Search

The static and inflexible design of control software with current Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and its integration in other automation systems do not meet the demands of agile and dynamic manufacturing systems with their rising complexity. Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) is a promising approach to overcome this shortcoming. Thus, a concept of a SOA-PLC is presented in this paper. The suggested concept allows a fully automated generation and deployment of field device functions as services implemented with the Devices Profile for Web Services (DPWS). Moreover, the concept is demonstrated in a case study using a conventional Phoenix Contact PLC and the DPWS orchestration tool JGrafchart.

The requirements of industrial manufacturing indicate a need for reconfiguration and reprogramming process flow, in order to meet changes in the product with the changing market requirements. These changes imply changes in the manufacturing process, which in many cases means changing the layout, reprogramming the systems, etc. The sizes of production lots are getting smaller and the variety of products on the same line has increased. This makes the preparation time of manufacturing devices an important factor in the formation of the final cost. Devices with more autonomy, able to manage themselves and allow a rapid exchange of features are still to be desired in a manufacturing environment, where conventional systems with centralized scheduling, with defined sequence in the central controller and array of features still fall short. But new solutions must be compared in performance with traditional solutions as there are features that traditional systems are performing well, and that are still on the market. Comparing a solution using multi-agent systems and using a solution centric management on a Programmable Logic Controller can clearly define which metric systems have better performance.

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. 321132, project TRAMAN21. Summarization: The presence and exploitation of Vehicle Automation and Communication Systems (VACS) while defining optimal control strategies in motorway traffic flow control is addressed in this paper. VACS are supposed to act both as sensors (providing information on traffic conditions) and as actuators, allowing the application of ramp metering, variable speed limit control, and lane changing control. A quadratic programming problem is defined on the basis of a novel first-order traffic flow model for multi-lane motorways. An example is presented in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimisation problem. Παρουσιάστηκε στο: 19th IFAC World Congress

In this study, control structure related to the safety of the point automation system, which has a critical significance on tram lines, was designed through Timed-Arc Petri Nets by taking CENELEC 50128 standard as reference. CENELEC 50128 strongly recommends the utilization of Timed-Arc Petri Nets during system modeling (Table A.17) and the utilization of formal proof methods during the verification and test phases of command and control structure developed (Table A.5). The verification was performed through CTL (Computational Tree Logic), which is one of the formal proof methods. Timed-Arc Petri Nets model has been used for the first time in this area through this study. Within this context, the structure was developed by taking the point automation system at the Bastabya Station on T4 Topkapi-Habibler line, operated by Istanbul Ulasim as the reference. Moreover, safety requirements for the automation of the points were identified and denoted mathematically while their safety functions were designed.

To engineer the factory of the future the paper argues for a reference model that is not necessary restricted to the control component, but integrates the physical and human components as well. This is due to the real need to accommodate the latest achievements in factory automation where the human is not merely playing a simple and clear role inside the control-loop, but is becoming a composite factor in a highly automated system (“man in the mesh”). The concept is demonstrated by instantiating the anthropocentric cyber-physical reference architecture for smart factories (ACPA4SF) in a concrete case study that needs to accommodate the ongoing researches from the SmartFactory KL facility (e.g. augmented reality, mobile interaction technology, virtual training of human operators).

The complexity of modern process plants is steadily increasing – and thus the demands placed on automation systems. Today, the validation and testing of an automation system is a demanding task, usually executed under very tight schedules. Therefore, the use of simulations to check-out the automation system earlier in the engineering phase can be very beneficial. This paper investigates the possibility of automatically generating simulation models based on plant engineering data, usable for virtual commissioning. The proposed mechanism is usable without any specific additional application and can be realized with the plant engineering and simulation tool alone. The concept and workflow will be described in detail, and the paper concludes with a case study based on a prototypical implementation. Based on the proposed concept, the reuse of engineering data to generate simulation models, and thus the broader use of simulation throughout the lifecycle, becomes easier and therefore more feasible.

This paper describes the implementation of an efficient model predictive control (MPC) approach on a standard programmable logic controller (PLC). PLCs are commonly used in industrial automation but are typically limited in view of computational performance and memory. The MPC scheme in this contribution is well suited for nonlinear input constrained systems with sampling times in the millisecond range and can also be applied to tracking control problems. Experimental results for a laboratory crane demonstrate the real-time applicability of the PLC implementation.

