You’re starting a new automation project. What control engineering products do you need to succeed?

I’ve seen projects where PLC hardware has been selected due to its past reliability which is fine for now but what’s often forgotten is that the same hardware that’s been available for years will be obsolete long before the life cycle of the project ends

The selection of the PLCs, servos, robots, vision, and other major components must be made with the following in mind: Performance, cost, ease-of-use, ease-of-installation, adaptability, and maintenance. Often, region preference is important.

PLCs are essential components in automation systems, acting as the central processing units that manage industrial processes and equipment. They are programmed to execute tasks according to inputs from sensors and commands from operators. The robustness, reliability, and flexibility of PLCs render them vital for customizing automation in various projects, from production lines to intricate machinery. Through precise programming and integration, PLCs can be customized to fulfill the unique requirements of any automation endeavor.

Your consideration should be: 1. The output and input devices 2. The process at which you wish to automate 3. The cost of automating the process 4. The type of processor that would withstand/process a great number of information at a time 5. Cost of installation and maintenance 6. Ease of operation ie how user friendly your system would be

You start with PLC programmable logic controller. It help to control industrial processes in machinery. It can be programmed to perform a specific fund to meet a particular need thereby increasing production of that product

Once you have selected your programing language and type of plc module, it is necessary that the sensor you select are supported by the plc brand and modules, also the type of signal your sensor are going to send back to the plc need to be compatible, whether your sensor are sinking type sourcing type or NPN PNP and will work in conjunction with the module.

For an automation system to function effectively, it’s essential to have precise data. Sensors act as the system’s sensory organs, delivering real-time updates on various environmental factors like temperature, pressure, and movement. The selection of appropriate sensors is vital and should be based on the system’s unique needs, including sensitivity, operational range, and signal type, to guarantee responsive and adaptable performance to environmental changes.

Choose sensors that are appropriate for the environment with the correct sensing range resolution and other characteristics for your application. Facilities will often specify brand preference in their specification. Be sure to be mindful of this if contractually obligated to do so.

Um exemplo que já vi, são transdutores lineares: dispositivos que detectam a posição sem contato, o que evita desgaste de peças e aumenta a durabilidade do transdutor; podem ser instalados em ambientes com substâncias contaminantes ou pó, por exemplo.

When selecting sensors, it's crucial to consider several factors: 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Take into account factors like temperature, humidity, and other environmental conditions. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Ensure that the sensors meet your accuracy requirements and integrate well with your PLC. 𝐏𝐋𝐂 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Verify compatibility with input modules and communication protocols of your PLC. In precision-demanding applications, I prefer sensors with a digital interface. Remember, precise data input fosters effective automation!

Actuators are essential components in automation, serving as the operational force that translates control system signals into tangible actions. Whether you opt for electric motors, pneumatic cylinders, or hydraulic pumps, the selection hinges on the specific motion, force, and control precision your project demands. Harmonizing your actuators with the control system is a pivotal step to ensure the seamless execution of your automation endeavor.

Actuators are responsible for input for your final action. So its selection for specific purposes with accuracy and standards is crucial for the success of the automation projects. While selecting actuators for control systems kindly consider the environmental factor where the control system is based.

In very general terms pneumatic actuators are cleaner, easier to use and weaker than their hydraulic counterparts. Servo actuators can be rotary or linear and their speed load bearing capacity and resolution should be carefully defined during design before purchase.

Les actionneurs en général c'est des équipements qui actionnent l'ordre de l'automate il sont connectés a travers les sorties numérique ou analogique bien sûr a travers des relais de puissance afin d'assurer l'énergie suffisante

HMI technology is used by almost all industrial organizations, as well as a wide range of other companies, to interact with their machines and optimize their industrial processes.

1st of All the Reliable Automation Product Related to Environment & Full Fill Machine Control Needs, 2nd Design as Need of the Operator with Safety & Easy to Use

HMIs and SCADA system are what day to day operations rely on. It is very vital to have a well structured view with adequate information on the screen, easy navigation to various pages to view all things going on in specific terminal or terminals spanning all over the globe. Also these interfaces play crucial role in sending various commands to the already designed algorithm within the processor. Operations can monitor health of the equipment on the ground, any alarms or even plot trends/charts to track the behavioural nature of equipments, alarms or other events.

Um de seus pontos positivos, por ser bastante intuitivo. Tem uma facilidade de criar e modificar layouts de acordo com sua necessidade.

Integrations is key. It is important to look at the full automation package. What to integrate and how to make the automation user friendly and most efficient to user and business needs, controls required for the assets. Once completed, Prof of concept for the workflow before moving to the stage of planning for assets to control takes place.

Planning an automation project means using various devices from different manufacturers which may have different communication protocol to one another. Also the physical location of the devices locations may vary greatly according to the nature of terminal. Integrators should plan on the choice of the device to be used or be aware of the different devices present on the field and select necessary communication modules, converters, switches and such during the planning of the project. Use of such devices could result in change of code in PLC or having to buy multiple expensive communication modules just because of poor planning. So integrators should plan careful ahead thinking of the obstacle they might face in the field.

Il existe plusieurs topologies et types de réseau industriel. Le réseau industriel est indispensable dans tous les systèmes de contrôle industriel leur rôle est de s'assurer la communication entre différents équipements de système soit capteur ou module ou serveur.. etc

The effective automation design software combined with your high level of experience with this software and standardized templates and procedures built for it are the keys to success.

When developing software for industrial automation, adhering to Clean Code principles is paramount. Your code should be reliable and maintainable. Testing, testing, and testing!!! Test your units. Model processes and test on models. I believe it's correct to do preliminary testing in a virtual environment before testing on a real machine.

Resources available and costs are two major factors to be considered in addition to the points discussed in the article. Resources include professionals who will be responsible to operate and maintain the system after it becomes functional. So they should be prepared to do the tasks.

Process philosophy. To succeed as an automation engineer, you need to be in sync with how the plant runs. Having great understanding of what happens when, why it happens, dependent conditions, safety provisions and so on will cut down your programming and troubleshooting time down greatly. For a start, you don't begin any project unless you know the "How, why, when and where" as it relates to the process.

Completely agree that the process description must be the first step to start a new automatic system. This description should be detail as much as possible. If it is a production machine, the time-line table of each motion parts should be designed before start programming. Analyze and prove that the target production is reasonable.

Like already mentioned by a fellow contributor, process philosophy matters a lot when approaching an automation project. Good algorithm developed for a project goes a long way. Properly structured PLC code will be very helpful to maintain and diagnose. Same goes for HMI/SCADA system which are developed following a proper philosophy will be easier to maintain. Integrators should try to design their code such that it becomes more flexible and enhancing or modifying the code in the future can be smooth without breaking the running functionality.

Viele Wichtige Punkte wurden bereits angesprochen. Ein Punkt welcher mir noch als Topic fehlt ist die Netzwerksicherheit. Oft sind komplexe Maschinen in Firmennetzwerken integriert und haben einen eigenen Zugang zum Internet für die Fernwartung seitens des Anlagenherstellers. Hier ist eine Erfahrene IT-Abteilung, ebenso wie viel Wissen seitens des Engenierings, notwendig um in der sehr dynamischen Welt der Netzwerksicherheit auf dem aktuellen Stand zu bleiben und Angriffe auf die Firmeninfrastrucktur erfolgreich abzuwehren.