Unit III. Contemporary uses of robots

Unit I. Automation.

 

Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated), roboticization or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems such as computers to control industrial machinery and processes, replacing human operators. In the scope of industrialization, it is a step beyond mechanization. Whereas mechanization provided human operators with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work, automation greatly reduces the need for human sensory and mental requirements as well. Automation plays an increasingly important role in the global economy and in daily experience. Engineers strive to combine automated devices with mathematical and organizational tools to create complex systems for a rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities.

There are still many jobs which are in no immediate danger of automation. No device has been invented which can match the human eye for accuracy and precision in many tasks; nor the human ear. Even the admittedly handicapped human is able to identify and distinguish among far more scents than any automated device. Human pattern recognition, language recognition, and language production ability is well beyond anything currently envisioned by automation engineers.

Specialised hardened computers, referred to as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), are frequently used to synchronize the flow of inputs from (physical) sensors and events with the flow of outputs to actuators and events. This leads to precisely controlled actions that permit a tight control of almost any industrial process. It was these devices that were feared to be vulnerable to the "Y2Kbug", with such potentially dire consequences, since they are now so ubiquitous throughout the industrial world.

Human-machine interfaces (HMI) or computer human interfaces (CHI), formerly known as man-machine interfaces, are usually employed to communicate with PLCs and other computers, such as entering and monitoring temperatures or pressures for further automated control or emergency response. Service personnel who monitor and control these interfaces are often referred to as stationary engineers. Another form of automation involving computers is test automation, where computer-controlled automated test equipment is programmed to simulate human testers in manually testing an application. This is often accomplished by using test automation tools to generate special scripts (written as computer programs) that direct the automated test equipment in exactly what to do in order to accomplish the tests. Finally, the last form of automation is software-automation, where a computer by means of macro recorder software records the sequence of user actions (mouse and keyboard) as a macro for playback at a later time.

Automation raises several important social issues. Among them is automation's impact on employment. Indeed, the Luddites were a social movement of English textile workers in the early 1800s who protested against Jacquard's automated weaving looms — often by destroying such textile machines— that they felt threatened their jobs. Since then, the term luddite has come to be applied freely to anyone who is against any advance of technology. It appears that automation does devalue labor through its replacement with less-expensive machines.

Millions of human telephone operators and answerers, throughout the world, have been replaced wholly (or almost wholly) by automated telephone switchboards and answering machines (not by Indian or Chinese workers). Thousands of medical researchers have been replaced in many medical tasks from 'primary' screeners in electrocardiography or radiography, to laboratory analyses of human genes, sera, cells, and tissues by automated systems. Even physicians have been partly replaced by remote, automated robots and by highly sophisticated surgical robots that allow them to perform remotely and at levels of accuracy and precision otherwise not normally possible for the average physician.

Automation is now often applied primarily to increase quality in the manufacturing process, where automation can increase quality substantially. For example, 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 installment was around 1-1.5%, but has been reduced to 0.00001% with automation. Hazardous operations, such as oil refining, the manufacturing of industrial chemicals, and all forms of metal working, were always early contenders for automation.

 

Task I. Learn the following words by heart.

numerical control - числовое программное управление

control system - система контроля и управления

human operator - (человек-)оператор

global economy – мировая экономика

handicapped human – инвалид

programmable logic controller - программируемый логический контроллер, ПЛК

actuator - исполнительный механизм

human-machine interface - человеко-машинный интерфейс

man-machine interface - взаимодействие человека и машины

automated control – автоматизированное управление

service personnel - обслуживающий персонал

weaving loom – ткацкий станок

telephone switchboard - телефонный коммутатор

answering machine - телефонный автоответчик

piston – поршень

 

Task II. True or false?

1. Automation doesn’t play a significant role in the global economy and in daily experience.

2. There are many jobs which are in immediate danger of automation.

3. Using PLCs leads to precisely controlled actions that permit a tight control of almost any industrial process.

4. Automation has nothing to do with social issues.

5. The Luddites were a social movement of English supporters of technological process.

6. Automation is often applied primarily to increase quality in the manufacturing process.

 

Task III. Answer the following questions.

1. What do you understand under the term automation?

2. Does automation accelerate industrialization process?

3. What human activities can never be automated?

4. What is the main function of the stationary engineer?

5. What social problems does automation raise?

6. What are advantages and disadvantages of automation?

 

Task IV. Render the text into Russian

Control engineering

Control engineering focuses on mathematical modeling of systems of a diverse nature, analyzing their dynamic behavior, and using control theory to create a controller that will cause the systems to behave in a desired manner. Control engineering has a wide range of applications from the flight and propulsion systems of commercial airliners to the cruise control present in many modern automobiles.