End of Life Management (EoL) will be more and more important not only for electr(on)ic, especially IT, devices but also for automation devices. Therefore the main goal of this contribution is to give an overview about the state of the art and further development trends in this field. In this paper, a first attempt for an evaluation model for finding optimal End-of-life strategies for specific devices is developed and presented. Based on this model, important devices within the modern automation technology are analyzed and ranked according to different criteria. The variety of the chosen factors shows, that it is very important to understand the products and the surrounding environment in detail. Special emphasis will be on new approaches for EoL of process- and manufacturing devices like automated extraction of rare materials from scrap, using electronic scrap for education in automation, economical aspects of disassembly with special emphasis to SME's and developing countries.

The wide plant control integration of mining, mineral and metal processes poses many challenges. Testing process monitoring, diagnosis and control strategies for flotation processes is expensive, and usually requires either complex pilot plant facilities or to deal with the hard constraints posed by experimentation in real plants. One critical aspect to take advantage of the present technological developments is the training of engineers to understand and master when and how some technique may be appropriate to solve a particular problem and to identify the challenges implicitly underlying in its implementation. In this sense the use of hybrid laboratories is presented, where fully instrumented pilot plants are operated under PLC and DCS coupled on-line with phenomenological models, to recreate an environment as close as possible to industry.

In this paper a linear dynamical system controlled under the conditions of disturbances and with control delays is considered. The Euclidean norm of a set of the system motion deviations at given instants of time from the origin is minimized. A typical case of the location of the indicated instants of time is studied. Within the game-theoretical approach the problem of calculating the value of the optimal guaranteed result and constructing a positional (closed-loop) control law that ensures this result is posed. For this problem, an effective solution procedure based on the recurrent construction of upper convex hulls of auxiliary program functions is elaborated. Results of numerical simulations are given.

The paper describes a robot control and coordination framework for the automation of surgical tasks. In the proposed framework, surgeons are supported by autonomous robotic assistants and do not teleoperate robots, unless in case of exceptions in the tasks of the robots. Such robots perform basic surgical actions by combining sensing, dexterity and cognitive capabilities. The goal is achieved thanks to rigorous assessment of surgical requirements, formal specification of robotic system behavior, including multiple arm coordination and human/system interaction, and control software development with state-of-the-art component-based technologies. The paper presents an experimental setup composed of two robots operating on a US-compatible phantom, demonstrating the feasibility of the approach.

Hydropower generators turbine blade is a one of kind product that requires specific maintenance. They are designed in very specific software tools based on features, which allow good CAD/CAE automation by simply tweaking parameters. However, such CAD/CAE automation has brought an undesired side effect: it's hard to add new features that are not considered in the original CAD. Specially in simulation-optimization applications, where parameters that are not considered in the design must be modified. This is the case in this work, where fluid-structure analysis is performed and a geometric feature that transcend the design activity (blending surface between the crown and the blade) is modified. This paper describes an ongoing project which involves the implementation of a module able to intercept the geometry generated by a CAD program using the IGES format, create/modify a new geometric feature and update the fluid volume and blade geometries. The surface boundary curves are extracted, and the adjacency relationship between the surfaces is determined by coordinate numerical comparison. The surfaces are coherently oriented and the solid models are completely determined. Using the de Boor's algorithm and the surface orientation a model with exclusive triangular faces coherently oriented is created, and then the blending surface is automatically created. The refined mesh for the models are created and fluid-structure analysis is performed for the simulation-optimization.

The paper deals with a differential game with two pursuers and one evader. Dynamics of each object is described by a stationary linear system of a general type with a scalar control. The payoff is the minimum of two one-dimensional misses between the first pursuer and the evader and between the second pursuer and the evader. The misses are calculated at the instants fixed in advance. A method is described for constructing the level sets of the value function (i.e., the solvability ones for the game under consideration). For the case of “strong” pursuers, the optimal strategies are described. Results of simulations are given. The zero-sum game investigated can be useful for the research of the final stage of a space pursuit, where two pursuing objects and one evader are involved.

Nowadays automation systems are required to be flexible in order to cope with the ever changing requirements of the applications in terms of complexity, extensibility or dynamism. The use of reconfiguration techniques helps to meet these demanding requirements, but at the same time increase the complexity of the systems. This paper presents a supervisor architecture that allows maintaining the availability of a control system in spite of failures such as a node crash, by means of reconfigurations at the control level. To do this, the advantages that Model-Driven Development technology provides have been explored.

