Automation Project Research Articles

How to Integrate Human Factors in Automation Projects

How to Integrate Human Factors in Automation Projects

A systems life cycle for office automation projects

As office automation activities become more complex and interrelated, the need for generalized, systematic planning and control procedures increases. For data processing projects, systems life cycles have proven to be a highly effective planning and control mechanisms. This paper presents an analogous life cycle for office automation projects. It incorporates those unique characteristics of the office environment that preclude use of existing data processing life cycles. The paper concludes with an illustrative application of the office automation life cycle.

Victims, villains or victors: The impact of serials automation on a library organization

Perceptive readers may have observed, and regretted, the absence of any discussion of card catalog closings, abolition of serials departments, changes in clerical procedures, or minutiae or any of the other concrete details of library operations so dear to the hearts of us all. The craft of serials management has scarcely been mentioned. Those topics discussed — the nature of organizational change, influencing change, communication, planning for the optimum impact of automation and for flexibility throughout the development and implementation phases — are concepts difficult to introduce into the pragmatic world of libraries. It is difficult to identify causes, to predict effects, and to deal with them. These are, however, critical elements in the success or failure of a serials automation project and a library administration which addresses these issues will manage the changes brought about by automation rather than passively submitting to its consequences.

Progress toward the “factory of the future”

Progress toward the “factory of the future”

Microcomputers in special libraries: a means to an end?

The wide availability of relatively cheap computing power has led many librarians and information officers to expect that the procurement of a microcomputer and database software will answer all of their needs for information management and retrieval. They then anticipate that this equipment will also serve all of the administrative needs of the information unit. This simplistic view is seen to ignore many of the hard realities of automation, and neglects the vital need for systems analysis and design. The author examines the ways in which microcomputers are currently used in libraries, and suggests some practical considerations for those about to embark on automation projects.

Array processor speeds postcode reading

The very high processing speed of its Linear Array Processor has enabled British Robotic Systems Ltd to win a contract for six character reading systems in a major automation project involving reading of postcodes of poor print quality on DHSS pension books

Automation of Resistor Networks, CTS, USA

For several years, competition within the resistor network industry has greatly increased sizeable increases in demand. To remain competitive and a leader in the field, CTS Corporation has chosen to initiate constantly new technologies for automation. To improve overall costs, automation must take place in the area of support personnel such as clerks, engineers, management and technicians as well as with the direct production workers. It is also believed that automation should take place under a well formulated planning system. Some of the techniques being implemented at CTS of Berne to accomplish this come under discussion. First, the capability of the process should be proven. Dealt with briefly are ways in which this is accomplished and the important role it plays in the fore‐running steps of automating. Before an automation project is undertaken, the payback to the company must be assured. The steps taken to accomplish this, starting with determining the variance in output rates (not cycle rates), yield and/or quality improvements, acquiring quotations, establishing total costs, and finally computing the ROI and payback factors are all reviewed. CTS Corporation has graduated from high labour intensified manual operations to semi and fully automatic ones. Some of the techniques used to effect this transition such as bowl and vibratory feeders, walking beams, and pick‐and‐place units, are discussed. Also portrayed is the way in which a constant improvement in the automation of the process and material handling is being undertaken at CTS. Among the new generation developments are: Multiple handling of parts via tubes, magazines, and pallets; robotics; automatic 100% visual inspection, and computer and microprocessor controlled processes.

The challenge of CAD/CAM education

Colleges and universities are not meeting industry needs for graduates trained in the use or implementation of computer-aided design and manufacturing systems since few schools have experience in t...