In most of the cases, control engineers utilize feedback when designing control systems. For example, in an automobile with cruise control the vehicle's speed is continuously monitored and fed back to the system which adjusts the motor's torque accordingly. Control engineers may also work on the control of systems without feedback. This is known as open loop control. A classic example of open loop control is a washing machine that runs through a pre-determined cycle without the use of sensors.

 

Task V. Read the text, find key words, look them up in the dictionary, and render the text into English.

АСУ ТП

Автоматизированная система управления технологическим процессом (АСУ ТП) - комплекс программных и технических средств, предназначенный для автоматизации управления технологическим оборудованием на предприятиях. Под АСУ ТП обычно понимается комплексное решение, обеспечивающее автоматизацию основных технологических операций на производстве в целом или каком-то его участке, выпускающем относительно завершенный продукт.

Составными частями АСУ ТП могут быть отдельные системы автоматического управления (САУ) и автоматизированные устройства, связанные в единый комплекс. Как правило, АСУ ТП имеет единую систему операторского управления технологическим процессом в виде одного или нескольких пультов управления, средства обработки и архивирования информации о ходе процесса, типовые элементы автоматики: датчики, контроллеры, исполнительные устройства. Для информационной связи всех подсистем используются промышленные сети.

 

Unit II. Robotics

Robotics is the science and technology of robots, their design, manufacture, and application. Robotics requires a working knowledge of electronics, mechanics, and software and a person working in the field has become known as a roboticist. The word robotics was first used in print by Isaac Asimov, in his science fiction short story "Liar!" (1941).

Although the appearance and capabilities of robots vary vastly, all robots share the features of a mechanical, movable structure under some form of control. The structure of a robot is usually mostly mechanical and can be called kinematic chain (its functionality being akin to the skeleton of a body). The chain is formed of links (its bones), actuators (its muscles) and joints which can allow one or more degrees of freedom.

Most contemporary robots use open serial chains in which each link connects the one before to the one after it. These robots are called serial robots and often resemble the human arm. Some robots, such as the Stewart platform, use closed parallel kinematic chains. Other structures, such as those that mimic the mechanical structure of humans, various animals and insects, are comparatively rare. However, the development and use of such structures in robots is an active area of research (e.g. biomechanics).

Robots used as manipulators have an end effector mounted on the last link. This end effector can be anything from a welding device to a mechanical hand used to manipulate the environment. The mechanical structure of a robot must be controlled to perform tasks. The control of a robot involves three distinct phases - perception, processing and action (robotic paradigms). Sensors give information about the environment or the robot itself (e.g. the position of its joints or its end effector).

Using strategies from the field of control theory, this information is processed to calculate the appropriate signals to the actuators (motors) which move the mechanical structure. The control of a robot involves various aspects such as path planning, pattern recognition, obstacle avoidance, etc. More complex and adaptable control strategies can be referred to as artificial intelligence.

Any task involves the motion of the robot. The study of motion can be divided into kinematics and dynamics. Direct kinematics refers to the calculation of end effector position, orientation, velocity and acceleration when the corresponding joint values are known. Inverse kinematics refers to the opposite case in which required joint values are calculated for given end effector values, as done in path planning.

Some special aspects of kinematics include handling of redundancy (different possibilities of performing the same movement), collision avoidance and singularity avoidance. Once all relevant positions, velocities and accelerations have been calculated using kinematics, methods from the field of dynamics are used to study the effect of forces upon these movements. Direct dynamics refers to the calculation of accelerations in the robot once the applied forces are known. Direct dynamics is used in computer simulations of the robot.

Inverse dynamics refers to the calculation of the actuator forces necessary to create a prescribed end effector acceleration. This information can be used to improve the control algorithms of a robot. In each area mentioned above, researchers strive to develop new concepts and strategies, improve existing ones and improve the interaction between these areas. To do this, criteria for "optimal" performance and ways to optimize design, structure and control of robots must be developed and implemented.

 

Task I. Learn the following words by heart.

kinematic chain - кинематическая цепь, кинематическая схема

serial chain – последовательная цепь, последовательная схема

effector – эффектор, исполнительный элемент

sensor - датчик

artificial intelligence – искусственный интеллект

velocity – скорость, быстрота

acceleration - ускорение

 

Task II. True or false?

1. The structure of a robot is usually half mechanical half electronic.

2. Serial robots often resemble parts of the human body.

3. The mechanical structure of a robot must be controlled to maximize its depreciation period.

4. Any task involves the motion of the robot.

5. Direct dynamics is used in motion calculations of the robot.

6. Researchers strive to develop new concepts and strategies in robotics.

 

Task III. Answer the following questions.

1. What is robotics?

2. Who coined the word robotics?

3. What phases does the control of a robot involve?

4. What do you understand under the term artificial intelligence?

5. What does kinematics deal with?

6. What information can be used to improve the control algorithms of a robot?

 

Task IV. Render the text into Russian

Control system

A control system is a device or set of devices to manage, command, direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or systems. There are two common classes of control systems, with many variations and combinations: logic or sequential controls, and feedback or linear controls. There is also fuzzy logic, which attempts to combine some of the design simplicity of logic with the utility of linear control. Some devices or systems are inherently not controllable.