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process is one of the most popular manufacturing processes in industries such as automotive, aerospace, ship buildings, and boiler. To increase the consistency in welding quality, the automation of the welding process with feedback controllers is inevitable. This paper presents an Integral Sliding Mode (ISM) controller, a robust controller, to control the welding current and arc voltage of a GMAW system. The concept of ISM controller design technique is to combine a discontinuous control with a nominal control to achieve robustness against matched perturbations. The proportional plus integral (PI) and composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) controllers are used as nominal controllers. It is shown in the paper that the CNF controller performs better than PI controller. A linear multi input multi output (MIMO) system model has been considered here for the design. The performance of the controller is analyzed in the presence of model parameter uncertainties and external disturbances and the simulation results are presented and discussed in order to establish a comparison framework.

In this work, the design and evaluation of a fuzzy logic control of liquid flow process is analyzed experimentally using MATLAB package. MATLAB is a widely used software environment for research and teaching applications on control and automation. The interface is a collection of hardware and software modules used to flexibly connect a plant, process or instrument (etc.) to a digital computer. The experimental performance of proposed fuzzy logic control is carried out on existing computer control of flow process. The program of Real-time data acquisition and control has been developed using modules called, “To Instrument” and “Query Instrument” of MATLAB for experimental work. Thus, The present implementation of intelligent fuzzy logic control on real-time basis is a pioneering work at laboratory scale. It is considered to be a great contribution in area of advanced process control systems. The simulation and experimental results clearly shows that the Intelligent Fuzzy Logic Controller gives a better control without overshoots of liquid flow rate in comparison with conventional PID controller.

Shale gas reservoirs are classified as unconventional reservoirs. Their key features include low permeability, rapid decline in production rate, and liquid loading at the well-bottom. An industrial perspective towards automation in Shale gas is provided in this paper. Specifically, the challenges and opportunities in controlling the liquid loading problem and optimizing the production from shale gas wells are discussed. Automation systems and control hierarchy are discussed and parallels with the more familiar Process Industries are highlighted. The key components of reservoir modeling, well-bore modeling, feed-back control, model parameter update, multi-well optimization, and production management are presented. An example of periodic shut-in operation is used to underline the various concepts discussed in this paper.

The increasing pollution in the atmospheric layer has meant world-wide temperature variations, causing the melting of icecaps and floods, among other environmental factors. This change in temperature has been mainly caused by the indiscriminate emission of CO2, especially due to the rising number of vehicles in circulation. Researchers have identified that, among other types of fuel, diesel has the highest level of CO2 emission. Hence the need for the development of biodiesel, produced from oleaginous plants, aimed at reducing the emission of this harmful gas into the atmosphere, besides using renewable resources. However, as in any automation process, it is necessary to have sensors, actuators and controllers, which together perform the automation and control of the production process. Besides that, there are other process variables to be accounted for, such as temperature, flow and level. Considering such concept, and within the academic context, the creation process of a Mini Biodiesel Plant will be described.

Precise tractor and implement path tracking control based on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) became fundamental for automation of field work. Actively steered implements, e.g. with steered wheels, became the latest development to increase implement path tracking precision. Controlling the resulting tractor implement multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems is a challenge due to numerous implement and actuator types as well as disturbances and uncertainties resulting from slopes and varying soil. Despite that controller setup for the farmer is required to be intuitive. This work uses a systematic approach supporting various steering actuators by combining linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) control and subsequent output feedback approximation. This approach limits parameter adjustments during setup to a very small set of intuitive parameters. The controller is applied to an unsteered implement as well as an implement with actively steered drawbar and/or actively steered wheels. An experimental tractor implement setup with numerous actuators is newly presented. Using this hardware straight line tracking on level ground was performed in experiments. Simulations using a non-linear kinematic plant model were performed in addition. The plant model was able to resemble experimental results for the given scenarios. The controller was found to provide the centimeter level precision required. On slippery slopes additional measures, e.g. integral control or disturbance feedforward, have to be taken. Varying tractor longitudinal velocity between 1 m/sec and 4.5 m/sec showed little influence on the controller's performance.

The ASETA project develops theory and methods for robotic agricultural systems. In ASETA, unmanned aircraft and unmanned ground vehicles are used to automate the task of identifying and treating weeds in sugar beet fields. The framework for a working automatic robotic weeding system is presented along with the implemented computer vision systems.