Unique Automation System Monitors South Florida Production Operations

Summary A unique oilfield automation system has been installed to monitor and control production operations in four remote south Florida fields. A stand-alone local automation system and company-wide design remote terminal units (RTU's) are combined into one system by employing a microprocessor-based control unit. The local system provides operational personnel with alarms, accumulators, analogs, and controls for daily real-time operations. These operational data points, through specialized software, are reformatted and interfaced to pseudo-RTU's within the microprocessor memory. From the pseudo-RTU's, the information is transmitted to the companywide computer production control (CPC) system. The microprocessor-based unit is an efficient and economical method for combining the best features of both automation designs. It also provided the means to implement CPC in an area where conventional large hardware RTU's could not be installed or justified. This paper describes this unique automation system, its equipment, functions, and operation. Introduction The south Florida automation project encompasses all Exxon's operations in four isolated oil fields near Fort Myers. As shown in Fig. 1, the fields trend northwest-southeast, with a maximum distance of 50 miles (80 km) between fields. The field office is in Immokalee, and operations range up to 30 miles (48 km) from this location. There are 7 tank batteries and 51 active wells in the four fields. All wells are artificially lifted either by long stroke pumping units or by electric submersible pumps. The two northern fields, Lehigh Park and West Felda, are situated in an urban development area, and the southern field, Bear Island, is within the Big Cypress Swamp Natl. Preserve. This park has common boundaries with the Everglades Natl. Park. The remaining field, Sunniland, is in an area of farms and pastures. Considerations that led to the automation study were (1) isolated nature of the fields from other operations in Exxon's Pensacola Dist., (2) the extreme distances between wells and fields in south Florida, (3) expanding urban development in the two northern fields, and (4) location of one field in the Big Cypress swamp. Study objectives were to improve production by reducing well downtime through faster response to well problems and to minimize exposure to oil spills in these fields. The initial assessment of the automation project was based on a typical Exxon CPC system.1 In a normal CPC project, field functions (alarm/status, accumulator, analog, and control) are concentrated into one or two large RTU's. These large RTU's are then linked directly by means of a communication circuit into the division's CPC computer center. It was not possible, however, to concentrate functions in south Florida because of limitations on the use of buried cable in urban areas and in the park. An alternative was to install small radio-controlled RTU's at each site. The division CPC computer's physical limitations and economics negated this approach. A local stand-alone automation system was then evaluated for the area. From this evaluation we developed a system involving small local RTU's and a microprocessor-based central control unit for gathering local functions. Once functions were resident in the central control unit, special programs interfaced the functions into large pseudo-RTU's blocked out in the microprocessor's memory. These pseudo-RTU's could then be economically tied into the division CPC system through software and operated in the same manner as conventional hardware RTU's. Fig. 2 is a schematic of the south Florida automation system.

The Automation project at Library B of Thrace University

This paper describes briefly the software developed for Library B of Thrace University during 1977–1979. The machine‐readable catalogue of the library is in MARC II format, and for the most part is supplied by the Selective Record Service of the British Library on subscription. A small part of the MARC cataloguing is done locally using XANMARC. Various programs have been developed to produce the catalogue cards for monographs, to create and maintain the MARC master catalogue and the short Author/Title catalogue and to produce the alphabetic and classified lists of the Library subject heading Thesaurus. A simple serials listing system has also been implemented.

The renovation and automation of a tandem cold rolling mill

The goals and scope of a renovation and automation project for a tandem cold rolling mill are discussed with the emphasis on the computer control system. More stringent requirements for the finished product and the necessary centralization of the operator's functions lead to the design of special control algorithms to cope with the particular characteristic of the mill. These algorithms, which include features as bang-bang control, self-adaptive filtering, optimal switching criteria and several adaptation techniques, are based on detailed analysis of measuring data from the mill. Several control algorithms are described in detail. Also the experience of two years of operation of the renovated mill is discussed; in particular the experiences with the new control system are given.

New file management in P-STAT (abstract only)

In January of 1981, the Center for the Study of Youth Development initiated an on-line catalog of the holdings of its specialized library consisting of 10,000 monographs, journals, vertical file materials, etc. The present paper discusses the reactions of the end-user or patron population to the resource. The background of the library automation project -- including issues of cost-effectiveness, increased power, and user utility--is discussed in order to establish the initial goals of this activity. Then, attention is given to how the project was implemented; this includes a comparison of preliminary goals with what ultimately was delivered. The transition from a COM catalog to the on-line catalog required training of patrons (some of whom had little or no experience with a computer terminal), and only half of the Center staff participated in the initial training sessions. Preliminary patron behavior is reviewed, and an attempt to informally analyze both positive and negative experiences is offered. The initial experiences are summarized in a discussion of the problems and prospects of the user interface of the "query" portion of the on-line catalog software.

The Renovation and Automation of a Tandem Cold Rolling Mill

The goals and scope of a renovation and automation project for a tandem cold rolling mill are discussed with the emphasis on the computer control system. More stringent requirements for the finished product and the necessary centralization of the operator's functions lead to the design of special control algorithms to cope with the particular characteristic of the mill.These algorithms, which include features as: bang-bang control, self-adaptive filtering, optimal switching criteria and several adaptation techniques, are based on detailed analysis of measuring data from the mill. Several control algorithms are described in detail. Also the experience of two year of operation of the renovated mill is discussed, in particular the experiences with the new control system are given.

University of York Library automation project:

The main circulation system is off‐line and as an advance booking facility offered by the existing manual system was to remain, a hybrid subsystem, partly manual and partly automated, has been developed. The automated element, using the Plessey light pen system and a direct on‐line link to the main frame computer, incorporates the loan records into the master loans file, controls the statistical record of reserve loans, creates the daily listings of the contents of the collection and monitors the reading lists. The manual system controls the booking system and the overdue loans.

University of York Library automation project:

Developed as a subsystem of the library's circulation system, this produces, through a terminal typewriter linked to the mainframe computer, conventional catalogue cards, and also abstracts and stores short title catalogue information.