The term "control system" may be applied to the essentially manual controls that allow an operator to, for example, close and open a hydraulic press, where the logic requires that it cannot be moved unless safety guards are in place. An automatic sequential control system may trigger a series of mechanical actuators in the correct sequence to perform a task. For example various electric and pneumatic transducers may fold and glue a cardboard box, fill it with product and then seal it in an automatic packaging machine.

 

Task V. Read the text, find key words, look them up in the dictionary, and render the text into English.

Промышленный робот

Промышленный робот — автономное устройство, состоящее из механического манипулятора и перепрограммируемой системы управления, которое применяется для перемещения объектов в пространстве в различных производственных процессах. Промышленные роботы являются важными компонентами автоматизированных производственных систем, которые позволяют увеличить производительность труда.

Промышленный робот является устройством, производящим некие манипулятивные функции, схожие с функциями руки человека.

Управление роботом может осуществляться как человеком-оператором, так и системой управления промышленным предприятием (ERP-системой), согласующими действия робота с готовностью заготовок и станков с числовым программным управлением к выполнению технологических операций. Появление в 70-х гг. микропроцессорных систем управления и замена специализированных устройств управления на программируемые контроллеры позволили снизить стоимость роботов в три раза, сделав рентабельным их массовое внедрение в промышленности.

 

 

Regulator

In automatic control, a regulator is a device which has the function of maintaining a range of values in a machine. The measurable property of a device is managed closely by specified conditions or an advance set value. Examples are a voltage regulator (which can be a transformer whose voltage ratio of transformation can be adjusted, or an electronic circuit that produces a defined voltage), a gas regulator, such as a diving regulator, which maintains its output at a fixed pressure lower than its input, and a fuel regulator (which controls the supply of fuel).

Electronic regulators as used in model railway sets where the voltage is raised or lowered to control the speed of the engine. Mechanical systems such as valves as used in fluid control systems. Purely mechanical pre-automotive systems included such designs as the Watt centrifugal governor whereas modern systems may have electronic fluid speed sensing components directing solenoids to set the valve to the desired rate. Complex electro-mechanical speed control systems used to maintain speeds in modern cars (cruise control) - often including hydraulic components.

 

Task V. Read the text, find key words, look them up in the dictionary, and render the text into English.

Роботы в ближайшем будущем

Всё больше производственных операций будет роботизироваться. Использование программируемого производства (custom manufacturing) потребует универсальных мобильных роботов. Большое количество почти полностью роботизированных фабрик и заводов начнёт появляться к 2020. К 2010-2015 роботы начнут активно использовать в сельском хозяйстве. Специализированные роботы, помогающие человеку в тяжёлой физической работе (но не полностью автономные) появятся к 2015 году. Роботов на улицах наших городов мы увидим уже к 2010-2015 году. Это будут роботы-уборщики, роботы-погрузчики.

Большая часть транспорта будет автоматизированной к 2020-2030 году. Сегодняшние автомобили значительно поумнеют: сперва они будут лишь помогать водителям выполнять некоторые операции (сложная парковка, контроль за безопасностью, движение по шоссе), но потом они возьмут на себя весь процесс вождения. Чуть раньше мобильные роботы появятся в транспортной отрасли (например, погрузочные) и горнодобывающей. Мы увидим полностью автоматизированные логистические терминалы.

 

Unit IV. Process control

Process control is a statistics and engineering discipline that deals with architectures, mechanisms, and algorithms for controlling the output of a specific process. For example, heating up the temperature in a room is a process that has the specific, desired outcome to reach and maintain a defined temperature (e.g. 20°C), kept constant over time. Here, the temperature is the controlled variable. At the same time, it is the input variable since it is measured by a thermometer and used to decide whether to heat or not to heat. The desired temperature (20°C) is the setpoint. The state of the heater (e.g. the setting of the valve allowing hot water to flow through it) is called the manipulated variable since it is subject to control actions.

A commonly used control device called a ‘’’programmable logic controller’’, or a PLC, is used to read a set of digital and analog inputs, apply a set of logic statements, and generate a set of analog and digital outputs. Using the example in the previous paragraph, the room temperature would be an input to the PLC. The logical statements would compare the setpoint to the input temperature and determine whether more or less heating was necessary to keep the temperature constant. A PLC output would then either open or close the hot water valve, an incremental amount, depending on whether more or less hot water was needed. Larger more complex systems can be controlled by a Distributed Control System (DCS) or SCADA system.

In practice, process control systems can be characterized as one or more of the following forms:

Discrete – Found in many manufacturing, motion and packaging applications. Robotic assembly, such as that found in automotive production, can be characterized as discrete process control. Most discrete manufacturing involves the production of discrete pieces of product, such as metal stamping.

