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Advances in I

2. Advances in Industrial Automation:

Historical Perspectives

Theodore J. Williams

Automation is a way for humans to extend the

capability of their tools and machines. Self-

operation by tools and machines requires four

functions: Performance detection; process correc-

tion; adjustments due to disturbances; enabling

the previous three functions without human inter-

vention. Development of these functions evolved

in history, and automation is the capability of

causing machines to carry out a speciﬁc operation

on command from external source. In chemical

manufacturing and petroleum industries prior to

1940, most processing was in batch environment.

The increasing demand for chemical and petroleum

products by World War II and thereafter required

different manufacturing setup, leading to contin-

uous processing and efﬁciencies were achieved

by automatic control and automation of process,

ﬂow and transfer. The increasing complexity of the

control system for large plants necessitated appli-

References .................................................. 11

cations of computers, which were introduced to

the chemical industry in the 1960s. Automation has

substituted computer-based control systems for

most, if not all, control systems previously based

on human-aided mechanical or pneumatic sys-

tems to the point that chemical and petroleum

plant systems are now fully automatic to a very

high degree. In addition, automation has replaced

human effort, eliminates signiﬁcant labor costs,

and prevents accidents and injuries that might oc-

cur. The Purdue enterprise reference architecture

(PERA) for hierarchical control structure, the hier-

archy of personnel tasks, and plant operational

management structure, as developed for large in-

dustrial plants, and a frameworks for automation

studies are also illustrated.

Humans have always sought to increase the capability

of their tools and their extensions, i.e., machines. A nat-

ural extension of this dream was making tools capable

of self-operation in order to:

1. Detect when performance was not achieving the ini-

tial expected result

2. Initiate a correction in operation to return the pro-

cess to its expected result in case of deviation from

expected performance

3. Adjust ongoing operations to increasethe machine’s

productivity in terms of (a) volume, (b) dimensional

accuracy, (c) overall product quality or (d) ability to

respond to a new previously unknown disturbance

4. Carry out the previously described functions with-

out human intervention.

Item 1 was readily achieved through the develop-

ment of sensors that could continuously or periodically

measure the important variables of the process and sig-

nal the occurrence of variations in them. Item 2 was

made possible next by the invention of controllers that

convert knowledge of such variations into commands

required to change operational variables and thereby re-

turn to the required operational results. The successful

operation of any commercially viable process requires

the solution of items 1 and 2.

The development of item 3 required an additional

level of intelligence beyond items 1 and 2, i.e., the

capability to make a comparison between the results

achieved and the operating conditions used for a series

of tests. Humans can, of course, readily perform this

task. Accomplishing this task using a machine, how-

ever, requires the computational capability to compare

successive sets of data, gather and interpret corrective

results, and be able to apply the results obtained. For

a few variables with known variations, this can be in-

Part A 2

6 Part A Development and Impacts of Automation

corporated into the controller’s design. However, for

a large number of variables or when possible unknown

ranges of responses may be present, a computer must be

available.

Automation is thecapability ofcausing a machine to

carry out a speciﬁc operation on command from an ex-

ternal source. The nature of these operations may also

be part of the external command received. The devise

involved may likewise have the capability to respond to

other external environmental conditions or signals when

such responses are incorporated within its capabilities.

Automation, in the sense used almost universally today

in the chemical and petroleum industries, is taken to

mean the complete or near-complete operation of chem-

ical plants and petroleum reﬁneries by digital computer

Level 4b

Level 4a

Sales

orders

Communi-

cations with

other areas

Scheduling and control hierarchy

(Level 4)

(Level 3)

(Level 2)

Management

data

presentation

Management

information

Communi-

cations with

other super-

visory systems

Supervisor's

console

Intra-area

coordination

Communi-

cations with

other control

systems

All physical,

chemical or

spatial trans-

formations

Supervisor's

console

Supervisory

control

(Level 1)

(Level 0)

Operator's

console

Specialized dedicated

digital controllers

Process

Direct digital

control

Production

scheduling and

operational

management

Operational

and production

supervision

Fig. 2.1 The Purdue enterprise

reference architecture (PERA). Hi-

erarchical computer control structure

for an industrial plant [2.1]

systems. This operation entails not only the monitoring

and control of multiple ﬂows of materials involved but

also the coordination and optimization of these controls

to achieve optimal production rate and/or the economic

return desired by management. These systems are pro-

grammed to compensate, as far as the plant equipment

itself will allow, for changes in raw material character-

istics and availability and requested product ﬂow rates

and qualities.