The realization of cyber-physical systems (CPS) as networked automation devices proclaims a new level of flexibility, interoperability, and adaptability within automation systems. This paper presents an integrated concept for developing automation applications in a distributed way. Therefore, two existing Model-Driven Engineering approaches are combined; one deals with the design of automation applications according to the SOA paradigm and the other one with the automatic code generation for embedded real-time systems. An integration concept is proposed for a seamless linking of the two approaches and first results are presented by means of a case study.

New relations, methods and opportunities in manufacturing and industrial engineering have emerged in response to major challenges in recent decades, leveraging results from multi-disciplinary approaches. We review the evolution, comparing past predictions with the current accomplishments and frontiers in this area. The presentation focuses on manufacturing network paradigms, strategic and global influences, cyber-supported analytics and informatics, and collaborative control for automation, robotics, and decision support. Case studies illustrated draw from recent progress in manufacturing factories and processes, facility sensor networks, and supply decision networks. Future challenges and open questions for next generation manufacturing engineers, managers and researchers are also suggested.

Rapid changes in product and system requirements force today's companies to cope with unforeseen adaptations of industrial plants. To enable the implementation of intelligent, self-adapting systems, manufacturing systems must be composed to Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) out of Cyber-Physical Modules (CPMs). However, cross-disciplinary design of CPS and the multitude of persons involved in this process increases complexity in (re-)engineering drastically. Identification and modeling of typical CPM types in a CPM library provides a first step towards enabling reuse of constructed and verified CPMs and, thus, a knowledge base making automatic composition of CPS out of CPMs possible. In this paper, a concept for retrieving existing automation software functionality from a given hardware description by means of model-driven engineering and semantic technologies is presented.

A new approach to developing solutions and tools for the automation of general use is presented in this paper using as a basis a device formatted with ARM 11 processor encapsulated in a motherboard of low cost. A comparison with conventional solutions for control and data acquisition, microcontrollers based on this processor offers greater possibility of features and flexibility, with an overall design for reliability, durability and ease of installation. Thus this paper aims to present a new approach that consists in dividing into modules the ARM microcontroller functionality, leaving application level to end user. So, this proposal allow facilitate the building of a system for automation, supervision and control. The modules are independent Android applications, each one with specific functions.

Cyber Physical Systems describe a trend towards more flexible cooperative distributed systems. The levels of the automation pyramid melt to a flattened system. This leads to new requirements regarding the engineering of automation systems as well as tools and algorithms for network and data analysis. At the same time it provides loose coupling with Internet/Web based technologies for interaction and information management. Proven concepts of middleware and distributed systems can fulfill these requirements. A workflow and application model are presented that allow the engineering, implementation and operation of a heterogeneous cyber physical system.

Nowadays, protected agriculture has continually lagged because of the scarce and slow technological advances and unskilled labor. The implementation of intelligent greenhouses to improve the quality and quantity of crops allows a precise regulation of the environmental conditions inside the greenhouse considering the lifecycle of the crop within the control rules. The main objective of the present is to describe the stages of analysis, design and implementation of an intelligent greenhouse developed in the Tecnologico de Monterrey Campus Ciudad de Mexico. The focus of this is based on the sustainable development approach considering a robust design that integrates reliable, simple, efficient, ecologic and low cost materials and systems with the aim of achieving the automation and control of the microenvironment. The reason of using artificial intelligence techniques over conventional methods, resides in the fact that the greenhouse model is highly nonlinear at many operating points.

The usage of transportable and flexible robots, necessitated by changing requirements of industry, has a strong effect on the design of human-robot interaction. The importance of an intuitive and failure robust interface increases for transportable robot cells, as the time needed for programming has a much higher impact on their economics than for current automation systems which do their one-time programmed task for years. The presented experiment evaluates four different interaction technologies in terms of subjective and objective ratings. The results reveal a significant difference in time needed for task completion between current panel controls in comparison to technologies like gravity compensation and the usage of 6D mouse concepts. Additionally, the subjective evaluation using a reduced PSSUQ and a self-designed questionnaire show advantages for the gravity compensation technology.