Batch – Some applications require that specific quantities of raw materials be combined in specific ways for particular durations to produce an intermediate or end result. One example is the production of adhesives and glues, which normally require the mixing of raw materials in a heated vessel for a period of time to form a quantity of end product. Other important examples are the production of food, beverages and medicine. Batch processes are generally used to produce a relatively low to intermediate quantity of product per year (a few pounds to millions of pounds).

Continuous – Often, a physical system is represented though variables that are smooth and uninterrupted in time. The control of the water temperature in a heating jacket, for example, is an example of continuous process control. Some important continuous processes are the production of fuels, chemicals and plastics. Continuous processes, in manufacturing, are used to produce very large quantities of product per year (millions to billions of pounds).

Applications having elements of discrete, batch and continuous process control are often called hybrid applications. A thermostat is a simple example for a closed control loop: It constantly measures the current temperature and controls the heater's valve setting to increase or decrease the room temperature according the user-defined setting. A simple method switches the heater either completely on, or completely off, and an overshoot and undershoot of the controlled temperature must be expected. A more expensive method varies the amount of heat provided by the heater depending on the difference between the required temperature (the "setpoint") and the actual temperature. This minimizes over/undershoot.

 

Task I. Learn the following words by heart.

process control - управление производственным процессом

digital - цифровой

Distributed control system – система распределенного управления

control loop - контур регулирования

 

Task II. True or false.

1. Heating up the temperature in a room needs process control.

2. PLC is used to read a set of digital and analog inputs

3. An example of discrete process control is robotic assembly.

4. Batch processes are used to produce a great amount of a particular product per year.

5. The control of the water temperature in a heating jacket is an example of continuous process control.

6. Hybrid applications are applications combining discrete, batch and continuous process control.

 

Task III. Answer the following questions.

1. What spheres does process control deal with?

2. How can process control systems be characterized?

3. What do some applications require to produce an intermediate or end result?

4. Where batch processes are used?

5. Where continuous processes are used?

6. What is closed control loop?

 

Task IV. Render the text into Russian

Logic control

Pure logic control systems were historically implemented by electricians with networks of relays, and designed with a notation called ladder logic. Today, most such systems are constructed with programmable logic devices. Logic controllers may respond to switches, light sensors, pressure switches etc and cause the machinery to perform some operation.

Logic systems are used to sequence mechanical operations in many applications. Examples include elevators, washing machines and other systems with interrelated stop-go operations. Logic systems are quite easy to design, and can handle very complex operations. Some aspects of logic system design make use of Boolean logic.

 

Task V. Read the text, find key words, look them up in the dictionary, and render the text into English.

Системы планирования ресурсов предприятия

Системы планирования ресурсов предприятия - ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) - предназначены для интеграции всех данных и процессов организации в единую систему. Для этого ERP-система использует различные программные и аппаратные компоненты. Ключевым компонентом большинства ERP-систем является единая база данных, хранящая в себе данные различных системных модулей. Системами уровня ERP называют пакеты программ, обеспечивающие функциональность, которая обычно выполняется двумя или более системами.

Изначально термин ERP применялся к системам планирования загруженности производственных мощностей. Несмотря на то, что термин ERP возник в производственной сфере, сегодня он имеет более широкую область применения. Современные ERP-системы обеспечивают выполнение всех основных функций предприятия, независимо от его рода деятельности или устава. В настоящее время ERP-системы широко применяются в коммерческих и некоммерческих структурах.

 

PID controller

A proportional–integral–derivative controller (PID controller) is a generic control loop feedback mechanism widely used in industrial control systems. A PID controller attempts to correct the error between a measured process variable and a desired setpoint by calculating and then outputting a corrective action that can adjust the process accordingly.

The PID controller calculation (algorithm) involves three separate parameters; the Proportional, the Integral and Derivative values. The Proportional value determines the reaction to the current error, the Integral value determines the reaction based on the sum of recent errors, and the Derivative value determines the reaction to the rate at which the error has been changing. The weighted sum of these three actions is used to adjust the process via a control element such as the position of a control valve or the power supply of a heating element.

 

Task V. Read the text, find key words, look them up in the dictionary, and render the text into English.

Unit VI. Controllers

 

In control theory, a controller is a device which monitors and affects the operational conditions of a given dynamical system. The operational conditions output variables of the system which can be affected by adjusting certain input variables. For example, the heating system of a house can be equipped with a thermostat (controller) for sensing air temperature (output variable) which can turn on or off a furnace or heater when the air temperature becomes too low or too high.

In this example, the thermostat is the controller and directs the activities of the heater. The heater is the processor that warms the air inside the house to the desired temperature (setpoint). The air temperature reading inside the house is the feedback. And finally, the house is the environment in which the heating system operates. In the natural world, individual organisms also appear to be equipped with controllers that assure the homeostasis necessary for survival of each individual.