In the early days of the chemical manufacturing

and petroleum industries (prior to 1940), most pro-

cessing was carried out in a batch environment. The

needed ingredients were added together in a kettle and

processed until the reaction or other desired action

was completed. The desired product(s) were then sep-

Part A 2

Advances in Industrial Automation: Historical Perspectives 7

arated from the byproducts and unreacted materials by

decanting, distilling, ﬁltering or other applicable physi-

cal means. These latter operations are thus in contrast

to the generally chemical processes of product for-

mation. At that early time, the equipment and their

accompanying methodologies were highly manpower

dependent, particularly for those requiring coordination

of the joint operation of related equipment, especially

when succeeding steps involved transferring materials

to different sets or types of equipment.

The strong demand for chemical and petroleum

products generated by World War II and the follow-

ing years of prosperity and rapid commercial growth

required an entirely different manufacturing equipment

setup. This led to the emergence of continuous pro-

cesses where subsequent processes were continued in

successive connected pieces of equipment,each devoted

to a separate setup in the process. Thus a progression

in distance to the succeeding equipment (rather than

in time, in the same equipment) was now necessary.

Since any speciﬁc piece of equipment or location in

Level Output

Corporate ofcer Strategy

PlansDivision manager

Departement manager

Task

Dene and modify

objectives

Implement objective

Control Supervisory control

Direct control

Operations

management

Plant manager

Operator

Foreman

Operations control

Observer

Outside

communi-

cations

Sensors

Fig. 2.2 Personnel task hierarchy in

a large manufacturing plant

the process train was then always used for the same

operational stage, the formerly repeated ﬁlling, react-

ing, emptying, and cleaning operations in every piece

of equipment was now eliminated. This was obvi-

ously much more efﬁcient in terms of equipment usage.

This type of operation, now called continuous pro-

cessing, is in contrast to the earlier batch processing

mode. However, the coordination of the now simultane-

ous operations connected together required much more

accurate control of both operations to avoid the trans-

mission of processing errors or upsets to downstream

equipment.

Fortunately, our basic knowledge of the inherent

chemical and physical properties of these processes had

also advanced along with the developmentof theneeded

equipment and now allows us to adopt methodologies

for assessing the quality and state of these processes

during their operation, i.e., degree of completion, etc.

Likewise, also fortunately, our basic knowledge of the

technology of automatic control and its implement-

ing equipment advanced along with knowledge of the

Part A 2

8 Part A Development and Impacts of Automation

pneumatic and electronic techniques used to imple-

ment them. Pneumatic technology for the necessary

control equipment was used almost exclusively from

the original development of the technique to the 1920s

until its replacement by the rapidly developing elec-

tronic techniques in the 1930s. This advanced type of

equipment becamealmost totallyelectronic afterthe de-

velopment of solid-state electronic technologies as the

next advances. Pneumatic techniques were then used

only wheresevere ﬁre or explosiveconditions prevented

the use of electronics.

The overall complexity of the control systems for

large plants made them objects for the consideration

of the use of computers almost as soon as the early

digital computers became practical and affordable. The

Level 4b

Level 4a

Communi-

cations with

other areas

(Level 4)

(Level 3)

(Level 2)

(Level 1)

Company or plant general

management and staff

Plant operational management

and staff

Area operational management

and staff

Unit operational management

and staff

Direct process operations

Physical communication

with plant processes

Process

Communi-

cations with

other super-

visory levels

Communi-

cations with

other control

level systems

(Hardware only)

Fig. 2.3 Plant operational manage-

ment hierarchical structure

ﬁrst computers for chemical plant and reﬁnery control

were installed in 1960, and they became quite preva-

lent by 1965. By now, computers are widely used in

all large plant operations and in most small ones as

well. If automation can be deﬁned as the substitution

of computer-based control systems for most, if not all,

control systems previously based on human-aided me-

chanical or pneumatic systems, then for chemical and

petroleum plant systems, we can now truly say that they

are fully automated, to a very high degree.

