Unit 10 Automation and robotics. Text 10.1

Read and translate the text.

Mechanisation refers to the process of providing human beings with machinery capable of assisting them with the muscular requirements of work. A further development of mechanisation is represented by automation, which implies the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for both physical and mental work to produce goods.

Automation has had a great impact on industries over the last century, changing the world economy from industrial jobs to service jobs. In manufacturing, where the process began, automation has meant that the desired results can be obtained through a series of instructions made automatically by the system, which define the actions to be done. Automated manufacturing grants higher consistency and quality, while reducing lead times and handling. It also improves work flow and increases the morale of workers when a good implementation of the automation is made.

However, the purpose of automation cannot be seen only in terms of a reduction of cost and time; there are several more aspects to be taken into consideration. For example, while it is true that automation offers a higher precision in the manufacturing process, it is also true that it requires skilled workers who can make repairs and manage the machinery.

The following table sums up the main advantages and disadvantages of automation:

Advantages		Disadvantages
Speeding up the developmental process of society		Disastrous effects on the environment (pollution, traffic, energy consumption)
Replacing human operators in tasks that involve hard physical or monotonous work		Sharp increase in unemployment rate due to machines replacing human beings
Saving time and money as human operators can be employed in higher-level work		Technical limitations as current technology is unable to automate all the desired tasks
Replacing human operators in tasks done in dangerous environments (fire, space, volcanoes, nuclear facilities, underwater)		Security threats as an automated system may have a limited level of intelligence and can make errors
Higher reliability and precision in performing tasks		Unpredictable costs due to research and development, which may exceed the cost saved by the automation itself
Economy improvement and higher productivity		High initial costs as the automation of a new product requires a large initial investment
Match the words with their definition.
1 manufacturing	a	the time between the design of a product and its production
2 information technologies	b	the amount of confidence that a group of people have
3 goods	с	a set of tasks performed to complete a procedure
4 service jobs	d	the process of packing and distributing goods
5 skilled	e	the industry in which machinery is used to produce goods
6 morale	f	the development and application of computer systems
7 unemployment	g	having the knowledge and the ability to do something well
8 lead times	h	things that are made to be sold
9 handling	i	jobs in transports, communications, hospitals, energy industry, etc
10 work flow	j	the state of not having a job

Text 10.2

Read and translate the text.

Numerical control over automated devices has resulted in a rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities. Computer-aided technologies (CAx) is a broad term that means the use of computer systems to aid in the design, analysis, and manufacture of products, by serving the basis for mathematical and organisational tools used to create complex systems. It includes computer-aided design (CAD software) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM software).

The current limit of computer-aided technologies is that some abilities are well beyond the capabilities of modern mechanical and computer systems. Moreover, these technologies require high-skilled engineers and the synthesis of complex sensory data to work properly. As for costs involved, in some cases, automation is more expensive than mechanical approach.

Thanks to the incredible improvements in automation technology, a number of other technologies have developed from it, such as domotics and robotics.

Domotics is a field in building automation aimed at the application of automation technologies in households for the comfort and security of its residents. This means that lights, heating and conditioning systems, windows shutters, kitchen equipment and surveillance systems can be controlled by a remote control or even by a cell phone at a distance.

Robotics is a special branch of automation in which the automated machines have certain human features and are used to replace human workers in factory operations. Robots are computer- controlled mechanical devices that are programmed to move, manipulate objects and interact with the environment. Nowadays more and more sophisticated robots are being built to serve various practical purposes, for example in houses, businesses, in the army and for medical appliances for disabled people.

Answer the questions.

1 What does computer-aided technologies mean?

2 Which software does CAx include?

3 What are the current limits of CAx?

4 Can you name two applications of automation technologies?

5 How does a domotic house differ from a traditional house?

6 What are robots used for?

Text 10.3

Read and translate the text.

What is a sensor?

Almost every industrial automated process requires the use of sensors and transducers, which are very advanced devices capable of measuring and sensing the environment and translating physical information (e.g. variations of light, pressure, temperature and position) into electrical signals. The sensor picks up the information to be measured and the transducer converts it into electrical signals that can be directly processed by the control unit of a system.

Sensor applications.

Because of the industrial and scientific importance of measuring, sensors are widely used in a variety of fields, such as medicine, engineering, robotics, biology and manufacturing. Traditional machines have difficulty measuring small differences in product size, so sensors can be particularly useful as they can discriminate down to 0,00013 millimetres. They can also detect temperature, humidity and pressure, acquire data and alter the manufacturing process. Sensors are also vital components of advanced machines, such as robots.

Types of sensors.

Thereare two types of sensors: analogue and digital. Analogue sensors operate with data represented by measured voltages or quantities, while digital ones have numeric or digital outputs which can be directly transmitted to computers.

The sensors usually employed in manufacturing are classified as mechanical, electrical, magnetic and thermal, but they can also be acoustic, chemical, optical and radiation sensors. Moreover, according to their method of sensing, they can be tactile or visual. Tactile sensors are sensitive to touch, force or pressure and they are used to measure and register the interaction between a contact surface and the environment. These sensors are used in innumerable everyday objects, such as lift buttons and lamps which turn on and off by touching the base. Visual sensors, instead, sense the presence, shape and movement of an object optically. They are becoming more and more important in surveillance systems, environment and disaster monitoring and military applications

Choose the correct answer.

1 Sensors pick up … to be measured.

A electrical signals

В physical information

С the control unit

2 Physical data is translated into electrical signals by … .

A the transducer

В the sensor

С a computer

3 Sensors … used to alter the manufacturing process.

A can’t be

В are never

С can be

4 … sensors can transmit data directly to computers.

A Chemical

В Digital

С Analogue

5 Tactile sensors are commonly used in … .

A everyday objects

В military applications

С sophisticated machinery

6 … sensors are used to localize objects in space.

A Analogue

В Visual

С Tactile

Text 10.4

Read and translate the text.

A common example of the application of sensors to everyday objects is the computer mouse.

The mechanical mouse has a ball which rotates and translates the motion of our hand into signals that the computer can use.

Developed in late 1999, the optical mouse is an advanced computer pointing device that uses a light-emitting diode (LED), an optical sensor and a digital signal processor (DSP) in place of the traditional mouse ball and electromechanical transducer. The optical mouse actually uses a tiny camera to take thousands of pictures at a rate of more than 1,000 images per second.

Optical mice can work on many surfaces without a mouse pad, thanks to an LED that bounces light off the surface it is on onto an optical sensor. The sensor sends each image to a digital signal processor which examines how the patterns have moved since the previous image, determining how far the mouse has moved. The computer then moves the cursor on the screen based on the coordinates received from the mouse. This happens hundreds of times each second, making the cursor appear to move very smoothly.

The best surfaces reflect but some others, for example a blank sheet of white paper, do not allow the sensor and DSP to work properly because the details are too small to be detected.

In addition to LEDs, a recent innovation are laser-based optical mice that detect more surface details compared to LED technology. This results in the ability to use a mouse on almost any surface and to increase the resolution of the image.

Match each sentence with its ending.

1 A mechanical mouse	a	the optical mouse was developed.
2 There are no sensors	b	provide high-resolution images.
3 In late 1999	с	can reflect light in the same way.
4 An optical mouse	d	in a mechanical mouse.
5 A DPS	e	has got a scroll ball mechanism inside.
6 Not all surfaces	f	uses a light-emitting diode, an optical sensor and a DSR
7 Laser-based optical mice	g	is a processor for digital signals.