In control theory there are two basic types of control. These are feedforward and feedback. The thermostat of a house is an example of a feedback controller. This controller relies on measuring the controlled variable, in this case the temperature of the house, and then adjusting the output, whether or not the heater is on. Feedforward control can avoid the slowness of feedback control. With feedforward control, the disturbances are measured and accounted for before they have time to affect the system. In the house example, a feedforward system may measure the fact that the door is opened and automatically turn on the heater before the house can get too cold.

Some examples of where feedback and feedforward control can be used together are dead-time compensation, and inverse response compensation. Dead-time compensation is used to control devices that take a long time to show any change to a change in input, for example, change in composition of flow through a long pipe. A dead-time compensation control uses an element (also called a Smith predictor) to predict how changes made now by the controller will affect the controlled variable in the future.

The controlled variable is also measured and used in feedback control. Inverse response compensation involves controlling systems where a change at first affects the measured variable one way but later affects it in the opposite way. An example would be eating candy. At first it will give you lots of energy, but later you will be very tired. As can be imagined, it is difficult to control this system with feedback alone, therefore a predictive feedforward element is necessary to predict the reverse effect that a change will have in the future.

Most control valve systems in the past were implemented using mechanical systems or solid state electronics. Pneumatics was often utilized to transmit information and control using pressure. However, most modern control systems in industrial settings now rely on computers for the controller. Obviously it is much easier to implement complex control algorithms on a computer than using a mechanical system. For feedback controllers there are a few simple types. The most simple is like the thermostat that just turns the heat on if the temperature falls below a certain value and off it exceeds a certain value (on-off control).

Another simple type of controller is a proportional controller. With this type of controller, the controller output (control action) is proportional to the error in the measured variable. Alternates to proportional control are proportional-integral (PI) control and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control. PID control is commonly used to implement closed-loop control. Open-loop control can be used in systems sufficiently well-characterized as to predict what outputs will necessarily achieve the desired states. For example, the rotational velocity of an electric motor may be well enough characterized for the supplied voltage to make feedback unnecessary.

 

Task I. Learn the following words by heart.

operational conditions - рабочие условия, условия эксплуатации,

эксплуатационный режим, рабочий режим

output variable - выходная переменная

input variable - входная переменная

feedforward control - управление с прогнозированием

feedback control - управление с обратной связью

 

Task II. True or false?

1. Controller affects the operational conditions of a given dynamical system.

2. The thermostat of a house is an example of a feedforward controller.

3. Feedforward control can avoid the rapidity of feedback control

4. Most control valve systems in the past were implemented using computer systems.

5. Most modern control systems in industrial settings now rely on computers.

6. Open-loop control can be used to predict what outputs will necessarily achieve the desired states.

 

Task III. Answer the following questions

1. What is a controller?

2. What are basic types of control?

3. What is the difference between feedforward and feedback control?

4. Are organisms in natural world equipped with controllers?

5. Where was pneumatics utilized?

6. What kind of controllers do you know?

 

Task IV. Render the text into Russian

Open-loop controller

An open-loop controller, also called a non-feedback controller, is a type of controller which computes its input into a system using only the current state and its model of the system. For example, an irrigation sprinkler system, programmed to turn on at set times could be an example of an open-loop system if it does not measure soil moisture as a form of feedback. Even if rain is pouring down on the lawn, the sprinkler system would activate on schedule, wasting water.

Open-loop control is useful for well-defined systems where the relationship between input and the resultant state can be modeled by a mathematical formula. An open-loop controller is often used in simple processes because of its simplicity and low-cost, especially in systems where feedback is not critical. A typical example would be a conventional washing machine, for which the length of machine wash time is entirely dependent on the judgment and estimation of the human operator.

 

Task V. Read the text, find key words, look them up in the dictionary, and render the text into English.

Микроконтроллер

Микроконтроллер — микросхема, предназначенная для управления электронными устройствами. Типичный микроконтроллер сочетает в себе функции процессора и периферийных устройств, может содержать ОЗУ и ПЗУ. По сути, это однокристальный компьютер, способный выполнять простые задачи.. Микроконтроллеры являются основой для построения встраиваемых систем, их можно встретить во многих современных приборах, таких, как телефоны, стиральные машины и т. п. Бо́льшая часть выпускаемых в мире процессоров — микроконтроллеры.

Программирование микроконтроллеров обычно осуществляется на языке ассемблера или Си, хотя существуют компиляторы для других языков, например Форта используются также встроенные интерпретаторы Бейсика. Для отладки программ используются программные симуляторы (специальные программы для персональных компьютеров, имитирующие работу микроконтроллера), внутрисхемные эмуляторы (электронные устройства, имитирующие микроконтроллер, которые можно подключить вместо него к разрабатываемому встроенному устройству) и интерфейс JTAG.