As indicated above, a most desired byproduct of

the automation of chemical and petroleum reﬁning pro-

cesses must be the replacement of human effort: ﬁrst in

directly handling the frequently dangerous chemical in-

gredients in the initiation of the process; second, that

Part A 2

Advances in Industrial Automation: Historical Perspectives 9

of personally monitoring and controlling the carrying

out and completion of these processes; and ﬁnally that

of handling the resulting products. This omits the ex-

penses involved in the employment of personnel for

carrying out these tasks, and also prevents unnecessary

accidents and injuries that might occur there. The staff

at chemical plants and petroleum reﬁneries has thus

been dramatically decreased in recent years. In many

locations this involves only a watchman role and an

emergency maintenance function. This capability has

further resulted in even further improvements in overall

plant design to take full advantage of this new capa-

bility – a synergy effect. This synergy effect was next

felt in the automation of the raw material acceptance

14 1513

17 1816

20 2119

1210

Functional

design

Detailed

design

Denition

phase

Operations

phase

Construction and

installation phase

Design phase

Concept

phase

Functional

view

Implementation view

Fig. 2.4 Abbreviated sketch to rep-

resent the structure of the Purdue

enterprise reference architecture

practices and the product distribution methodologies of

these plants. Many are now connected directly to the

raw material sources and their customers by pipelines,

thus totally eliminatingspecial raw materialand product

handling and packaging. Again, computers are widely

used in the scheduling, monitoring, and controlling of

all operations involved here.

Finally, it has been noted that there is a hierarchical

relationship between the control of the industrial pro-

cess plant unit automatic control systems and the duties

of the successive levels of management in a large in-

dustrial plant from company management down to the

ﬁnal plant control actions [2.2–13]. It has also been

shown that all actions normally taken by intermedi-

Part A 2

10 Part A Development and Impacts of Automation

Table 2.1 Areas of interest for the architecture framework addressing development and implementation aids for automa-

tion studies (Fig.2.4)

Area Subjects of concern

1 Mission, vision and values of the company, operational philosophies, mandates, etc.

2 Operational policies related to the information architecture and its implementation

3 Operational strategies and goals related to the manufacturing architecture and its implementation

4 Requirements for the implementation of the information architecture to carry out the operational

policies of the company

5 Requirements for physical production of the products or services to be generated by the company

6 Sets of tasks, function modules, and macrofunction modules required to carry out the requirements of

the information architecture

7 Sets of production tasks, function modules, and macrofunctions required to carry out the manufactur-

ing or service production mission of the company

8 Connectivity diagrams of the tasks, function modules, and macrofunction modules of the information

network, probably in the form of data ﬂow diagrams or related modeling methods

9 Process ﬂow diagrams showing the connectivity of the tasks, function modules, and macrofunctions

of the manufacturing processes involved

10 Functional design of the information systems architecture

11 Functional design of the human and organizational architecture

12 Functional design of the manufacturing equipment architecture

13 Detailed design of the equipment and software of the information systems architecture

14 Detailed design of the task assignments, skills development training courses, and organizations of the

human and organizational architecture

15 Detailed design of components, processes, and equipment of the manufacturing equipment architec-

ture

16 Construction, check-out, and commissioning of the equipment and software of the information sys-

tems architecture

17 Implementation of organizational development, training courses, and online skill practice for the

human and organizational architecture

18 Construction, check-out, and commissioning of the equipment and processes of the manufacturing

equipment architecture

19 Operation of the information and control system of the information systems architecture including its

continued improvement

20 Continued organizational development and skill and human relations development training of the

human and organizational architecture

21 Continued improvement of process and equipment operating conditions to increase quality and pro-

ductivity, and to reduce costs involved for the manufacturing equipment architecture

ary plant staff in this hierarchy can be formulated into

a computer-readable form for all operations that do not

involve innovation or other problem-solving actions by

plant staff. Figures 2.1–2.4 (with Table 2.1) illustrate

this hierarchical structure and its components. See more

on the history ofautomation and controlin Chaps. 3 and

4; see further details on process industry automation in

Chap.31; on complex systems automation in Chap.36;

and on automation architecture for interoperability in

Chap.86.

