Industrial Automation

Automation is defined as the process where actions are performed by computers without human assistance. It has become a more and more salient issue over the last decade as the speed at which technology is advancing has only continued to increase. Artificial intelligence and the goal of computer scientists to create intelligent machines that can think and act like human beings in one way or another.  Automation appears to be a product of this field in that in some cases, it involves machines doing human tasks without constant human supervision.

What is it?

Artificial neural networks describe computational models that mimic the behavior of human neurons to analyze data and identify useful relationships in it. Artificial neural networks require data in order to be able to do the learning required to build these models. Artificial neural networks are used in processes like email filtration and pattern recognition. Distributed control systems are typically used in large systems and they describe technologies whose control is not centralized. An example of such a system is traffic lights.

Human Machine interfaces are systems that require human user input to function. An example is an ATM. Programmable logic controllers are systems that control machines by setting a time frame and an action that must be performed in that time frame. An example of such systems is amusement park rides. Supervisory control systems manage the coordination of smaller subsystems. For example, such a system may be responsible for managing how a lot of smaller processes work in relation to each other at a manufacturing site. This coordination is a form of synchronization that is not dependent on real time.

How does it affect us?

The use of automated machines has affected the traditional manufacturing industry the most in the last couple years. In a 2016 report, the University of Oxford and CitiBank predicted that over 45% of U.S could potentially be disrupted by this chabnge. This mainly due to the fact that it leads to increased efficiency and precision in industry. Some fear this may lead to the loss of thousands of jobs. However some researchers claim that automation may just lead to a change in the labor market. This might be a change in what skills people are trained with to enter the job market or a change in the sectors that people traditionally flock to.

References

“Types of Automation.” RobotWorx, www.robots.com/articles/types-of-automation.

“General Types of Automation Systems.” ThomasNet, Thomas, www.thomasnet.com/articles/automation-electronics/general-automation-systems.

Price, Rob. “Stephen Hawking: This Will Be the Impact of Automation and AI on Jobs.” World Economic Forum, 6 Dec. 2016, www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/12/stephen-hawking-this-will-be-the-impact-of-automation-and-ai-on-jobs.