and so forth
➔ Power surges in the electrical supply
➔ Nearby electrical equipment giving off high frequency radiation
Noise can be prevented by shielding cables and electrical systems with lightweight metal casing
and power surge protectors. It can be removed by using electronic filters in circuits that can be
set to block out certain frequencies of signal

Issues
Changing nature of work
- Some jobs may have disappeared as a result of automation in manufacturing
technology, but these repetitive tasks did not offer job satisfaction anyways
- Increased demand for manufactured goods has outweighed this issue so that people are
now employed more appropriately
- There is a greater emphasis on knowledge and skills (IT) nowadays in the manufacturing
industry and most organisations offer workers the opportunity to broaden their skills
Semi-automation
- This occurs when some tasks are performed by humans; others by machines
- Some tasks require flexibility and the use of common sense which people have and
machines don’t
- Workers often come up with innovative and ingenious ideas to solve or avert problems
- Utilising these skills leads to increased job satisfaction and situations in which
participants and automation function work well together
Human/machine-centered systems
- Need to develop systems that are human-centered and assist participants to complete
tasks, as opposed to machine-centered systems where humans assist machines.
- There are also situations when a machine will do most of the work better than a human
can, it is important for management to give appropriate attention to the worker to ensure
job needs are being met
Reliability and quality (Quality Control).
- Machines perform such repetitive tasks such as automatic painting, spot welding,
newspaper production and computer embroidery and usually to a higher standard/more
consistent than humans
- Human characteristics still important – innovative design ideas and detailed planning of
such operations is very much the responsibility of people in the workforce
- Both of these factors directly affect the manufactured end-product
Improved Safety
- Machines can perform dangerous jobs like spot-welding, thus reducing the potential
injury to humans. Automated safety devices are fitted to machines to protect humans
and other machinery, these raise alarms in case of malfunction or misuse
Current and Emerging trends
- The use of AMS for quality control – since tech is becoming smarter, there is now an
increased potential for ensuring that product coming off the assembly line is of
consistently high standards
- Sensors are able to detect finer details in items and record and analyse data relating to
defective items