 

Датчик

Датчики являются элементом технических систем, предназначенных для измерения, сигнализации, регулирования, управления устройствами или процессами. Датчики преобразуют контролируемую величину (давление, температура, концентрация, частота, скорость, перемещение, напряжение, электрический ток и т. п.) в сигнал (электрический, оптический, пневматический), удобный для измерения, передачи, преобразования, хранения и регистрации информации о состоянии объекта измерений.

Исторически и логически датчики связаны с техникой измерений и измерительными приборами, например термометры, барометры, прибор «авиагоризонт» и т. д. Обобщающий термин датчик укрепился в связи с развитием автоматических систем управления, как элемент обобщенной логической концепции датчик — устройство управления — исполнительное устройство — объект управления. Специальный случай представляет использование датчиков в автоматических системах регистрации параметров, например, в системах научных исследований.

Unit VIII. ISO 9000

 

ISO 9000 is a family of standards for quality management systems. ISO 9000 is maintained by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization and is administered by accreditation and certification bodies. Some of the requirements in ISO 9000 include

- a set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business;

- monitoring processes to ensure they are effective;

- keeping adequate records;

- checking output for defects, with appropriate and corrective action where necessary;

- regularly reviewing individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness;

- and facilitating continual improvement

Certification to an ISO 9000 standard does not guarantee any quality of end products and services; rather, it certifies that formalized business processes are being applied. Indeed, some companies enter the ISO 9001 certification as a marketing tool. The quality policy is a formal statement from management, closely linked to the business and marketing plan and to customer needs. The quality policy is understood and followed at all levels and by all employees. Each employee needs measurable objectives to work towards.

To maintain the quality system and produce conforming product, the head staff of any company need to provide suitable infrastructure, resources, information, equipment, measuring and monitoring devices, and environmental conditions. For each product the company makes, it is necessary to establish quality objectives; plan processes; and document and measure results to use as a tool for improvement. When developing new products, it is necessary to plan the stages of development, with appropriate testing at each stage.

ISO does not itself certify organizations. Many countries have formed accreditation bodies to authorize certification bodies, which audit organizations applying for ISO 9001 compliance certification. Two types of auditing are required to become registered to the standard: auditing by an external certification body (external audit) and audits by internal staff trained for this process (internal audits).

The aim is a continual process of review and assessment, to verify that the system is working as it's supposed to, find out where it can improve and to correct or prevent problems identified. It is considered healthier for internal auditors to audit outside their usual management line, so as to bring a degree of independence to their judgments. Over time, various industry sectors have wanted to standardize their interpretations of the guidelines within their own marketplace. This is partly to ensure that their versions of ISO 9000 have their specific requirements, but also to try and ensure that more appropriately trained and experienced auditors are sent to assess them.

It is widely acknowledged that proper quality management improves business, often having a positive effect on investment, market share, sales growth, sales margins, competitive advantage, and avoidance of litigation. According to Wade and Barnes - "ISO 9000 guidelines provide a comprehensive model for quality management systems that can make any company competitive." In today's service-sector driven economy, more and more companies are using ISO 9000 as a business tool. Through the use of properly stated quality objectives, customer satisfaction surveys and a well-defined continual improvement program companies are using ISO 9000 processes to increase their efficiency and profitability.

 

Task I. Learn the following words by heart.

quality management - управление качеством

market share - доля рынка (удельный вес компании в общем объеме рыночных продаж)

sales margins – объем продаж

 

Task II. True or false?

1. ISO 9000 is maintained by the International Organization for Standardization and is administered by accreditation and certification bodies.

2. Certification to an ISO 9000 standard guarantees quality of end products and services

3. Some companies enter the ISO 9001 certification as a marketing tool.

4. External and internal audit of any company are required to become registered to the standard.

5. Proper quality management has a positive effect on the company’s development.

6. ISO 9000 certification is to increase the efficiency and profitability of the company.

 

Task III. Answer the following questions

1. What are the requirements of ISO 9000?

2. What does ISO 9000 guarantee?

3. What do you understand under the term quality policy?

4. Does ISO certify organizations?

5. Does ISO help to make a company competitive.

6. How do companies apply ISO standards?

 

Task IV. Render the text into Russian

Instrumentation

Instrumentation plays a significant role in measurement and control in order to increase efficiency and safety in the workplace. An instrument is a device placed in the field, or in the control room, to measure or manipulate flow, temperature, pressure and other variables in a process. Instruments include but are not limited to valves, transmitters, transducers, flame detectors and analyzers.

Instruments send either pneumatic or electronic signals to controllers which manipulate final control elements (a valve) in order to get the process to a set point, usually decided by an operator. Control instrumentation includes devices such as solenoids, breakers, relays, etc. These devices are able to change a field parameter, and provide remote control capabilities. Transmitters are devices which produce an analog signal, usually in the form of a 4-20 mA electrical current signal, although many other options are possible using voltage, frequency, or pressure.