Part A 2

Advances in Industrial Automation: Historical Perspectives References 11

References

2.1 T.J. Williams: The Purdue Enterprise Reference Archi-

tecture (Instrument Society of America, Pittsburgh

1992)

2.2 H. Li, T.J. Williams: Interface design for the Pur-

due Enterprise Reference Architecture (PERA) and

methodology in e-Work, Prod. Plan. Control 14(8),

704–719 (2003)

2.3 G.A. Rathwell, T.J. Williams: Use of Purdue Reference

Architecture and Methodology in Industry (the Fluor

Daniel Example). In: Modeling and Methodologies

for Enterprise Integration, ed. by P. Bernus, L. Nemes

(Chapman Hall, London 1996)

2.4 T.J. Williams, P. Bernus, J. Brosvic, D. Chen,

G. Doumeingts, L. Nemes, J.L. Nevins, B. Vallespir,

J. Vliestra, D. Zoetekouw: Architectures for integrat-

ing manufacturing activities and enterprises, Control

Eng. Pract. 2(6), 939–960 (1994)

2.5 T.J. Williams: One view of the future of industrial

control, Eng. Pract. 1(3), 423–433 (1993)

2.6 T.J. Williams: A reference model for computer

integrated manufacturing (CIM). In: Int. Purdue

Workshop Industrial Computer Systems (Instrument

Society of America, Pittsburgh 1989)

2.7 T.J. Williams: The Use of Digital Computers in Process

Control (Instrument Society of America, Pittsburgh

1984) p. 384

2.8 T.J. Williams: 20 years of computer control, Can.

Control. Instrum. 16(12), 25 (1977)

2.9 T.J. Williams: Two decades of change: a review of the

20-year history of computer control, Can. Control.

Instrum. 16(9), 35–37 (1977)

2.10 T.J. Williams: Trends in the development of process

control computer systems, J. Qual. Technol. 8(2), 63–

73 (1976)

2.11 T.J. Williams: Applied digital control – some com-

ments on history, present status and foreseen trends

for the future, Adv. Instrum., Proc. 25th Annual ISA

Conf. (1970) p. 1

2.12 T.J. Williams: Computers and process control, Ind.

Eng. Chem. 62(2), 28–40 (1970)

2.13 T.J. Williams: The coming years... The era of com-

puting control, Instrum. Technol. 17(1), 57–63 (1970)

Part A 2

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Automation:

3. Automation:

What It Means to Us Around the World

Shimon Y. Nof

The meaning of the term automation is reviewed

through its deﬁnition and related deﬁnitions, his-

torical evolution, technological progress, beneﬁts

and risks, and domains and levels of applications.

A survey of 331 people around the world adds in-

sights to the current meaning of automation to

people, with regard to: What is your deﬁnition of

automation? Where did you encounter automation

ﬁrst in your life? and What is the most important

contribution of automation to society? The survey

respondents include 12 main aspects of the def-

inition in their responses; 62 main types of ﬁrst

automation encounter; and 37 types of impacts,

mostly beneﬁts but also two beneﬁt–risks combi-

nations: replacing humans, and humans’ inability

to complete tasks by themselves. The most exciting

contribution of automation found in the survey

was to encourage/inspire creative work; inspire

newer solutions. Minor variations were found in

different regions of the world. Responses about

the ﬁrst automation encounter are somewhat re-

lated to the age of the respondent, e.g., pneumatic

versus digital control, and to urban versus farm-

ing childhood environment. The chapter concludes

with several emerging trends in bioinspired au-

tomation, collaborative control and automation,

and risks to anticipate and eliminate.

