Increasing Levels Of Automation Research Articles

Modular and flexible Automation Middleware based on LabVIEW and OPC UA

The increasing automation level of processes in production systems leads to new technical challenges, especially in the implementation and maintenance of software architectures. New requirements arise regarding the interface between Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), robots, Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) and superordinate information systems (e.g. ERP). Industry 4.0 demands, among other things, an increase in flexibility, adaptability and transparency to achieve vertical and horizontal interoperability and a continuous integration. The innovative automation middleware is capable of replacing the heterogeneous interface landscape, which currently exists in many companies and institutions. The basic idea is the implementation of a modular and standardized middleware. Due to relevant characteristics, such as dataflow orientation and graphical programming interface, using LabVIEW as a programming language turned out to be the most suitable solution. The system deploys OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) to connect all required components across multiple enterprise levels. Moreover, the software solution controls the workflow and collects process data for further analysis. In contrast to software products available on the market, which usually come along with manufacturer dependencies, the established middleware based on the combination LabVIEW and OPC UA is transparent, extensible and independent.

Sleep in highly automated driving: Takeover performance after waking up

Takeover performance in automated driving is subject to investigation in the context of a variety of driver states such as distraction or drowsiness. New driver states will emerge with increasing automation level with drivers potentially being allowed to sleep while driving a highly automated vehicle. Still at some point during a drive, drivers will be required to or voluntarily take back control of the vehicle. A simulator study was conducted to investigate drivers’ ability to take over the vehicle control after sleeping. In a within-subjects study design N = 25 test drivers completed a drive using a highly automated driving system a) during day time after a full night of sleep and b) early in the morning after a night of partial sleep deprivation. During the second drive, sleep was measured in drivers according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) standard using electroencephalography (EEG). In total, the participants had to handle four takeover requests (TORs) from the system, two while being awake (day drive) and two when being awakened from sleep stage N2 (morning drive). The objective criticality of the situations was assessed performing the Takeover Controllability rating (TOC-rating). The results indicate that the applied takeover time of 60 s was sufficient for drivers to reengage in driving after sleeping. Reaction times were extended by about 3 s after sleep compared to the wake condition. Takeover performance assessed with the TOC-rating however was clearly worse after sleep than after wakefulness which was also reflected in the drivers’ subjective perception of the criticality of the situation. Further research is needed on how to deal with performance impairments after waking up from sleep during automated driving.

The Importance of Competency Model Development

Personal competencies are significant predictors of employee outcome. Nowadays, due to the rapid development of technologies and increased automation level, competency requirements have changed. Therefore, experts develop and make regular updates in the general competencies and in the specific competency models for each industry. In 2018, the European Commission developed the Council Recommendation on Key Competencies for Lifelong Learning, which defines the core competencies necessary to improve performance, to sustain current standards of living and to adapt to market changes. Competency models are particularly significant in order to produce innovations where the educational level and knowledge and the skills and attitude of employees are essential.The purpose of the research is to define the basic concepts of actual competency models and to determine the advantages of their development. This research is a literature review for building a literature background for the next stage of the investigation, which will be empirical research. The outputs of this research are four hypotheses on the influence of the practical application of competency models, including the use of competency models in the development and implementation of training programmes as a positive impact on learners' results and attitude. Use of general competency models does not ensure the implementation of fully-fledged competency-based training programmes in a specific area.The literature review has identified that the major advantages of the development and use of competency models are improved performance and evaluation system optimisation. It is essential for each industry to identify its own competency requirements although there are still specific industries in which competency models have not yet been fully developed. It is concluded that most of the research evidence on competencies is, nevertheless, related to medium and large sized companies and industrial plants. Different approaches are required to analyse and develop competency models depending on the company size.

Location selection for wind plant using AHP and axiomatic design in fuzzy environment

Electricity consumption of the world has been increasing due to increasing population and production amounts, developing technology and increasing automation level. Studies show that the increase will continue in the future and the supply and demand amount should increase depending on the changing world. Renewable energy sources have become crucial due to the traditional energy sources like coal harm the environment nature and human health. Nowadays countries pay more attention to use their own resources in order to maintain their socio-economic and political independence. As awareness of clean energy increases, the usage of renewable energy sources is increasing. The investment costs of renewable energy sources are very high. For this reason, the selection of the location for renewable energy sources is a strategic decision that getting it right the first time. Different criteria are evaluated when selecting the installation location. The priorities of these criteria may be different from each other. In this study, a model was proposed for selecting the location for the installation of wind power plant via using fuzzy AHP and fuzzy Axiomatic Design methods. In the implementation phase of the model, evaluation criteria have been determined and prioritized. In the light of the evaluation criteria, 3 locations have been evaluated and the most suitable one was selected.