 

Task V. Read the text, find key words, look them up in the dictionary, and render the text into English.

 

Сертификация ИСО 9000

Все чаще отечественные, и, особенно, зарубежные компании начинают любые переговоры с российским партнёром только при наличии у последнего сертификата о соответствии международным стандартам ИСО 9000 (ISO 9000). Стандарты ISO 9000 относятся не к самой продукции, а к управлению её качеством – Система Менеджмента Качества (СМК). СМК обеспечивает уверенность заказчиков и потребителей в качестве получаемой продукции, а также улучшает деятельность предприятия. В будущем получать крупные заказы, предлагать свою продукцию или услуги будет невозможно без наличия сертификата ISO.

Кроме того, несертифицированные организации не могут получить государственный или муниципальный заказ, у них меньше шансов на льготные кредиты или крупные инвестиции. Буквально несколько лет назад получить сертификат ISO 9000 могли только самые крупные компании и предприятия. Сегодня сертификат стал доступен остальным, в том числе и предприятиям малого и среднего бизнеса. В настоящий момент получить сертификат соответствия может позволить себе любое предприятие, независимо от своего статуса.

 

Digital control

Digital control is a branch of control theory that uses digital computers to act as a system. Depending on the requirements, a digital control system can take the form of a microcontroller to an ASIC to a standard desktop computer. Since a digital computer has finite precision extra care is needed to ensure the error in coefficients, A/D conversion, D/A conversion.

The application of digital control can readily be understood in the use of feedback. Since the creation of the first digital computer in the early 1940s the price of digital computers has dropped considerably, which has made them key pieces to control systems for several reasons:

• Cheap: under $5 for many microcontrollers;
• Flexibility: easy to configure and reconfigure through software;
• Static operation: digital computers are much less prone to environmental conditions than capacitors, inductors, etc.;
• Scaling: programs can scale to the limits of the memory or storage space without extra cost;
• Adaptive: parameters of the program can change with time.

 

Task V. Read the text, find key words, look them up in the dictionary, and render the text into English.

Контроллинг

Контроллинг — это комплексная система управления предприятием включающая в себя управленческий учёт, учёт и анализ затрат с целью контроля всех статей затрат, всех подразделений и всех составных производимой продукции или услуги и их последующего планирования. Контроллинг обеспечивает информационно-аналитическую поддержку процессов принятия решений при управлении организацией (предприятием, корпорацией, органом государственной власти).

Современный контроллинг включает в себя управление рисками (страховой деятельностью предприятий), обширную систему информационного снабжения предприятия, систему оповещения путём управления системой ключевых («финансовых») индикаторов, управление системой реализации стратегического, тактического и оперативного планирования и систему менеджмента качества. В различных странах занимающиеся контроллингом менеджеры (контроллёры) могут иметь различный уклон. Так например в США присутствует сильный финансовый уклон (бюджетирование, управление страховками, управление налоговой стороной и т. д.).

 

Список литературы

 

1. Industry, Technology and the Global Marketplace: International Patenting Trends in Two New Technology Areas // Science and Engineering Indicators, 2002.

2. Technology news, BBC News at www.bbc.co.uk

3. www.britannica.com

 

 

Содержание

Unit I. Automation

Unit II. Robotics

Unit III. Contemporary Uses of Robots

Unit IV. Process Control

Unit V. Distributed control system

Unit VI. Controller

Unit VII. Total Quality Management

Unit VIII. ISO 9000

Unit IX. Business Process Automation

Unit X. Business Process Management

Unit I. Automation.

 

Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated), roboticization or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems such as computers to control industrial machinery and processes, replacing human operators. In the scope of industrialization, it is a step beyond mechanization. Whereas mechanization provided human operators with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work, automation greatly reduces the need for human sensory and mental requirements as well. Automation plays an increasingly important role in the global economy and in daily experience. Engineers strive to combine automated devices with mathematical and organizational tools to create complex systems for a rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities.

There are still many jobs which are in no immediate danger of automation. No device has been invented which can match the human eye for accuracy and precision in many tasks; nor the human ear. Even the admittedly handicapped human is able to identify and distinguish among far more scents than any automated device. Human pattern recognition, language recognition, and language production ability is well beyond anything currently envisioned by automation engineers.

Specialised hardened computers, referred to as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), are frequently used to synchronize the flow of inputs from (physical) sensors and events with the flow of outputs to actuators and events. This leads to precisely controlled actions that permit a tight control of almost any industrial process. It was these devices that were feared to be vulnerable to the "Y2Kbug", with such potentially dire consequences, since they are now so ubiquitous throughout the industrial world.