3.1 The Meaning of Automation .................. 14

3.1.1 Deﬁnitions and Formalism ............ 14

3.1.2 Robotics and Automation .............. 19

3.1.3 Early Automation ......................... 22

3.1.4 Industrial Revolution .................... 22

3.1.5 Modern Automation ..................... 23

3.1.6 Domains of Automation ................ 24

3.2 Brief History of Automation................... 26

3.2.1 First Generation:

Before Automatic Control (BAC)....... 26

3.2.2 Second Generation:

Before Computer Control (BCC)........ 26

3.2.3 Third Generation:

Automatic Computer Control (ACC)... 27

3.3 Automation Cases ................................. 28

3.3.1 Case A:

Steam Turbine Governor (Fig. 3.4) ... 28

3.3.2 Case B:

Bioreactor (Fig. 3.5) ...................... 28

3.3.3 Case C:

Digital Photo Processing (Fig. 3.6)... 29

3.3.4 Case D:

Robotic Painting (Fig. 3.7) .............. 29

3.3.5 Case E:

Assembly Automation (Fig. 3.8) ...... 31

3.3.6 Case F: Computer-Integrated

Elevator Production (Fig. 3.9) ......... 31

3.3.7 Case G:

Water Treatment (Fig. 3.10) ............ 31

3.3.8 Case H: Digital Document

Workﬂow (Fig. 3.11) ....................... 31

3.3.9 Case I: Ship Building

Automation (Fig. 3.12) ................... 32

3.3.10 Case J: Energy Power Substation

Automation (Fig. 3.13) ................... 33

3.4 Flexibility, Degrees,

and Levels of Automation...................... 39

3.4.1 Degree of Automation................... 39

3.4.2 Levels of Automation, Intelligence,

and Human Variability.................. 41

3.5 Worldwide Surveys: What Does

Automation Mean to People?................. 43

3.5.1 How Do We Deﬁne Automation? ..... 45

3.5.2 When and Where Did We Encounter

Automation First in Our Life? ......... 47

3.5.3 What Do We Think Is

the Major Impact/Contribution

of Automation to Humankind?....... 47

Part A 3

14 Part A Development and Impacts of Automation

3.6 Emerging Trends .................................. 47

3.6.1 Automation Trends

of the 20th and 21st Centuries........ 48

3.6.2 Bioautomation ............................ 48

3.6.3 Collaborative Control Theory

and e-Collaboration ..................... 49

3.6.4 Risks of Automation ..................... 50

3.6.5 Need for Dependability,

Survivability, Security,

and Continuity of Operation .......... 50

3.7 Conclusion ........................................... 51

3.8 Further Reading ................................... 51

References .................................................. 52

3.1 The Meaning of Automation

What is the meaning of automation? When discussing

this term and concept with many colleagues, leading

experts in various aspects of automation, control the-

ory, robotics engineering, and computer science during

the development of this Handbook of Automation,many

of them had different deﬁnitions; they even argued ve-

hemently that in their language, or their region of

the world, or their professional domain, automation

has a unique meaning and we are not sure it is the

same meaning for other experts. But there has been no

doubt, no confusion, and no hesitation that automation

is powerful; it has tremendous and amazing impact on

civilization, on humanity, and it may carry risks.

So what is automation? This chapter introduces

the meaning and deﬁnition of automation, at an in-

troductory, overview level. Speciﬁc details and more

theoretical deﬁnitions are further explained and il-

lustrated throughout the following parts and chapters

of this handbook. A survey of 331 participants from

around the world was conducted and is presented in

Sect.3.5.

3.1.1 Deﬁnitions and Formalism

Automation, in general, implies operating or acting,

or self-regulating, independently, without human inter-

Automation =

Platform

• Machine

• Tool

• Device

• Installation

• System

Autonomy

• Organization

• Process control

• Automatic control

• Intelligence

• Collaboration

Process

Power source

• Action

• Operation

• Function

Fig. 3.1 Automation formalism. Automation comprises four basic

elements. See representative illustrations of platforms, autonomy,

process, and power source in Tables 3.1–3.2, 3.6, and the automa-

tion cases below, in Sect.3.3

vention. The term evolves from automatos, in Greek,

meaning acting by itself, or by its own will, or sponta-

neously. Automation involves machines, tools, devices,

installations, and systems that are all platforms devel-

oped by humans to perform a given set of activities

without human involvement during those activities. But

there are manyvariationsof this deﬁnition. For instance,

before modern automation (speciﬁcally deﬁned in the

modern context since about 1950s), mechanization was

a common version of automation. When automatic con-

trol was added to mechanization as an intelligence

feature, the distinction and advantages of automation

became clear. In this chapter, we review these related

deﬁnitions and their evolvement, and survey how peo-

ple around the world perceive automation. Examples

of automation are described, including ancient to early

examples in Table 3.1, examples from the Industrial

Revolution in Table 3.3, and modern and emerging ex-

amples in Table 3.4. From the general deﬁnition of

automation, the automation formalism is presented in

Fig.3.1 with four main elements: platform, autonomy,

process, and power source. Automation platforms are

illustrated in Table 3.2.

This automation formalism can help us review some

early examples that may also fall under the deﬁnition

of automation (before the term automation was even

coined), and differentiate from related terms, such as

mechanization, cybernetics, artiﬁcial intelligence,and

robotics.

Automaton

An automaton (plural: automata, or automatons) is

an autonomous machine that contains its own power

source and can perform without human intervention

a complicated series of decisions and actions, in re-

sponse to programs and external stimuli. Since the term

automaton is used for a speciﬁc autonomous machine,

tool or device, it usually does not include automation

platforms such as automation infrastructure, automatic

installations, or automation systems such as automation

Part A 3.1