Book Image

Industrial Automation from Scratch

By : Olushola Akande
Book Image

Industrial Automation from Scratch

By: Olushola Akande

Overview of this book

Industrial automation has become a popular solution for various industries looking to reduce manual labor inputs and costs by automating processes. This book helps you discover the abilities necessary for excelling in this field. The book starts with the basics of industrial automation before progressing to the application of switches, sensors, actuators, and motors, and a direct on-line (DOL) starter and its components, such as circuit breakers, contactors, and overload relay. Next, you'll explore VFDs, their parameter settings, and how they can be wired and programmed for induction motor control. As you advance, you'll learn the wiring and programming of major industrial automation tools – PLCs, HMIs, and SCADA. You’ll also get to grips with process control and measurements (temperature, pressure, level, and flow), along with analog signal processing with hands-on experience in connecting a 4–20 mA transmitter to a PLC. The concluding chapters will help you grasp various industrial network protocols such as FOUNDATION Fieldbus, Modbus, PROFIBUS, PROFINET, and HART, as well as emerging trends in manufacturing (Industry 4.0) and its empowering technologies (such as IoT, AI, and robotics). By the end of this book, you’ll have gained a practical understanding of industrial automation concepts for machine automation and control.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Part 1: Learning the Concepts and Skills Required to Get Started
8
Part 2: Understanding PLC, HMI, and SCADA
14
Part 3: Process Control, Industrial Network, and Smart Factory

Exploring pneumatic actuators

Pneumatic actuators use pressurized air or gas as an energy or power source to produce rotary or linear motion. They are very reliable, efficient, and safe for use in an environment where electricity may cause a fire hazard. They have various industrial applications, which include the regular opening and closing of valves, pick and place handlers, and so on. A pneumatic actuator can also be referred to as a pneumatic cylinder or air cylinder.

In a pneumatic actuator, compressed air or pressurized gas enters a chamber, and the gas builds up pressure in contrast to the outside atmospheric pressure, which results in the motion of a device, which could be a piston or gear. The motion created by a pneumatic actuator can be linear or circular. Hence, a pneumatic actuator simply converts the energy in compressed air into a linear or circular motion.

Figure 3.16 shows a valve on the left side of the figure that can be operated manually and a valve on the right side...