Crushing plants are widely used around the world as a pre-processing step in the mineral and mining industries or as standalone processing plants for final products in the aggregates industry. Despite automation and different types of advanced model predictive control, many the processes are still managed by operators. The skill of the operators influences the process performance and thus production yield. Therefore, it is important to train the operators so they know how to behave in different situations and to make them able to operate the process in the best possible way. Different types of models for crushers and other production units have been developed during the years and the latest improvement is the addition of dynamic behavior which gives the crushing plants a time dependent behavior and performance. This can be used as a simulator for operators training. By connecting an Internet based Human Machine Interface (WebHMI) to a dynamic simulator with the models incorporated, an on-line training environment for operators can be achieved. In this paper, a dynamic crushing plant simulator implemented in MATLAB/SIMULINK has been connected to a WebHMI. The WebHMI is accessible via the Internet, thus creating a realistic control room for operators’ training. In the created training environment, the operators can be trained under realistic conditions. Simple training scenarios and how they could be simulated are discussed. Apart from the increased level of knowledge and experience among the operators, the time aspect is an important factor. While a real crushing plant is still being built, the operators to be can already be trained, saving a lot of the commissioning and ramp up time.

In the last years, many advances have been made in the development of virtual and remote laboratories in the field of automatic control. These laboratories constitute an excellent framework for education in technological subjects. The success of these platforms at the university level foresees their broad application for lifelong education of professionals. This work presents how the Remote Laboratory of Automatic Control at the University of Leon has been used for education of professionals in industrial automation and building energy management. First, we describe the system architecture that enables the addition of industrial equipment, which have been recently commercialized by major automation manufacturers and therefore demand specific educational actions. Next, the educational contents linked to these equipment which have been included in the laboratory are described. These contents have been used to develop a set of courses both for professionals and professional educators. Finally, the results of surveys answered by the students about the platform are presented and the advantages of this type of laboratories for continuing training in companies are discussed.

Although interaction has been investigated from a number of different areas no consensus has been made regarding what variables that should be measured. Therefore it is hard to predict system performance, where especially in final assembly, a well functioning interaction between humans and automation is crucial in order to maintain production quality. This also makes it hard to suggest improvements. By combining concepts of usability, an approach was suggested were measurable variables were structured. The approach was tested in an experiment and it was suggested that the approach could be used to measure effectiveness, efficiency and operator satisfaction.

Recent advances in the programming standardisation and hardware development in the automation industry offer new possibilities for control engineering education. The IEC 61131 is nowadays widely used and there exist automatic code generators for high level simulation languages. The relatively cheap, but powerful hardware and the applicability of the programmable logic controller (PLC) to automation and complex control tasks make this combination a valuable tool for undergraduate and postgraduate control engineering classes. In this paper, the application of the model-based tool chain using Matlab/Simulink, IEC 61131 and a PLC is presented and applied to the well-known four-tank model as an experimental platform. Several educational examples used in linear and nonlinear control engineering classes are explained in detail and implemented in the hardware setup. Experimental results are shown and compared to simulation data.

Remote laboratories are excellent educational tools that allow students and professors interact with real equipment used in automation projects. In this work, we present a new system, which consists of an electro-pneumatic classification cell. This cell includes a robot with six degrees of freedom, which has been added to our remote laboratory of automatic control (LRA-ULE). This system lets students work with many different industrial equipment such as PLCs, drives, sensors or actuators as well as to monitor a real industrial system. The architecture of the system is based on the three-layer architecture (physical system layer, server layer and client layer), also used in the rest of the platform. In addition, a process simulation and a set of practical tasks have been developed, so that students can work with the physical system through a webpage included in our remote laboratory.

This paper presents results of experiments on the integration of human operators and automation in the context of assembly systems. Several experiments have been conducted to evaluate the use of augmented reality applications in order to provide dynamic work instructions and online feedback information to a shop-floor operator. Based on these results, an experimental platform has been developed so that the shop-floor operator and the automated system behave as a closed-loop system.

Due to the paradigm of mass customisation, most of the tasks in final assembly are still performed by humans. Hence, the tasks are becoming more and more complex and the operators need not only physical but also cognitive support to perform their work. The paper discusses the need for a quantitative and easy-to-use method, which simultaneously considers physical and cognitive automation in order to choose and use the best suited Levels of Automation. A concept model used for task allocation is presented. It consists of a five-step main loop supported by other areas or relations were information is gathered to enable a decision in the main loop. The model is compared to Olders’ et al. (1997) sixteen requirements for a task allocation method in order to prove its usefulness. The method has been developed, validated, and verified together with end-users (industry and novice users) in twenty companies to verify its practical ease-of-use.