Human-machine interfaces (HMI) or computer human interfaces (CHI), formerly known as man-machine interfaces, are usually employed to communicate with PLCs and other computers, such as entering and monitoring temperatures or pressures for further automated control or emergency response. Service personnel who monitor and control these interfaces are often referred to as stationary engineers. Another form of automation involving computers is test automation, where computer-controlled automated test equipment is programmed to simulate human testers in manually testing an application. This is often accomplished by using test automation tools to generate special scripts (written as computer programs) that direct the automated test equipment in exactly what to do in order to accomplish the tests. Finally, the last form of automation is software-automation, where a computer by means of macro recorder software records the sequence of user actions (mouse and keyboard) as a macro for playback at a later time.

Automation raises several important social issues. Among them is automation's impact on employment. Indeed, the Luddites were a social movement of English textile workers in the early 1800s who protested against Jacquard's automated weaving looms — often by destroying such textile machines— that they felt threatened their jobs. Since then, the term luddite has come to be applied freely to anyone who is against any advance of technology. It appears that automation does devalue labor through its replacement with less-expensive machines.

Millions of human telephone operators and answerers, throughout the world, have been replaced wholly (or almost wholly) by automated telephone switchboards and answering machines (not by Indian or Chinese workers). Thousands of medical researchers have been replaced in many medical tasks from 'primary' screeners in electrocardiography or radiography, to laboratory analyses of human genes, sera, cells, and tissues by automated systems. Even physicians have been partly replaced by remote, automated robots and by highly sophisticated surgical robots that allow them to perform remotely and at levels of accuracy and precision otherwise not normally possible for the average physician.

Automation is now often applied primarily to increase quality in the manufacturing process, where automation can increase quality substantially. For example, 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 installment was around 1-1.5%, but has been reduced to 0.00001% with automation. Hazardous operations, such as oil refining, the manufacturing of industrial chemicals, and all forms of metal working, were always early contenders for automation.

 

Task I. Learn the following words by heart.

numerical control - числовое программное управление

control system - система контроля и управления

human operator - (человек-)оператор

global economy – мировая экономика

handicapped human – инвалид

programmable logic controller - программируемый логический контроллер, ПЛК

actuator - исполнительный механизм

human-machine interface - человеко-машинный интерфейс

man-machine interface - взаимодействие человека и машины

automated control – автоматизированное управление

service personnel - обслуживающий персонал

weaving loom – ткацкий станок

telephone switchboard - телефонный коммутатор

answering machine - телефонный автоответчик

piston – поршень

 

Task II. True or false?

1. Automation doesn’t play a significant role in the global economy and in daily experience.

2. There are many jobs which are in immediate danger of automation.

3. Using PLCs leads to precisely controlled actions that permit a tight control of almost any industrial process.

4. Automation has nothing to do with social issues.

5. The Luddites were a social movement of English supporters of technological process.

6. Automation is often applied primarily to increase quality in the manufacturing process.

 

Task III. Answer the following questions.

1. What do you understand under the term automation?

2. Does automation accelerate industrialization process?

3. What human activities can never be automated?

4. What is the main function of the stationary engineer?

5. What social problems does automation raise?

6. What are advantages and disadvantages of automation?

 

Task IV. Render the text into Russian

Control engineering

Control engineering focuses on mathematical modeling of systems of a diverse nature, analyzing their dynamic behavior, and using control theory to create a controller that will cause the systems to behave in a desired manner. Control engineering has a wide range of applications from the flight and propulsion systems of commercial airliners to the cruise control present in many modern automobiles.

In most of the cases, control engineers utilize feedback when designing control systems. For example, in an automobile with cruise control the vehicle's speed is continuously monitored and fed back to the system which adjusts the motor's torque accordingly. Control engineers may also work on the control of systems without feedback. This is known as open loop control. A classic example of open loop control is a washing machine that runs through a pre-determined cycle without the use of sensors.

 

Task V. Read the text, find key words, look them up in the dictionary, and render the text into English.

АСУ ТП

Автоматизированная система управления технологическим процессом (АСУ ТП) - комплекс программных и технических средств, предназначенный для автоматизации управления технологическим оборудованием на предприятиях. Под АСУ ТП обычно понимается комплексное решение, обеспечивающее автоматизацию основных технологических операций на производстве в целом или каком-то его участке, выпускающем относительно завершенный продукт.

Составными частями АСУ ТП могут быть отдельные системы автоматического управления (САУ) и автоматизированные устройства, связанные в единый комплекс. Как правило, АСУ ТП имеет единую систему операторского управления технологическим процессом в виде одного или нескольких пультов управления, средства обработки и архивирования информации о ходе процесса, типовые элементы автоматики: датчики, контроллеры, исполнительные устройства. Для информационной связи всех подсистем используются промышленные сети.

 

Unit II. Robotics

Robotics is the science and technology of robots, their design, manufacture, and application. Robotics requires a working knowledge of electronics, mechanics, and software and a person working in the field has become known as a roboticist. The word robotics was first used in print by Isaac Asimov, in his science fiction short story "Liar!" (1941).