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Automated Systems

An automated system combines software and hardware like sensors, microprocessors, and actuators to work without human intervention. Sensors collect data, microprocessors process the data and direct actuators. Automated systems are used in industries like manufacturing, agriculture, science, and more. They are more efficient, accurate, and can work continuously compared to humans but also have high initial costs and risks of operating unexpectedly. Robotics is a field involving the design, construction, and use of robots. Robots are automated machines that can sense their environment and move in a programmed manner. They are used in factories for tasks like welding, painting, and assembly. Robots have advantages like working in hazardous conditions and having higher productivity than humans,

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48 views

Automated Systems

An automated system combines software and hardware like sensors, microprocessors, and actuators to work without human intervention. Sensors collect data, microprocessors process the data and direct actuators. Automated systems are used in industries like manufacturing, agriculture, science, and more. They are more efficient, accurate, and can work continuously compared to humans but also have high initial costs and risks of operating unexpectedly. Robotics is a field involving the design, construction, and use of robots. Robots are automated machines that can sense their environment and move in a programmed manner. They are used in factories for tasks like welding, painting, and assembly. Robots have advantages like working in hazardous conditions and having higher productivity than humans,

Uploaded by

collen
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Automated systems

-An automated system is a combination of software and hardware


- (for example, sensors, microprocessors and actuators) that is designed and
programmed to work automatically without the need of any human intervention.
-However, such systems often involve human monitoring.
» Sensors are input devices that take readings from their surroundings and send this
data to a microprocessor or computer. If the data is analogue, it is first converted into a
digital format by an analogue-digital converter (ADC).
» The microprocessor will process the data and take the necessary action based
on programming.
» This will involve some form of output, usually involving signals sent to actuators to
control motors, wheels, solenoids, and so on.

Industrial applications
Weather (stations)
Chemical process in a laboratory
» transport
» agriculture
» weather
» gaming
» lighting
» science.

The main advantages of this automated system are:


 more efficient than a human
• more accurate than a human
• can lift larger and heavier equipment than a human
• can replace humans working in a dangerous environment
• reduces running costs, such as wages and overheads
• can produce consistent results/output
• can work 24 hours a day // do not need to take breaks

The main disadvantages of this automated system are:


» expensive to set up in the first place and needs considerable testing.
» can operate outside the expected (hence the need for a supervisor)
» can be subject to cyber-attacks.
» maintenance can be costly

Robotics
What is robotics?
So what is a robot in the real world? Robotics is a branch of (computer) science
that brings together the design, construction and operation of robots. Robots can be
found in:
» factories
– welding parts together
– spray-painting panels on a car
– fitting windscreens to cars
– cutting out metal parts to a high precision
– bottling and labelling plants
– warehouses (automatic location of items)

Characteristics of a robot
1 Ability to sense their surroundings: – this is done via sensors (such as light, pressure,
temperature, acoustic, and so on)
2 Have a degree of movement:
3 Programmable l
Advantages
 robots are capable of working in conditions that may be hazardous to humans
 robots are less expensive in the long run (since there will be fewer salaries to pay)
 robots are more productive than humans(higher productivity)
 robots are better suited to boring, repetitive tasks than humans(therefore less likely
to make mistakes)
 although not necessarily more accurate, robots are more consistent certain tasks
 there will be less cost in heating and lighting (robots don’t need good light or
warmth)
Disadvantages
 robots are expensive to buy and set up in the first place
 robots can find it difficult to do ‘non-standard’ tasks (for example, windscreen being
fitted to a car is robots work 24/7 without the need to stop cracked)
 robots can lead to higher unemployment amongst manual labour tasks.
 there is a risk of deskilling when robots take over(for example, welding and paint
spraying).
 factories can now be moved to anywhere in the world where operation costs are
lower (leading again to unemployment in some countries)

Artificial intelligence (AI)


Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science dealing with the simulation
of intelligent human behavior by a computer. This is often referred to as the cognitive
functions of the human brain (that is, the mental process of acquiring knowledge and
understanding through thought, experience and the five senses). All of these cognitive
functions can be replicated in a machine, and they can be measured against human
benchmarks such as reasoning, speech and sight.aboratory

AI systems
Has two types:
» expert system – a computer system that mimics the decision-making ability of a
human; expert systems use AI to simulate the judgement and behaviour of a human or
organisation that has expert knowledge and experience.
» machine learning – this is the science of training computers with sample data so that
they can go on to make predictions about new unseen data, without the need to
specifically program them for the new data.

Expert systems have many advantages:


» they offer a high level of expertise
» they offer high accuracy
» the results are consistent
» they have the ability to store vast amounts of ideas and facts
» they can make traceable logical solutions and diagnostics
» it is possible for an expert system to have multiple expertise
» they have very fast response times (much quicker than a human expert)
» they provide unbiased reporting and analysis of the facts
» they indicate the probability of any suggested solution being correct.

Expert systems also have disadvantages:


» users of the expert system need considerable training in its use to ensure the
system is being used correctly

the set up and maintenance costs are very high


» they tend to give very ‘cold’ responses that may not be appropriate in certain
medical situations
» they are only as good as the information/facts entered into the system
» users sometimes make the very dangerous assumption that they are infallible.

User interface
» method by which the expert system interacts with a user
» interaction can be through dialogue boxes, command prompts or other input methods.
» the questions being asked usually only have Yes/No answers and are based on the
responses to previous questions.
Inference engine
» this is the main processing element of the expert system
» the inference engine acts like a search engine examining the knowledge base for
information/data that matches the queries
» it is responsible for gathering information from the user by asking a series of questions
and applying responses where necessary; each question being asked is based on the
previous responses.
» the inference engine is the problem-solving part of the expert system that makes use
of inference rules in the rules base.
» since the knowledge base is a collection of objects and attributes, the inference
engine attempts to use information gathered from the user to find an object that
matches (making use of the rules base to find a match)
Knowledge base
» the knowledge base is a repository of facts
» it stores all the knowledge about an area of expertise obtained from a number of
expert resources.

Rules base
» the rules base is a set of inference rules
» inference rules are used by the inference engine to draw conclusions (the
methods used closely follow human reasoning)
» they follow logical thinking; usually involving a series

of ‘IF’ statements, for example:


IF continent = “South America” AND language = “Portuguese” THEN country = “Brazil”
Machine learning is a sub-set of artificial intelligence (AI), in which algorithms are ‘trained’ and
learn from their past experiences and examples. It is possible for the system to make predictions or
even take decisions based on previous scenarios. They can offer fast and accurate outcomes due to
very powerful processing capability. One of the key factors is the ability to manage and analyse
considerable volumes of complex data; some of the tasks would take humans years to complete
without the help of machine learning techniques. One example that uses machine learning are the
most sophisticated search engines:

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