A designed multi-bioreactor plant, comprising a 5 l cell breeding BIOSTAT® Bplus system and a sixfold 1 l BIOSTAT® Qplus system, was equipped with different, interlinked automation structures for systematic process controlling and reliable optimization procedures. Benefits obtained were time saving, assurance and improvement of quality and cost reduction in bioprocess production. In this report the concept for moving beyond the state-of-the-art by creating a fully automated multi-bioreactor plant is explained. The efficiency of the approach is demonstrated by investigation relating the influence of the dissolved oxygen tension pO 2 in combination with the methanol concentration c S2M in Malaria vaccine production processes with Pichia pastoris.

The paper describes a substantial extension of Norm Optimal Iterative Learning Control (NOILC) that permits tracking of a class of finite dimensional reference signals whilst simultaneously minimizing a quadratic cost function. Motivated by practical problems in automation and control, this enables point-to-point motion tasks to be performed whilst reducing effects such as payload spillage, vibration tendencies and actuator wear. Solutions combine feedforward and feedback actions, and are experimentally tested using a robotic arm.

The use of simulation software allows control engineers to design better solutions, reduce development costs and avoid possible critical errors in the process to be controlled. In addition, simulation software can be used in education to provide students with realistic problems. Although there are a host of different solutions for continuous systems, there are few simulators of industrial processes focused on automation technologies. In this work, we present a new 3D simulation software of industrial systems for programmable logic controller (PLC) educational exercises. The application includes a physics simulation engine based on videogame technology, it can communicate with PLCs using the OPC protocol, and allows the student to test their designs in real time. Moreover, an extension of the application enables the automated assessment of student work, by operating in conjunction with the Goodle GMS e-learning platform. The simulation software has been used in two process automation courses during 2011 and 2012.

The paper presents some unethical methods and procedures employed by the technology providers in the technology transfer process in the case study country after 1989 and the basic effects in the Domain. The history of the most successful leading designer is depicted and his procedures and methods to counteract the unethical aspects are described. Some comments from the former communist countries are also given.

In automation and handling, many motion tasks are accomplished using servo motors. For simple motion tasks, hybrid stepper motors can be used in closed loop operation as a cheaper replacement of expensive servo motors. Therefore a model of the electromechanical behaviour is necessary for controller design. A detailed model of the hybrid stepper motor is derived, taking the saliencies of the rotor and the stator into account. Least-squares optimal parameter values are identified for important model parameters. Validation experiments show the high accuracy of the model.

The medical profession are one of the most educated people in the world. However, how does this profession adopt and uptake new information technologies for learning and professional engagement. This paper reviews theories of innovation and adoption from the information systems literature to analysis the adoption of information and communication technologies by the medical profession in the Kosovo. It uses findings from a grounded approach in an attempt to develop a new model for technology acceptance. Thereby opening an avenue of research for control and automation systems theory and practice, which could inform policy in respect of the e-readiness of the medical profession especially in post-conflicit regions.

To resolve the problem of declination of Japanese agriculture, plant factories with automation, quality control, robotization and speaking plant approach are necessary. The multi operation system described in this paper has running unit with automatic position sensing. Growth environment measurement unit has transpiration, photosynthesis, distance and temperature sensors to obtain plant growth information. The pest control unit uses the antiseptic effect of ozone water. The harvesting unit is used for cucumbers that grow fast; recognition of cucumbers ready to be harvested is achieved through distance information gathered by an attached photo interrupter and distance sensors. The development of multi-operation robot is continued by developing controlling program that can change the operating pattern by sharing the contents by each controlling and operating unit.

Currently, there is a strong interest in the process of technological upgrading of conventional machine tools to CNC machine tools, because of the advantages that this process offers. The process of conversion to computerized numerical controls involves a huge effort in conceptualizing and control of the key components of each machine tool, including the high cost of the hardware used. This paper presents the design of a software set-up wizard, to develop a Universal Numeric Control based-on Linux real-time, using universal numerical controllers in open source. The developed software allows the generation of numerical controls based on low-cost software for each machine tool converted, ensuring its universality. Describes the system architecture, the core and all associated tools. The selection of components, the G code preprocessor, different interpolation algorithms and various types of hardware options allow the user to build specific numerical controllers for each machine tool. We present two case studies. The first case concerns the generation of a numerical control for a conventional machine tool. The second case study concerns the development of a numerical control for a reconfigurable micro machine tool. Both cases showed the feasibility of using this numerical control generator based-on low cost software.

