Automation, application of machines to tasks once performed by human beings or, increasingly, to tasks that would otherwise be impossible. Although the term mechanization is often used to refer to the simple replacement of human labour by machines, automation generally implies the integration of machines into a self-governing system. Automation has revolutionized those areas in which it has been introduced, and there is scarcely an aspect of modern life that has been unaffected by it.
The term automation was coined in the automobile industry about 1946 to describe the increased use of automatic devices and controls in mechanized production lines. The origin of the word is attributed to D.S. Harder, an engineering manager at the Ford Motor Company at the time. The term is used widely in a manufacturing context, but it is also applied outside manufacturing in connection with a variety of systems in which there is a significant substitution of mechanical, electrical, or computerized action for human effort and intelligence.
In general usage, automation can be defined as a technology concerned with performing a process by means of programmed commands combined with automatic feedback control to ensure proper execution of the instructions. The resulting system is capable of operating without human intervention. The development of this technology has become increasingly dependent on the use of computers and computer-related technologies. Consequently, automated systems have become increasingly sophisticated and complex. Advanced systems represent a level of capability and performance that surpass in many ways the abilities of humans to accomplish the same activities.
Automation technology has matured to a point where a number of other technologies have developed from it and have achieved a recognition and status of their own. Robotics is one of these technologies; it is a specialized branch of automation in which the automated machine possesses certain anthropomorphic, or humanlike, characteristics. The most typical humanlike characteristic of a modern industrial robot is its powered mechanical arm. The robot’s arm can be programmed to move through a sequence of motions to perform useful tasks, such as loading and unloading parts at a production machine or making a sequence of spot-welds on the sheet-metal parts of an automobile body during assembly. As these examples suggest, industrial robots are typically used to replace human workers in factory operations.
Modern developments
A number of significant developments in various fields have occurred during the 20th century: the digital computer, improvements in data-storage technology and software to write computer programs, advances in sensor technology, and the derivation of a mathematical control theory. All these developments have contributed to progress in automation technology.
Development of the electronic digital computer (the ENIAC [Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer] in 1946 and UNIVAC I [Universal Automatic Computer] in 1951) has permitted the control function in automation to become much more sophisticated and the associated calculations to be executed much faster than previously possible. The development of integrated circuits in the 1960s propelled a trend toward miniaturization in computer technology that has led to machines that are much smaller and less expensive than their predecessors yet are capable of performing calculations at much greater speeds. This trend is represented today by the microprocessor, a miniature multicircuited device capable of performing all the logic and arithmetic functions of a large digital computer.
Robot programming
The computer system that controls the manipulator must be programmed to teach the robot the particular motion sequence and other actions that must be performed in order to accomplish its task. There are several ways that industrial robots are programmed. One method is called lead-through programming. This requires that the manipulator be driven through the various motions needed to perform a given task, recording the motions into the robot’s computer memory. This can be done either by physically moving the manipulator through the motion sequence or by using a control box to drive the manipulator through the sequence.
A second method of programming involves the use of a programming language very much like a computer programming language. However, in addition to many of the capabilities of a computer programming language (i.e., data processing, computations, communicating with other computer devices, and decision making), the robot language also includes statements specifically designed for robot control. These capabilities include (1) motion control and (2) input/output. Motion-control commands are used to direct the robot to move its manipulator to some defined position in space.