University of York Library automation project:

The library implemented its circulation system, based on a Plessey light pen system Model 1A (SPC) and the university's Decsystem‐10 computer, in the summer of 1977. A hybrid system was developed where the library's off‐line package system captured the data onto magnetic tape and this was used to create disc files on the main frame computer, the files then being accessed on‐line in the library. The library's requirements and the system developed are described, and full costs of the project detailed.

The Miami Heart Institute information system.

The Miami Heart Institute automation project, conceived as a comprehensive unified hospital information system, has been in continuous development since 1969. As of February 1978, the system supports medical services and laboratories as well as teaching, financial, administrative, and research applications through approximately 100 remote terminals. It is controlled by a single operating system serving interrelated data bases and is available to its users practically 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The information system transfers data to and from dedicated mini- and microcomputer systems and incorporates digital and analog instrumentation interfaces that include physiologic signal-processing capabilities. Acceptance by user departments ranges from good to excellent, whereas acceptance by the private attending staff at large has been only fair. This report represents a general overview of several major subsystems and discusses advantages and shortcomings of the project.

Lightning Protection for an Oilfield Automation And Instrumentation System

A description of lightning protection devices in a computer-monitored oilfield automation project located on the south high plains of West Texas near Levelland. Lightning damage was substantially reduced with the present protection system. Introduction For many years, the problem of protecting electrical systems from lightning discharges has plagued power and communications engineers. Only within the past few decades has lightning been a problem to engineers dealing with electrical power systems in oil fields. The problem of lightning protection in West Texas oil fields is unique because of the high concentration of elevated high-voltage lines above flat plains that attract lightning discharges. Most modern, electrically operated oil fields have power distribution systems that are well protected from power distribution systems that are well protected from lightning discharges; and, in many cases, these systems are isolated by sectionalizers and other devices. Even if a portion of a field is disabled by lightning damage, the remainder of the field continues to function normally. This paper concentrates on protecting the low-voltage electronic instrument systems that are very susceptible to even minor voltage surges caused by lightning. In the last several years, the tremendous expansion of oilfield automation and electronic surveillance equipment has required increased emphasis on protecting low-voltage instrument systems from lightning discharges. These systems use DC voltages of near zero to 50 v with 120-v AC-powersources. This paper deals with methods used in a major oilfield automation project to protect various parts of the system from lightning damage. The lightning protection devices discussed are used to protect two of Amoco Production Co.'s computer-monitored oilfield automation projects located on the south high plains of West Texas near Levelland, Tex, plains of West Texas near Levelland, Tex, Fig. 1 shows schematically the automation project operating in one of the locations. This is a secondary waterflood unit with almost 700 wells. The unit is under the surveillance of a computer-monitored oilfield production automation system that utilizes about 1,500 status, production automation system that utilizes about 1,500 status, control, and measurement devices. It has about 150 miles of buried multiconductor cables ranging from 6- t50-pair cables. In this project, "pump-off" controllers are used to control the producing wells, have dry contacts, and indicate satisfactory controller operation and motor status. Water injection wells are controlled by mechanical pressure-regulating valves. The injection rates and pressures are monitored by the computer "reading" amplified signals from turbine meters and pressure transducers. pressure transducers. At satellite tank batteries, the status of tank levels, fire indicators, temperature, and other conditions is monitored with each end device having a set of dry contacts. Producing well tests are obtained by automatically Producing well tests are obtained by automatically switching individual flowlines to fired heater-treaters or separators using electrically operated ball valves. Dry contact meter pulses from these vessels are accumulated by the computer system to determine producing volumes and rates. The telemetry system consists of master and remote telemetry units. Communication between telemetry units is accomplished by frequency modulation using buried copper conductors. JPT P. 1405

INTERLIBRARY CO‐OPERATION IN SCOTLAND

The history and development of library co‐operation in Scotland is described in some detail from 1921 when the Scottish Central Library for Students was established to the amalgamation of the Scottish Central Library with the National Library of Scotland in 1974. The present situation has been much complicated by the re‐organisation of local government in Scotland. Catalogues have been or are being rationalised. The National Library has also now agreed to lend items from its stock which greatly improves the back‐up service it can provide to the British Library Lending Division. As in other countries considerable advances are being made in the field of automation and the Scottish Libraries Co‐operative Automation Project (SCOLCAP) uses both UK and LC MARK tapes. Developments are also taking place in local co‐operation and non‐postal transport schemes similar to those in England and Wales.

On-line industrial scale fermentation plant

This paper attempts to present a project of computer automation in industrial scale production of antibiotics. A thorough description of the various phases of project development is given including details about necessary equipment completion, home-built interface and computerised control system. Software system for interface and built-in instrumentation testing, data logging, and supervisory control was developed in a modular way. Preliminary results and first experiences with the system implemented in the plant show that orientation is adequate. In conclusion plans for future are briefly outlined.