An Automation Master Plan was conducted to achieve the control optimization of a blast sintering process based on a Dwight-Lloyd machine. In the pursue of this goal was necessary to use an engineering and scientific approach in order to identify and analyze all the factors influencing the production rate, product quality and environment protection, among others. An assessment was conducted in order to select and implement the appropriate technology, to accomplish the optimization goal. Automation Master Plan has been applied with a scope of five years, and the results achieved, have clearly demonstrated that benefits obtained significantly improved production economics and maximize long-term return on investment.

The control system development as a part of the plant engineering is a planning discipline with growing importance. Since the complexity of automation tasks is steadily increasing the development of control procedures requires high engineering efforts. This is due to a restricted reusability and integration capacity of the control software and inadequate engineering methods. This paper introduces a new planning concept that improves the development of control procedures. The main objective is to increase the manageability, adaptability, and reusability of control procedures by means of the SOA paradigm. Therefore, a model-based engineering concept with defined concretization levels for the development of service-oriented control procedures is presented.

Coal is an important fossil fuel and will also be for the next decades. Thus, there have been several approaches and researches in longwall coal mining automation which are mainly focused on the shearer as the executing machine. In addition approaches of coal interface detection have to be taken into account for horizon control to reach autonomous shearer guidance. The shield-data-based horizon control is an alternative control approach which integrates data from the roof support as input and feedback to reach an automatic cutting drum height adjustment with the aim to follow the seam trend, generate a defined face opening and keep it. This article contains the basics and difficulties of the control concept including a short introduction to the simulation model as well as the scheme and the description of the shield-data-based horizon control. Some simulation results will be shown, as well as results of the experimental tests.

In last two decades, virtual laboratories help to teach students and train technicians in a broad range of engineering areas including automation and control. However, there is still a lack of laboratories that present more complex control schemes directly related to industrial problems. This paper presents a new virtual laboratory portal ContLab.eu. It was born on the basis of popular PIDlab web where only the algorithms related to PID control are demonstrated. ContLab will cover broader range of automation topics, including vibration damping, motion control and robotics. A novel technique is being used to create each individual laboratory. The simulation core is designed in Matlab/Simulink and then automatically deployed into Java. Similarly, the core can be sent to real-time target for controlling real machine or plant. This ensures that all the three platforms (virtual lab, Matlab/Simulink and real-time target) behave exactly the same way including function block algorithms, parameters and their mutual signal connection. This paper describes several ContLab virtual laboratories which are related to PID control in particular (PID autotuners, Smith predictor, floating control, center seeking control, etc). The authors believe, that the laboratories will be useful for both industrial and academic sphere.

Nowadays one of the fundamental aspects of industrial automation concerns modeling discrete manufacturing processes and their control through Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC). These subjects, apparently distinct, are indeed related because PLC programming in most cases are based on these models. Another essential topic is the use of SCADA systems and web panels as part of the monitoring process. Teaching these subjects require intensive use of laboratories with dedicated equipment and software. The problem arises when the course has more than one hundred students and the university policy is not to spend too many resources in teaching labs. This paper presents our last solution to the problem based on virtual experimental setups and the use of a remote laboratory with web panels and LabVIEW interfaces. The solution has been tested successfully and very important, using legal software at free cost for the student.

The paper illustrates an innovative solution for the control architecture of automated manufacturing systems, based on the integration of the ontology and web-services technologies, which allows an easy configuration, update and expansion of the control system. The result is a fully open environment for the operational control of manufacturing equipment allowing the easy and fast commissioning of new plants, the achievement of a “plug & produce” inclusion of new equipment and the substitution of the traditional control model, based on the hierarchical hardware architecture, with a new one based on a free series of pure software control levels which manage, via a web services communication network, a single-level population of controllers of the various equipment on the shop floor.

Multivariable objects of industrial automation are characterized by interconnections of a number of indexes, different response times and time delays to control actions by channels. Typical controller's adjustment methods for such objects are presented in the article. These methods are based on automatic control theory and computer simulation.

The paper presents some methods of design and development of emerging/pioneering automation and ICT systems, that proved to be very successful in Poland before the political change in 1989 in that country. The methods should be affective also in other countries in similar unethical political conditions. Some comments are also given by coauthors of former socialistic countries.