Improvement of reference base in the field of metrological assurance of thread joints

We consider the main and essential legislative and applicative issues of metrological assurance of thread joints in the Russian Federation and international practice. Basic limitations of the existing measuring methods of the main thread gage parameter - the pitch diameter of thread - are represented. We give the description of the first echelon state working calibration standard for linear unit, placed in service in D.I. Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology (VNIIM), including the general field of applications and metrological characteristics according to the state verification schedule. The possibilities of etalon application in the field of measurements of thread gages parameters are shown. Technical solutions for reducing the components of uncertainty of measurements of the pitch diameter using the etalon are described: temperature stability; reducing of external vibration effects on measuring procedure; developing of the special software for minimizing human factor and increasing automation level of the measuring procedure. The solutions described have enabled to achieve expanded uncertainty value about 0.7-1.0 microns. As a result, we also propose further ways for development and improvement of the system of metrology assurance in the field of thread joints.

Application of Optimal Control Problem for Surface Roughness Improvement in Milling

This paper presents an improvement of the approach for increasing automation level of CNC machines by using a supervising controller that, for a given toolpath, tool geometry, and workpiece material, calculates the optimal sequence of controls. The developed system, based on three steps: process simulation, solution of the optimal control problem (OCP), and state reconstruction with state learning, is improved while reformulating the OCP by taking into account the surface roughness.

Situations Saved by the Human Operator when Automation Failed

In many systems an increased level of automation implies an altered role for the human operator. Behind the introduction of new automation lies different automation philosophies which stretches from trying to use as much automation as possible to adding automation only as a support to human tasks in specific situations.The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has assigned AF Infrastructure, Department of Risk Management to describe the current automation philosophies within the nuclear industry. The assignment also includes a survey of events in which human involvement was necessary in order to save situations in which the automation failed.Much of the knowledge of human-machine interaction in process systems is derived by learning from incidents. These incidents, however, only represent a limited set of observations of real life human-machine interactions when the human in most cases did not have a positive effect on the sequence of events. Cases when the human operator did have a positive effect on the sequence of events are typically not reported as they in most cases do not lead to incidents. Thus, much of the available information on human-machine interactions is biased towards cases of human errors, and does not give a true picture of real-life. It is the hypothesis of this paper that the role of the human operator as a vital safety function is more significant than normally concluded by studying incident reports which claim human error as a contributing cause to accidents.In this report two events are described in which human intervention was crucial for the successful outcome of the situation; Vandellos/Spain 1989 and Forsmark/Sweden 2006. These events show that the human operator is one of the most vital parts of the defence in depth at a power station, hence a strong focus should be given to looking after and maintaining the human abilities in order for her to be able to act safely in emergency situations.The events also show the potential improvement of the defence in depth by making the most of the unique human abilities of intuitive and creative thinking and acting without access to external sources of power or prearranged procedures.These abilities are, however, affected by the level of automation, e.g. a too high level of automation can lead to a lack in situation awareness whilst a too low level can lead to too high levels of mental workload for the operators. To avoid degradation in human abilities to safely intervene, changes in automation levels should always be preceded by an analysis of its long term effect on the human operators’ skills and capabilities.To gain more knowledge on the role of the human operator as a safety function in process systems, it is suggested that real-life human machine interaction is actively observed in order to also identify cases when human intervention prevents incidents at the very early stages of the sequence of events. These cases are normally impossible to retrieve from historical records, which mainly cover incident investigations of cases that lead to severe consequences.Many of the theories on automation philosophy used in this paper originate from the aviation industry, but it is shown that they are equally applicable within other sectors as well, i.e. the process industry.

Cognition Related Process Visualization with MFM and EID: Improvement or Not?

Continual development of industrial processes implicates an increasing strain for the operators of such plants. Furthermore, there is an increasing level of automation due to increasingly powerful and cheaper automation hardware. The consequence is a decreasing number of operators for driving a process on concurrent rise of the information to be observed by the separate operator (Thierfelder, 1997; Herbst and Rieger, 1997). The increased automation level involves a loss of manual skills in leading a process, while the area of responsibility for the operators increases. (Reinig et al., 1997; Bainbridge, 1983). The objective of this project is to check if the newer modelling techniques of MFM and EID are better than the common view (TOP) of industrial processes.

バルメットＢＭ計のアドバンテージ

Pulp and paper industry is a capital intensive industry where a small saving in process inputs or an increase in operating efficiencies will leverage into a considerable positive cash flow to the bottom line. The realized profitability and higher product quality achieved by automation have increased automation level in the pulp and paper industry.The objectives of the new generation paper machine concept are improved utilization degree, availability, quality as well as the development of production methods that offer savings for the environment and raw materials. The production speed will exceed 2, 000 meters per minute. The properties of the new generation paper machine are achievable by taking advantage of automation and machine synergies. By investing in the intelligence added to the machine, automation is raised to a completely new dimensions. The future paper machine can really be called the Intelligent Paper Machine.